Ted Williams Reunites with his Mother

I've been following the Ted Williams story (the homeless man with the golden radio voice), and it's definitely been having an effect on me. But this video, where he finally reunites with his mother after so many years, really is causing me to tear up.



Good luck, Mr. Williams. We're all rooting for you.

Seal the Chamber

In the wake of harsh criticism over her repeated use of the "n-word" on radio, Dr. Laura is ending her radio career:

Embattled radio talk show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger announced Tuesday she will not renew her contract that is up at the end of the year, telling CNN's "Larry King Live" she wants to "regain my First Amendment rights."
[...]
In announcing her decision "not to do radio anymore" after being in the business for more than 30 years, Schlessinger said, "I want to be able to say what's on my mind and in my heart and what I think is helpful and useful without somebody getting angry or some special-interest group deciding this is a time to silence a voice of dissent."

While Dr. Laura still claims to "regret" the incident, I'm a little dubious, not the least because the "n-word" was among the least offensive elements of the tirade she went off on.

In any event, as is so often the case, "First Amendment rights" translates to the right not to be criticized by private parties. In fact, we can translate this entire whine as abject fury that Dr. Laura's professional position forced her to actually listen to Black people's "special-interest group's" opinions. Dr. Laura's real complaint here isn't about the First Amendment. It's that her echo chamber wasn't as secure as she thought it was.

"Crude Comments"

Two radio shock jocks have apologized for airing what CNN called "crude comments that he'd like to have sex with Condoleezza Rice, Laura Bush and Queen Elizabeth."

And those "crude comments"? From Shakesville:

One of their guests, a man called Homeless Charlie, says, “I’ll tell you what—what’s that George Bush bitch, um, Rice…? Condoleezza Rice? … I’d love to fuck that bitch dead, man,” at which point the rest of the studio erupts into laughter. Homeless Charlie says again, “I’ll fuck that bitch to death,” to which Opie/Anthony reply, “I just imagine the horror in Condoleezza Rice’s face—” [uproarious laughter and interjection “When she realizes what’s going on!”] “—as you’re just like holding her down and fucking her.” More uproarious laughter, prompting Homeless Charlie to continue: “Punch her all in the fucking face—shut up, bitch!” Says Opie/Anthony: “That’s exactly what I meant!” [raucous laughter]

Umm...note to CNN. That wouldn't be "having sex" with Condi Rice. That would be rape. These men were laughing about rape. It astounds me that the article never once uses the word "rape" to describe what these men were laughing about.

And I hope nobody uses this defense, but to preempt it I go to Feministing:

Now all you anti-woman folks please write that down and repeat. It doesn't matter to whom they are addressed, regardless of a woman's politics or her position in society, rape threats are never OK....I may not agree with Condoleeza Rice's or Laura Bush's politics, at all, but under no circumstances would I think it is OK to threaten them with sexual violence.

This should go without saying.

And as for the "apology"? Well, here's the text:

“We apologize to the public officials for comments that we made on our XM show on May 9th. We take very seriously the responsibility that comes with our creative freedom and regret any offense that this segment has caused."

Does that seem good enough? Back to Shakes:

Uh-huh. Well, I certainly hope “the public officials” accept their apology. As for me, I’m still waiting for an apology on behalf of all the women who have been and will be raped in no small part because of the festering shithole of misogyny known as American Media in which rape-glorification thrives and “the responsibility that comes with…creative freedom” never seems to include any accountability for making “jokes” that celebrate the sexual abuse of women.

Shakes, who herself is a rape survivor, continues to quote from XM Radio, saying that they had not decided whether or not to discipline the shock jocks. Translation: we won't do anything unless the press gets really bad.

Sounds like a plan. Make it happen.

Extemp

I had my radio show today. Normally, it has at least one other contributor on, who comes with a list of topics to discuss. Today, however, he decided not to show up. I realized he wasn't coming with about one minute before air-time. Since I done no preparation and had no notes, I was in a bit of a bind. And so I then proceeded to spontanously speak off the cuff on a variety of political topics--for 30 minutes straight. The Iraq surge debate, US/Iran, Global Warming, Presidential Endorsements (Kaine & Rush for Obama, Swift for McCain), and GOP candidates all running to the right.

It wasn't the best show, but under the circumstances I'm quite pleased.

And also, I have to say thank you, because had I not browsed through some blogs prior to walking to the radio station, I'd have been utterly lost.