I hope Nova M Radio is happy with their new talk show host, the Left's own Rush Limbaugh. Randi Rhodes is a disgrace and an embarrassment to Democrats, and I can't imagine why any organization (political campaign or business) would want to be associated with her hate-filled rhetoric.

In the first five minutes of her show today, Randi let this one go:

"The Clinton campaign describes Hillary's voters as older, white, and undereducated. Or as we called them in my neighborhood: white trash."

This is interesting.  

Instead of simply thanking her for her time there and moving on, Air America Radio appears to have gone out of its way to slam Randi Rhodes, to the point in which it appears they are claiming she is entirely overrated, and they're glad she's gone.

I can't say that I blame them.  Last year, I started listening to her show, in part after hearing that she was named the most influential woman talker by Talk Magazine.

However, the more I listened to her show, the less I liked it.  The entire show, day in and day out, seemed to be a less-than-well-informed bitch-fest against George W. Bush.  Don't get me wrong, I can't stand the guy, but attacking him is cherry-picking.  Where's the sport in pointing out how dishonest Bush is?  Also, she could never complete a cogent thought.  She'd always get halfway through a sentence, and be unable to hold back her emotions, saying stuff like "And President Bush, I mean, this is unbelievable.  I mean it is just absolutely mindboggling", etc. etc. etc. - without actually saying anything.  And when she was done, I realized that she was like two days behind the news, and only understood half of everything that I already knew.  Basically, she added nothing to my intelligence, all while making me listen to her over and over saying "I mean... this is ridiculous.... I mean... this boggles my mind....I mean... this is crazy... I mean..." blah, blah, blah, hyperbole, hyperbole, hyperbole - but no facts.  

Not to rehash this, but for the sake of clarity and to put a final nail in the misinformation being spread by some around here...Green 960 has put out a fact page regarding the incident.

Fact Page

My friend Hannah sent me a copy of the email she sent to someone named Tracy, who's in the field for Obama. Here it is, addressed to tracyinthefielf at gmail dot com:

"Dear Tracy,

I'm a 51 year old white woman, a mom, a grandmother, a lifelong
feminist and Democrat and a strong Obama supporter. I am however,
horrified by the blatant sexism that is expressed (and tolerated) on Obama's website. Most recently, I've been horrified by the Randi Rhodes performance, the fact that Obama supporters were cheering in the audience as she called Hillary and Ferraro "fucking whores" repeatedly.

My best friend of 30 years is a Hillary supporter and I am sure she will never vote for Obama because of the misogyny of so many of his young followers.

I find this distressing because I fully support Barack, have
contributed regularly to his campaign. But I am very opposed to the sexist comments that so many young supporters make with impunity.

I wrote to Obama, asking him to take a stand against sexist rhetoric and Randi Rhodes in particular, just as McCain did when the person introducing him at an event kept stressing Barack's middle name.

If he doesn't condemn it, it's the same as a tacit vote of approval....or worse, indifference.

If one of Hillary's visible supporters got up and did a stand-up
routine where she called Barack a "fucking n-word"(Hannah wrote whole the offensive slur, but I won't) you can believe
there'd be a firestorm.

If we, as Obama supporters, and Obama himself,don't stand up against comparable women-hating talk, how can we ask
Hillary's supporters to rally around our candidate when he wins the nomination?

I would love to see a dialogue on the Field between the camps, and on our side, some self-awareness and self-critique about the tone and tenor of the comments many of our fellow Obama supporters are regularly spouting.

I'd love to see you start a blog dialogue about these excesses. There are tons of us out here who are not comfortable with letting comments like this slide.

I met my oldest friend in 1974 when she was 19 and I was 22 and we were both spiritual seekers and political activists. I'd been to India, she'd lived in ashrams; we both meditated and marched and worked for a better world. We were naïve, not as naïve as some of our peers, however. Hannah had grown up in New Jersey and when she was ten, her father abandoned her family for California in order to become a hippie. I grew up in Texas, along the Louisiana border, and my father suffered the mental and emotional disorders resulting from spending four years in combat in the Pacific theater during WWII and then another two years in some still undisclosed location during the Korean War. In other words, both Hannah and I came from screwed up families and we met at a time and and an age when people bond most closely with their peers.

