Posts with the tag 'Boston Herald'
Based on what we know so far about the new Boston talk station run by Clear Channel, I’m convinced Rush Limbaugh is better off sticking with WRKO. The new outlet, WXKS 1200 AM, doesn’t look terribly promising. That would leave El Rushbo to prop up a weak lineup.
Key concerns:
— In a region known for hostility toward syndicated talk, WXKS will feature almost no local content. This alone makes it not much of a threat to established competition.
— Rather than build a line-up based on market demand, Clear Channel is using WXKS to dump Premiere Radio’s national shows, some of which have already failed here or have little chance of success in our area. If there is no budget for local talk, why run Jason Lewis (a Premiere host) at 6pm when Mark Levin (Citadel - ABC) is up for grabs?
— Instead of bringing major-market programming talent to the new outlet, Clear Channel appears to be recycling Providence management to save money. Yes, the Boston mafia was once run from the Ocean State, but the very folks who have done little with WHJJ-AM aren’t likely to succeed here. Boston is a top ten market, so the stakes are much higher.
If I were advising Limbaugh, I’d recommend he steer clear of 1200 until there’s a credible plan for success.
Tags: Boston Herald, Rush Limbaugh, WRKO
February 19th, 2010
Inside any American mainstream media outlet today, the internal pressure to conform to the Obamist Overload is clearly enormous. For many newspapers and Barack’s over-the-top cheerleaders at NBC, newsrooms are already so far to the left that good news judgment is now a distant memory.
To see just one of thousands of examples from recent days, take a look at Friday’s Providence Journal, which features a gaggy fluff piece on a furniture purchase by the Obamas.
But those who have the courage to stand up to this wild (and frankly divisive) excess will quickly experience a newfound appreciation from grateful readers, viewers and listeners. Certain conservative talk show hosts have already recognized the need to fight back, but we are also lucky enough to have a newspaper willing to balance its coverage as well.
In recent days, the Boston Herald has carried at least two catty anti-Palin columns and today offers a sappy love-letter to Barack written (shockingly) by one of his Harvard buddies.
But it was also willing to consider that many here at home are feeling overwhelmed by the nonstop reminders of Obama’s supposed (yet unproven) greatness. Friday’s front cover provides a rare example of fairness. In an environment where the mainstream media believes it can compel us to love him, it’s a refreshing approach.
Another welcome perspective comes from conservative talk icon Rush Limbaugh, who on Friday refused to cave into the silly notion that all Americans “want Obama to succeed”. Keeping the country safe is one thing, expecting single-party rule with no political opposition is another.
From his show:
I disagree fervently with the people on our side of the aisle who have caved and who say, “Well, I hope he succeeds. We’ve got to give him a chance.” Why? They didn’t give Bush a chance in 2000. Before he was inaugurated the search-and-destroy mission had begun. I’m not talking about search-and-destroy, but I’ve been listening to Barack Obama for a year-and-a-half. I know what his politics are. I know what his plans are, as he has stated them. I don’t want them to succeed.
If I wanted Obama to succeed, I’d be happy the Republicans have laid down. And I would be encouraging Republicans to lay down and support him. Look, what he’s talking about is the absorption of as much of the private sector by the US government as possible, from the banking business, to the mortgage industry, the automobile business, to health care. I do not want the government in charge of all of these things. I don’t want this to work.
So I’m thinking of replying to the guy, “Okay, I’ll send you a response, but I don’t need 400 words, I need four: I hope he fails.” (interruption) What are you laughing at? See, here’s the point. Everybody thinks it’s outrageous to say. Look, even my staff, “Oh, you can’t do that.” Why not? Why is it any different, what’s new, what is unfair about my saying I hope liberalism fails? Liberalism is our problem. Liberalism is what’s gotten us dangerously close to the precipice here. Why do I want more of it? I don’t care what the Drive-By story is. I would be honored if the Drive-By Media headlined me all day long: “Limbaugh: I Hope Obama Fails.” Somebody’s gotta say it.
Were the liberals out there hoping Bush succeeded or were they out there trying to destroy him before he was even inaugurated? Why do we have to play the game by their rules? Why do we have to accept the premise here that because of the historical nature of his presidency, that we want him to succeed?
With the Obamists poised to assume power, his media supporters have now shifted their focus back to hyping “threats” against their Messiah by bitter, gun-clinging whiteys. See coverage here, here, here, and here.
For those of you not yet grabbed by the body-snatchers, now is no time to get sucked into to this absurd excess.
