by BAR Editor and Senior Columnist Margaret Kimberley
Racist and fascist speech is alive and well, transmitted over the airwaves and cables of major U.S. media. Hosts who call for the burning alive, torture and lynching of minorities and leftists are paid big bucks to spread hate, while bloggers who ‘out’ the culprits can be shut down.
Freedom Rider: Racism, Fascism at CNN and ABC
by Margaret Kimberley
“And that's all we're hearing about, are the people in New Orleans. Those are the only ones we're seeing on television are the scumbags …”
"Every night I get down on my knees and pray that Dennis Kucinich will burst into flames."
“I'm thinking about killing Michael Moore, and I'm wondering if I could kill him myself, or if I would need to hire somebody to do it. No, I think I could. I think he could be looking me in the eye, you know, and I could just be choking the life out – is this wrong?” – Glenn Beck, CNN, ABC commentator
People who fantasize about choking and burning usually keep their thoughts to themselves. Such sentiments are generally frowned upon in civilized society. At the very least they are disdained, and at the worst they invite calls to the police and to the men in white suits.
None of those scenarios apply if those words are spoken by political conservatives in the corporate media. The more venomous, fascistic and racist their statements, the more likely they are to enjoy career success.
Glenn Beck hosted a program on XM satellite radio. CNN decided that there can’t be too many conservative racists on the air and happily hired him to host his own hour long show on Headline News. The above statements dismissing disaster victims as “scumbags” and wishing murder and maiming on Dennis Kucinich and Michael Moore were made before CNN hired him. They knew and apparently appreciated what they were getting.
“CNN decided that there can’t be too many conservative racists on the air and happily hired Glenn Beck.”
ABC decided not to be left out of the Glenn Beck idol worshipping fan club. He was recently hired as a commentator on Good Morning America. ABC, like CNN, is well aware of Beck’s blatant bigotry. Beck interviewed new Congressional Black Caucus member Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, and showed his true colors yet again. "Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies."
A curious question coming from a man who openly speaks of killing people. It is Beck who should prove that he isn’t a danger to Ellison. Beck certainly sounds like a fascist when he speaks gleefully of putting American Muslims behind “razor wire.”
“Stop blowing stuff up and the world just might be your oyster. Otherwise, it's going to be like that movie, The Siege. You remember that movie? The Muslims will see the West through razor wire if things don't change.”
Christians, like Timothy McVeigh, blow things up but somehow never end up behind razor wire.
Beck is not the only source of hate speech on television and radio. He isn’t alone in advocating violence against anyone he deems an enemy and he isn’t alone in having good friends in high corporate places.
An anonymous blogger in San Francisco, Spocko’s Brain, decided to take action against hate speech on radio station KSFO. KSFO is owned by ABC and features hosts who openly fantasize about beating anti-war protesters to death and lynching black people. One KSFO program host, Lee Rodgers, took umbrage because one Kevin Holder, a black man, has been arrested more than 200 times. Rodgers believes that every judge who has ever sentenced Holder should be “put in jail for life.”
“ABC features hosts who openly fantasize about beating anti-war protesters to death and lynching black people.”
In Rodgers’ sick fantasy universe they get off more easily than Holder. He should be tortured. No, that’s not enough punishment to satisfy Rodgers:
“Better yet, put a bullet between his eyes and get it over, because he's never gonna be worth a damn, never gonna be anything but a criminal anyway. ... Now, you start with the Sears DieHard –the battery cables connected to his testicles and you entertain him with that for a while, and then you blow his bleeping head off."
For over a year Spocko wrote to corporations advertising on KSFO and asked if they wanted to be in any way connected with murder threats. When Spocko began to get results, VISA, Mastercard and Bank of America all removed ads from KSFO, the station took action that temporarily kept Spocko off of the internet.
KSFO falsely claimed that Spocko infringed upon their copyright by posting audio clips of their shows, and Spocko’s ISP shut him down. Fortunately, he is up and running again but his story shows that the corporate media are in the hands of people who advocate hatred and violence.
Americans are depending on racists and fascists to give them information about their country and the world. CNN and ABC didn’t just give Beck a paycheck. They called him “cordial” and a “leading cultural commentator with a distinct voice.” The suits in the corner offices are in sync with Beck and KSFO.
“The corporate media are in the hands of people who advocate hatred and violence.”
CNN and ABC give Beck and others a forum because they have the same opinions. They want black people, Muslims, white liberals and any others who cause them discomfort, to just disappear. If we don’t disappear they want someone to get rid of us. That is why they allow hatred on the air. It normalizes the hateful and violence prone among us.
Don’t waste time wondering why there is a racist, right wing media bias. The media are the racist right wing and they want you to know it. We can’t continue to be shocked by what is so obvious. We should not face the next Glenn Beck like deer caught in headlights. If we are well prepared they may have to think twice before giving his ilk a hand up the ladder.
Margaret Kimberley's Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BA R. Ms. Kimberley lives in New York City, and can be reached via e-Mail at Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgandaReport.Com. When sending email, please remember to replace the (at) with @.
Ms. Kimberley' maintains an edifying and frequently updated blog at freedomrider.blogspot.com. More of her work is also available at her Black Agenda Report archive page.
To comment upon or discuss this article, visit its page at the Black Agenda Blog
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