Here is your
candy... a really fun call to Sean Hannity in which I get to call Tom Delay a cockroach... At the end of this diary, I'll try to provide a play-by-play of the call...
This diary is much more important than any call I can make to Sean Hannity though. You might remember the Roots diary I posted last week about the Washington Post, media bias and racism. Phase II starts today.
Flip for the important stuff...
For additional background, read
Matt Stoller's post over at MyDD. Read
Jane's work over at firedoglake. And read
Steve Gilliard's work at The News Blog. And don't forget
tgnyc's work right here at Kos. And Taylor Marsh's (the true radio expert in the bunch) posts
here and
here.
OK, I know you aren't going to go read all of that, so let me condense it for you.
At a time when more Americans than ever before are becoming more aware than ever before of the failure of conservatives and conservatism, the far right has turned to its tired and old divisive tricks. They've let up on attacking gays... at least it seems that way... because they've replaced their gay hatred with an old stand-by - racism.
The biggest political news since the election was made last night. What do I hear on talk radio today? More attacks on Cynthia McKinney. More attacks on immigrants - but only the brown ones coming over the border from Mexico.
Racism is truly a problem... but as Jesus said about the poor, there are some things that will always be with us. I'm afraid that as long as humans display different physical and cultural differences, there will be some form of racism. I can accept that some people will always be afraid of our differences... humans are frail.
What is unacceptable is when the gatekeepers of acceptable discourse embrace racists or refuse to police the public square. When Rush Limbaugh calls a rape victim a ho, it shouldn't be up to a caller to correct him. Every single public figure in America should be marginalizing the pill-popper. When Boortz ridicules Cynthia McKinney's appearance, his radio show should be pilloried by the more "respectable" media. When Imus and cohorts talk about "Taliban Jane" carrying a Taliban baby, NBC News should be handing out suspensions...
Instead, we see the Washington Post hiring racist bloggers, minimizing the racist sentiments and promising to hire another...
America and it's people, god bless them, are far beyond that... We've evolved. We shouldn't let our media turn back the clock.
There is one egalitarian media outlet left in America. You can call talk radio and put the issue on their radar. I need you to get started.
The goal of this is simply to seed the media market and get people asking questions. If things work out according to our agenda:
- The listed hosts will start to see some interest (and pissed-offness)
- They will become more receptive towards giving the issue the depth of coverage it deserves.
- As coverage increases, the Washington Post's ass-covering will morph into consternation and serious introspection
- Consternation and introspection at the Post result in the Post beginning to treat mainstream America (you and me) with the respect it deserves.
- In the end we see responsible, balanced and truthful news coverage and editorial content.
- Finally, and most importantly, we end the legitimization of racism.
But you have to help.... especially if you live in Washington DC.
For now, I think we can target these four shows that are aired in Washington DC. :
Joe Madison | WOL 1010AM, 1040AM | 1 866 801 8255 | 6-10AM |
Al Sharpton | WOL 1010AM, 1040AM | 1 866 801 8255 | 1-4PM |
Chris Core | WMAL AM630 | 202 432 9625 or 1 888 630 9625 | 9AM-12 |
Kojo Nnamdi | WAMU FM88.5 | 1 800 433 8850 | 12-2PM |
I will send a CafePress CallingAllWingnuts mug to the first, tenth and twentyfifth person that sends me audio of their call to ANY show that airs in the DC radio market*.
*(please give me a week or two on those - I still have to get started with CafePress... and I'm not promising it'll be CafePress - some people have emailed me links to other printers that are more closely linked to progressive causes...)