And finally, for the remaining respectable media types reading this, here’s a tip: it might be worth your while to check out local and state offices on Tuesday. Apparently, some workers may be planning to take a fun-filled four-day weekend culminating in local Obamist celebrations on Tuesday.
Nice work if you can get it!
Tags: Barack Obama, Boston Herald, Howie Carr, Massachusetts, Rush Limbaugh, WRKO
January 17th, 2009
With renewed public outrage, the attempt by disgraced former Democratic House Speaker Tom Finneran to win a presidential pardon for his felony perjury conviction has opened up a huge can of worms locally.
During a phone conversation with a local media person Friday afternoon, I asked why The Finne-felon doesn’t simply wait for Obama to take office to mount his campaign. Why would Bush, a Republican, feel compelled to help an entrenched Massachusetts Democrat?
The quite logical answer: given the nature of The Felon’s crime, lying about his racist gerrymandering scheme, a pardon could prove politically sensitive for the Obamist Regime. That’s why the race is on to get this done in the next ten days.
Meanwhile, fellow WRKO talker Howie Carr isn’t waiting for Bush’s response, if any: his latest Boston Herald column, published in Saturday’s editions, offers his strongest language yet. Calling Finneran a “maggot”, Howie’s truly unleashed here:
The Four Stooges said Felon Finneran has been “severely punished.” Really? He’s still making big money for his wretched radio show, which we call “Sweet Sixteen,” because that’s generally about where it finishes in the ratings. The Felon usually runs neck and neck with “The River,” and sometimes he even edges the Manchester N.H. soft-rock station. Sometimes. His show is so compelling it now goes off the air at 9 instead of 10, and they’re trying to prop him up with a co-host.
Finneran should be breakin’ rocks in the hot sun. He fought the law and the law won. Although I still remember the day he was “sentenced,” and how Judge Rick Stearns was almost apologizing for having to ask him the questions every convicted felon has to answer.
Are you on drugs this morning, wiseguy? You do know you can’t own a firearm anymore, maggot. But no, it was all “Mistah Speakah” this and “I know this is a silly question but . . .” I was there in the courtroom hoping to make a victim-impact statement. See, I was at the courthouse the day Felon Finneran told his string of incredible whoppers about his racist gerrymandering scheme in the city of Boston.
I was shocked, shocked, I tell you. I tried not to let it destroy my faith in the integrity of the Massachusetts Legislature. But I can’t get over it. Then last year, the Felon speculated to Gov. Patrick that I should be taken for a one-way ride in the trunk of the governor’s Coupe Deval.
Just out of curiosity, I looked up “maggot” and discovered that Howie’s actually being a bit too kind to the Felon. He might even owe the little guys an apology.
That’s because the worm-like insects actually have an important medical benefit for patients suffering from flesh wounds, particularly for those who no longer benefit from conventional antibiotics, as a result of resistance.
That’s maggots 1, The Felon 0.
What is his benefit to society? He’s spent his entire life taking what he can from us and giving back not a damn thing.
Nonetheless, I think this kind of Bostonian public battle is healthy. After the damage The Felon has done to Massachusetts taxpayers, ethnic minorities and governmental ethics, why shouldn’t it be payback time?
By contrast, in “nice” Seattle, local newspapers would be scolding us all for a lack of “civility” and imploring everyone involved to get back to traditional Scandinavian pursuits, such as making stinky lutefisk. There, political scores are settled through pathetic backstabbing, while in Boston, it’s a good old fashioned fistfight.
Of course, all of that “niceness” has both of their daily papers in even bigger trouble than ours. They have two boring broadsheets, while we are burdened with just one.
Finneran image: Boston Herald
Tags: Beacon Hill, Boston Herald, Brian Maloney, Corruption, Entercom, Howie Carr, massachusetts politics, New England, state income tax, Thomas Finneran, WRKO
January 10th, 2009
World leaders, you have met your match: the sheer arrogance brought upon by single-party rule in New England.
What else explains the disgusting sense of entitlement that exists within the Bay State’s corrupt politics-media ruling class?
With today’s revelations that WTKK’s Jim Braude tried to interfere with Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s motorcade, the libtalker has revealed just how overconfident Boston’s politically-connected hacks have become.
From the Boston Herald:
State police Sgt. Steven Godfrey said he was at his post for two minutes when his lieutenant radioed that the escort was leaving the library. It was then that Godfrey heard a “car horn blaring” and saw a black SUV “traveling northbound in the southbound lane” on Morrissey Boulevard.
Godfrey then saw the SUV making an illegal U-turn.
