Will the Mayor of Phoenix, Ariz., be reelected next time around?
Despite the fact that most of his fellow citizens support that new immigration enforcement law, Gordon not only condemned it, but blamed its passage on ... talk radio, and the absence of the "Fairness Doctrine."
"Instead of requiring both sides of a debate to be aired, only one side was given the chance," Gordon told one audience. "Language that was never acceptable became mainstream, and those deemed to be in disagreement with those on radio or TV were demonized as traitors and extremists."
Brian Jennings, author of "Censorship: The Threat to Silence Talk Radio," shot back, "Phil Gordon is nothing more than a liberal whiner who doesn't get how free speech must work in order to be truly free. … I hope the good citizens of Phoenix bounce Gordon from office the next time he's up for election."
Rush Limbaugh
TRENDING: To DEI for
In a possible sign of the apocalypse, the New York Times ran a laudatory opinion piece by Limbaugh biographer Zev Chafets. He claims the reason Republicans are "doing so well lately ... can be boiled down to two words: Rush Limbaugh. He is the brains and the spirit behind [the party's] resurgence."
In a new profile of Andrew Breitbart in the New Yorker, the online media mogul called Limbaugh one of "probably ten people in the world that I would probably take a bullet for. Not to my heart, or liver, or any important organ, but to, like, my right shoulder, if it would miss an important artery."
This week, Rush warned listeners that Obama's Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan and his advisor Cass Sunstein are censors who will do everything in their power to censor free speech – especially talk radio, and explained "what liberals really think and believe" (FREE audio):
Sean Hannity
Hannity celebrated the latest election victories by Republican candidates by telling listeners, "What you're seeing is a public rising up against machine politics and the Washington establishment. It's clear that people are tired of the old way of doing business, and it's an instinctive sense that government is dangerously out of control."
Hannity's guests included Colonel Oliver North, Newt Gingrich, and fellow talk radio host (and former P\presidential candidate) Fred Thompson, who talked about his new memoir, "Teaching the Pig to Dance" (audio archives are available to members only).
Mark Levin
"Do we deserve a mosque at Ground Zero?" – Levin read Diana West's provocative column on the air, and expressed his disgust about the proposed Cordoba Islamic Center being built in New York City (FREE audio).
He also blasted Mexican President Calderon for daring to lecture Americans about immigration; after all, Mexico's immigration laws are much more stringent than ours (FREE audio).
Saying "this is not easy for me," Levin criticized former First Lady Laura Bush's views on gay marriage and abortion, as revealed during interviews during her ongoing book tour (FREE audio).
Michael Savage
People are still talking about Savage's interview in the latest edition of Playboy – including Savage himself.
The host complained on the air about the interviewer's negative description of Savage that preceded the interview.
"Why did the guy say he hated me when he wouldn't say it to my face?" Savage wondered on the air.
On his show, Savage explained to "hysterical liberals" that there was nothing "fascist" about the new Arizona immigration law, because it merely "mirrored" existing federal laws (FREE audio).
Finally, many listeners called this woman "the stupidest caller ever" to phone the Michael Savage show. See if you agree (FREE audio).
Laura Ingraham
GOP candidate Rand Paul came on to clarify the "controversial" remarks about the Civil Rights Act he made on an MSNBC program.
"Why the heck would you go on the Rachel Maddow Show?" Ingraham asked Paul. "What do you think you're going to get when you go on Rachel Maddow's show?" (FREE audio).
It was the second time this week that Paul was a guest on Ingraham's program, the first being just before he won the Republican primary in Kentucky. Other guests included Senator Orrin Hatch and Vietnam veteran Rob Simmons, who addressed Senator Richard Blumenthal's lies about serving overseas in that conflict (FREE audio).
Hugh Hewitt
The New York Time's token "conservative," David Brooks, made an interesting admission on Hewitt's show this week:
"I've spent a lot of my time in liberal circles where I'm the only conservative, and I've spent a lot of time in conservative circles. And I hear fewer racial comments in conservative circles than in liberal circles," he admitted.
Hewitt asked Mark Steyn to comment on Rand Paul's "controversial" remarks about the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Steyn responded, "There is a legitimate debate about private property rights. For example, there's a story in, stories that crop up all over, not just in America, but I think there was one in Newfoundland recently, and another over in England, about the Christian owners of a bed and breakfast refusing to rent a room to a gay couple and all the rest of it. And those cases still occur. And at heart, that's the same argument as Rand Paul was trying to make last night. At what point does a private business owner in effect cede too many property rights to the state? But you don't go on MSNBC to get into that kind of philosophical debate with Rachel Maddow."
Glenn Beck
After New York Democratic Representative Anthony Wiener attacked Beck for running ads for Goldline and accused him of "running a racket," Beck responded with a blog called "WeinerFacts.com," mocking the Congressman's accusations and featuring "'facts' about Rep. Weiner interspersed with pictures of wieners," according to Mediaite.
MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan joined the fray, calling Beck "a scumbag" and a "snake oil salesman."
Beck also interviewed the CEO of Goldline, Mark Albarian, to address accusations of wrongdoing and clarify their professional relationship:
GLENN BECK: Goldline is a sponsor, but I am also a – am I a rather large customer of yours, Mark? or are there …
MARK ALBARIAN: You are a rather large client, but there are actually larger.
BECK: I'm sure there are. You are saying there are crazier people than me?
ALBARIAN: Well, maybe not crazier …
And now, from the left side of the dial
"From the bowels of Adolf Hitler/ Is the voice of Rush Limbaugh" – that's a sample of the lyrics of a parody song aired by radio host Randi Rhodes this week.
The song goes on to claim that Limbaugh's ratings are "falling" (not true) while obsessing over Rush's weight and physical appearance. The actual words to the song are truly puerile, unoriginal and offensive, even by "progressive" standards.
The real joke is that Rhodes stole the idea of doing parody songs from the acknowledged genius of the genre, Paul Shanklin – who works for Rush Limbaugh.