When Hate Speech is Acceptable

So often, conservative talk radio is deemed to be hate speech, the ramblings of close-minded, unsophisticated, racist nutjobs.

Bill Moyers referred to conservative talk radio as "a freak show of political pornography: lies, distortions, and half-truths — half-truths being perhaps the blackest of all lies."

Even David Brooks, a token conservative at The New York Times, slammed talk radio hosts in his column, "Sir Galahad of the GOP," last week.

On the topic of immigration, he claims that listeners have been hit by "slopping barrages of manure by Limbaugh, Savage, Levin and every other talk-radio jock in the Northern Hemisphere. ...

"What bothers you about the restrictionists is not that they are primitives or racists. They're not. It's their imperviousness, their unwillingness to compromise. They don't have the numbers to govern, but they think they have the numbers to destroy."

Whatever. Personally, I believe that compromise is key to making progress on handling the illegal immigration mess, but I think Brooks' went a bit overboard in his demonization of conservative talk radio hosts.

If you want to cite some real examples of "slopping barrages of manure," look no further than what passes for talk radio on WNOV-AM(860) in Milwaukee.

Spivak and Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel give a taste of some of the most flat-out racist, anti-Semitic, violent bilge on the air.

Every so often, you just have to turn on ex-Ald. Michael McGee's "Word Warriors" radio show on WNOV-AM (860) to hear what the self-proclaimed commander is spewing.

Thursday morning was one of those days.

Less than 24 hours after his son, Ald. Mike McGee, was arrested in a courtroom, accused of threatening his former girlfriend, his father was on the air offering up a smorgasbord of anti-Semitism, threats of violence against the city of Milwaukee and rants about the difficulty of growing up McGee.

...First off, the elder McGee started with a little humor, if you can call it that.

"Look, I have a joke for you - well, not really a joke," said a female caller. "But what (does) July mean?"

"What do July mean?" replied the commander. "The Jews lie."

Caller: "Uh-uh, and what do picnic mean?"

Commander: "Picnic mean, pick a (n-word)."

(This is a reference to a bogus Internet story about the origins of the word picnic.)

Caller: "There you go. Y'all have a good day."

And that was just the warm-up.

The next caller, as did many others, offered words of support to the McGee clan in the wake of the alderman's arrest.

Here's some background on McGee, Jr.'s recent troubles:

In November 2005, McGee was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest after a strange encounter outside of a Blockbuster store.

Recently, McGee, Jr. has been involved in a bizarre case with Kimley Rucker, a woman he supposedly impregnated -- twice.

The details read like bad fiction. If there's anything consistent in the saga, it's that McGee lies under oath. Also, he writes bad poetry.

"Violets are Blue, Today is a great day and I miss you! Too bad but not too sad that you are carrying that McGee Seed."

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on May 12, 2006: "In court Friday, Milwaukee Ald. Mike McGee admitted a sexual relationship with a woman who claims she is pregnant by him but maintained he hadn't lied in an earlier hearing, when he denied any "romantic" relationship with her."

Last Wednesday, Ald. Michael McGee was arrested for threatening the woman in court. Allegedly, he said, "If you drive by my house, I'm going to kill your ass."

Actually, I would like to pitch an idea for a new reality show. I think a camera crew should follow Michael McGee, Jr., documenting his adventures.

Back to McGee, Sr.'s radio program--

The caller told the elder McGee that she was praying for his family.

"It's not only at the police station," the woman said. "I work at the post office; it's just as bad with this racism. And we need to do something about it because it stinks. It's just like doo-doo - it stinks."

The remark launched McGee into a tirade reminiscent of his days on the Common Council, when nobody knew just what outrageous comment or threat might come out of his mouth. Remember how, back in 1990, McGee pledged to revive the Black Panther Militia in Milwaukee and threatened organized violence if conditions for blacks in the city did not improve?

On Thursday, he was voicing some more obscure but ominous threats of violence.

"Well, you know, in terms of the McGee family, I'm really tired of them, you know, taking every opportunity they can to slander our family. But, in fact, I feel like sometime my Vietnam syndrome is gonna take over, and I'm gonna go down there and mess up a bunch of 'em. So they better watch out, that's for sure. And that ain't no threat. That's a promise."

Finally, McGee whined about how hard it is for his children because they go through life with his name. McGee claimed that high school sports officials cheated his children out of awards and medals only because they were his offspring.

The anti-McGee discrimination extended to the classroom, he railed.

"Teachers at school find a kid named McGee, and they got to pay for that. Instead of getting an 'A,' they get a 'D,' you know. I'm just, I mean, I'm just tired of the way they just slander us on the news. They take every opportunity to just run some stuff backwards.

"You know, how does somebody get arrested in court for violating a restraining order? It's just time, after time, after time. I'm just tired of it. Pretty soon I'm gonna come to my boiling point, and they don't want to see that."

It's disgusting that WNOV's owner doesn't have a problem with the racist and violent content of McGee's show.

Although he doesn't care for the ethnic slurs and the threats, he's willing to overlook that stuff.

Jones says, "My job is audience. He's got a lot of people who like him."

In other words, if it brings in revenue, hate speech isn't hate speech. It's informative and entertaining.

So, McGee, Sr. has free rein to threaten violence and spew racist and anti-Semitic remarks on the radio.

No problem. People like him.

Right.

The bottom line:

1. Michael McGee, Sr. is a racist. It's highly disturbing that people like what he has to say.

2. Michael McGee, Jr. is a disgrace and embarrassment to his constitutents. It's highly disturbing that he is a leader in Milwaukee's African American community.

3. McGee, Sr. should be off the air.

4. McGee, Jr. should be voted out of office.