We both marched against the Viet Nam war, worked for the passage of Roe v Wade, petitioned and demonstrated law enforcement to ensure the use of rape kits in order that more rapists would be convicted. In the 1980s we joined affinity groups to protest nuclear power. We worked together for farm workers' rights and legislation for abused children, and together we facilitated groups for women recovering from domestic abuse.

We have traveled together, helped each other bear children, comforted each other during break ups and divorces, and celebrated births of grandsons, bar mitzvahs and the many ups and downs of life, both big and small, that a long friendship includes.
In the early years Hannah and I lived in the same town, but we've remained committed friends even when our lives have taken us in different directions. When I got married, Hannah made us a beautiful quilt, each stitch hand sewn. And when Hannah came out as a lesbian, I stood by her as some of her immediately family, including her mother, withdrew in disgrace. Hannah met my parents before they died, and I went with her to visit her father during his last week of life. She is godmother to my sons and I am auntie to her two children.

Last year, when they removed a benign tumor from my spine, Hannah left her partner and kids behind and flew to my home to care for me after my surgery. This year, Hannah has undergone two surgeries for breast cancer, and beginning last august, she has endured the most intense series of chemotherapy given. She is now halfway through radiation.

Hannah is an ardent supporter of Obama, and I am perhaps an even more ardent supporter of Hillary Clinton. Hannah's oldest son was in the first Marine Expeditionary Unit sent to Iraq; she sees Obama as the most anti-war candidate. On the other hand, I think Obama is clueless about war--and about leading the country in general. In the beginning it was hard on us, each wanting the other to switch sides. We talk on the phone and email daily, and though we live 2000 miles apart, distance is no big thing when people have been so close for so long.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Democrat Barack Obama's presidential campaign on Saturday repudiated a liberal talk show host's description of Sen Hillary Clinton as a big f*cking whore, a comment made to an audience of Obama supporters.

Randi Rhodes, host of a nationally syndicated radio program that is based in New York City, was warming up the crowd Friday at a $100 (64)-a-person fundraiser for the San Francisco supporters of Obama supporters when he tagged the presidential candidate as a a "big f*cking whore."

New information uncovered by Tennessee Guerrilla Woman indicates that Randi Rhodes' Green960 Imus/Limbaugh imitation was not just a radio station event, but was promoted on Barack Obama's website.

Click through to No Quarter for a complete screen cap of the Obama website page.

Any doubts I had about saying: "Markos' has continually displayed a total lack of responsibility to the welfare of the Democratic Party this year," are now gone.

Completely.

The big orange ugliness known as the "leading progressive blog" has done it. That vitriolic, vile excuse for a "community" is completely over the top, as is now clearly evident by their commentary--in no less than nine diaries today and counting--with regard to the Randi Rhodes episode. If ever there was a clear case of just how twisted "community sentiment" really is there, all you have to do is make a quick review of that community's reaction to this incident. Case in point...  

Air America has suspended Randi Rhodes for her "comedy" routine. Press release below (http://www.airamerica.com/):

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 3, 2008

New York - Air America has suspended on-air host Randi Rhodes for making inappropriate statements about prominent figures, including Senator Hillary Clinton, at a recent public appearance on behalf of Air America in San Francisco which was sponsored by an Air America affiliate station.

"Air America encourages strong opinions about public affairs but does not condone such abusive, ad hominem language by our Hosts," said chair Charlie Kireker.

Sorry to just post a press release without commentary, but I'm waiting to hear more details.

[Update]

Here's some additional info I found on the NYT blog (http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/03/air-america-host-suspended-for-clinton-remarks)

The network called Ms. Rhodes’ suspension “indefinite” and did not elaborate on the fate of her daily three-hour radio show. “The Randi Rhodes Show” is normally broadcast from 3 to 6 p.m. weekdays. Sam Seder, another Air America host, was scheduled to fill in for Ms. Rhodes on Thursday.

Did anyone hear the beginning of the show today? Did Sam Seder say anything about this?

(I've never updated a diary before, so hopefully I did this correctly.)

I've been listening to Sam fill in for Randi and he's encouraging listeners to go to their site and write to Air America in support of Randi. So some of you who aren't listening might want to write to them and let them know how you feel too.