Tomorrow will be a sad day for the state of Rhode Island. Radio talk show host, and former state attorney general Arelene Voilet will be on the air for the last time. Her afternoon show is being replaced by right-wing blowhard and major league asshole Sean Hannity.
Talk-show host Voilet gets the ax
Arlene Violet, a talk-radio icon in Rhode Island, has been let go by her station, WHJJ (920-AM) after more than 16 years on the air. Her last day on the air will be tomorrow. She will be replaced Monday in her 3 to 6 p.m. time slot by a syndicated program featuring conservative commentator Sean Hannity.
Arlene is the second well-known Republican moderate to lose her job in the past month, the other being Senator Lincoln Chafee. More below...
For those of you who do not know Arlene Violet, she is quite an interesting person. She joined the Sisters of Mercy convent when she graduated from Salve Regina University. As a nun she work with the poor in the inner city of Providence. At the same time, she pursued a law degree from Boston College, which she attained in 1974. In fact, she was the first RI nun to graduate from law school. However, she left the order to run for public office, with the support of the Sisters of Mercy, and became the first female attorney general in the nation in 1984.
As RI attorney general, she took on corruption, which is something more Republicans should be concerned with. She was known as "Attila the Nun" in many circles for the ferocity attacks on corruption. She even took on the mafia in RI, something that forced her to get a bodyguard for protection. As attorney general, she also brought suit against a bishop and reopened the Claus Von Bulow case. All of this information can be found in her autobiography: Convictions: My Journey
For the past 16 years she has hosted her own radio talk show and has showed her independant streak, never towing the party line. Most recently during the past three or four years, she has been against George Bush and the more specifically the war in Iraq. She is also strongly against torture and violations of the U.S. Constitution and is not afraid to say so. She is high on the list of likable Republicans. It's sad to see someone like Sean Hannity replace her. I'm afraid these moderate Republicans are a dying breed. How can you reach out to the other party when the face of that party is Hannity?