(FREE PRESS) -- REPUBLICANS today decried the broadcast of Shurgim H. Blau's program on Armed Forces Radio, the taxpayer-funded radio station. Russell Melvin, the director of Armed Forces Radio & Television Services, disagreed, stating that "Blau's program has been broadcast on AFR for over a decade" and that its "spectacular ratings warranted its inclusion". Mr. Blau's program, reaching an audience of 8 million weekly, is aired for an hour each day on AFR.
Blau has been criticized by the conservative watchdog group America Matters. Spokesman Reilly O'Bill stated that "Blau's hate mongering must stop. He regularly compares Republicans to Nazis and Stalin; incites violence against poor family farmers; and repeatedly accuses [Republican presidential candidate] McBane of the murder of the late Senator Paul Wellstone."
Blau's program has been airing since 1993, when up-and-coming Democratic leader Mo Delayt formally protested that AFR was "censoring" Mr. Blau. Under pressure for an issue he considered insignificant, President Bush acceded to the request.
Mr. Blau has been the subject of some controversy recently. Senator Mell Ziller, who recently ran for and lost the Democratic nomination under suspicious circumstances (see here for MSCNN's special report) recently distanced himself from Mr. Blau after a drug scandal caused Blau to lose his job as a baseball commentator at MSCNN. When approached over the matter, a spokesman for Mr. Ziller stated that "the Senator has recently been made aware of the matter. He had no idea that the taxpayer-funded AFR, which should be balanced, leaned so liberally. With our soldiers engaged in this war in Africa, they shouldn't be subjected to such blatant partisan bias."
See here for MSCNN's coverage of the War on Tyranny in Africa. (R's allege 'blood for diamonds'; D's accuse Rs of 'back-stabbing')
The military vote has received increased scrutiny since the absentee ballots were thought to make a major difference in Democratic President Thurmond's close victory over favored Republican Dole. Many conservative pundits blame AFR's carriage of Blau for Thurmond's victory.
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In Bizarro-America, anyways. In real America, it's Rush Limbaugh that's being broadcast over AFR for an hour a day. (Link is to Salon).