“I don’t know whether this is a terrorist or an aggravated driver,” Godfrey recalled yesterday. “Had they continued to go all the way around the U-turn . . . they would have been heading in the direction that the escort was coming.”
Godfrey said he ran into the roadway, arms flailing and yelling, to get the driver’s attention.
“This was a potential life-and-death situation for this person and/or one of us,” Godfrey said. “Had he continued to drive in toward the escort, he could have put his life in peril. He could have been shot. The Secret Service doesn’t take this stuff lightly.”
The driver, who turned out to be Braude, pulled over and began yelling at Godfrey out the window, according to the sergeant.
“You people don’t know what you’re doing,” Braude said, according to Godfrey. “You people are screwing up traffic. There’s people that need to get places. I demand to know what’s going on.”
(Braude said he never demanded anything.)
Godfrey told him the “only demand that would be met” was his demand for Braude’s license and registration. Godfrey mailed Braude a citation for wrongway operation and illegal U-turn.
“This was a situation that could have become an international incident,” said Godfrey, a 20-year veteran of the force who didn’t know the media personality. “This guy just had that demeanor of entitlement.”
Especially troubling is not just the fact that Braude feels justified in fighting his citation, but that there are 100 other local hacks who would have behaved the same way in those circumstances.
And why didn’t we find out about this until now? The incident occurred in April, when the PM was here to suck up to the Kennedy family.
Did The Globies cover this story at all, or are they protecting a local establishment figure, as they usually do?
This astounding level of self-importance is what happens when checks and balances are removed from the political process. Because Massachusetts is ruled by Braude’s friends, laws don’t apply to him, they’re for serfs.
As I mentioned earlier this week, Eagan and Braude’s ratings have been sliding like crazy recently, with the most recent figures showing Rush Limbaugh now beating them.
And with stupid “topics” such as bickering over sandwiches and burritos in the studio, why would anyone be surprised?
Braude image: Ted Fitzgerald, Boston Herald
Tags: Boston, Boston Herald, Globies, Jim Braude, Massachusetts, Morrissey Boulevard, Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Ted Fitzgerald
November 13th, 2008
Let’s face it: Margery Eagan’s performance at the Boston Herald has been spotty for some time. Occasionally, the WTKK talker makes a decent point or two, but it’s usually followed up with a crappy piece that probably isn’t worth publishing.
In particular, she has an obsession with the appearance of other women, coming across as catty and petty. That is still evident in her references to Sarah Palin.
In Sunday’s Herald, however, she’s played defender of evil, attacking those who dare to question the increasingly-creepy cult forming around Barack Obama.
Clearly, the body-snatchers have full control over Margery, so she’s gone on the offensive, accusing cult critics of suffering from “Obama Derangement Syndrome” (itself a cheap rip-off of Michelle Malkin’s Bush Derangement Syndrome of a few years back).
Subject to the Herald’s standards (which must have been relaxed a bit to run this rubbish), it’s her column, so that’s not my objection.
In two places, however, she’s completely out of line. See for yourself:
Meanwhile conservative talk radio, having failed to prevent Obama’s election, has launched the undermine-him-right-out-of-the box squad. My Herald colleague and fellow WTKK 96.9 FM talk radio host Michael Graham has his own Obama resistance movement, warning about civilian police forces and mandatory youth indoctrination, etc.
Personally, I love Michael. Politically, I think he’s out there.
“So Michael, are you deranged?” I asked him yesterday.
“Just because you’re paranoid, huddled in your bed in the fetal position doesn’t mean somebody’s not out to get you,” Michael said.
Deranged? I let you be the judge.
First, Margery wants you to think that conservative talk radio “failed” to defeat Obama, despite being burdened with John McCain, a candidate the right never wanted.
And if Rush Limbaugh and others are so ineffective, where does that leave Margery Eagan? She fails to note in her column that in the most recent Boston ratings, Rush is now beating her program in the critical 25-54 demographic.
That’s thanks to a 22% drop for her team, versus a 44% gain for Rush over spring 2008 figures.
Second, many talk programmers I know would be quite uneasy over the way Eagan has used her column space to attack a fellow host so directly. An oblique reference to The Felon in Howie’s column is one thing, but at most stations, Margery would be in hot water this morning with management.
The problem is that she’s undermining WTKK’s image and credibility by making a co-worker out to be a nutcase. A station’s brand name can be damaged this way.
Obama cultists will be looking for a variety of ways to attack resisters in coming weeks and months and Margery has offered her own approach, weak as it may be.
Tags: Boston, Boston Herald, John McCain, Margery Eagan, Michael Graham, Michelle Malkin, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin
November 10th, 2008
