Thug radio: Are Jason Lewis and KTLK now in the jihad business?
Friday, March 28, 2008 at 2:45 pm
- 20 Comments
[Note: There are updates to this item here and here.]
After a scheduled appearance by the pro-war veterans’ group Vets for Freedom at Forest Lake Area High School was canceled early this week, bloggers and talk radio denizens on the right reacted with outrage — much of it directed expressly at Stillwater blogger, activist, and military veteran Karl Bremer for his role in a letter-writing campaign that contributed to the cancellation of the event. Republican U.S. Rep Michelle Bachmann, of Stillwater, was to appear as well.
The websites Look True North and Minnesota Majority posted letter generators for writing to Bremer that include his photograph and, for a time, included his home address and home and work phone numbers as well. (Cached screen grab with personal data removed here.)
On Tuesday evening, right-wing KTLK-FM talk host Jason Lewis had the following exchange with a caller (emphasis added):
Caller: Back to this Bremer. To put a little fight back into the Republicans, what you need to do is get Karl Bremer’s address, phone number, and his other members of this little Democrat underground that protests, and let’s get a little protest going on his front doorstep so he can get a little taste of his own medicine. Hold his feet to the fire. Make him responsible for some of the actions he does…
Jason Lewis: I don’t lead a jihad against individuals unless they happen to be in the public arena. Of course, you could make the argument this guy’s now in the public arena. But if citizens are truly fed up with a small minority of socialist kooks in Stillwater, led by this Karl Bremer character who’s got a bizarre obsession with Michele Bachmann, I can’t be held accountable for what citizens might come up with. If you want to let this guy know you think he’s a bum, that’s up to you. I’m just saying that people ought to know his name, because he’s the guy, the ringleader, in Veterans for Peace and all this, that literally are censoring veterans.
Caller: Right, right. Well, or maybe a website. If they have a website, they could crash the website. You know, if you don’t want any legal repercussions for what might happen. Because he would probably get some kook fringe lawyer to come back and sue you or K-Talk. I can understand that, not wanting to have any legal repercussion or responsibility…
Lewis: Yeah, right. Well, the problem with these protesters–the problem they’ve got is, they entered the public arena. They are out there. What is it, democrat underground dot org or something? Democratic underground dot com. They are out there in the ether. Karl Bremer has been out there putting his name in the papers in his letters to the editor bashing Michele Bachmann. So he is now a public person, and hence he’s going to take the slings and arrows just like he hands them out. Long overdue, to be sure.
I phoned KTLK, a Clear Channel station, intending to ask program director Steve Versnick if this harangue fits the station’s programming policies. He has not yet returned the call. If and when he does, I’ll update with his response.
Listen: KTLK’s Jason Lewis and caller discuss how to deal with Stillwater blogger/activist Karl Bremer (1:56)
20 Comments
Comment posted March 28, 2008 @ 3:14 pm
It’s all politics… …until one of these crackers, encouraged by one of the usual suspects on the righty airwaves (who think they can’t be held liable for incitement to violence), take matters into their own hands.
Death threats, and incitements to intimidate ARE serious, dangerous, and illegal. We get so caught up in the gamesmanship of political argument, that we forget that there are some seriously instable individuals out there.
Jason Lewis, as a professional who I assume would like to have a long and prosperous career, needs to make himself aware of what can quickly get out of hand with his listeners. Lord knows the Clear Channel lawyers are probably taking a long, serious look at this.
Comment posted March 28, 2008 @ 4:55 pm
Sadly, These RightWingNuts ARE Dangerous There is a poster on M.D.E. who figured out who I am, and went to a non-profit I’m at and spead disinformation about me.
It’s really rather despicable. And the hosts of these sites do little, to discourage it. Jason Lewis is the epitome of the problem.
Comment posted March 29, 2008 @ 7:22 pm
RWNcracker Can you guys ever comment without using racist and abusvie language? Cracker? RightWingNut? While using these words may make you look big in the eyes of some of your friends, all it does is weaken your arugments in the eyes of those of whom you are trying to convert.
If Bremer is going to assert his free speech rights so forcefully in the public arean, he needs to be prepared for the possible consequences (Can you say Dixie Chicks?).
In front of his home? No. Calling him out and rebutting his arguments – absolutely.
Comment posted March 30, 2008 @ 10:45 am
all it does… Yeah, “right”.
And Professor Gingrich didn’t know what he was talking about.
Comment posted March 30, 2008 @ 11:43 am
Fair and Balanced
During the show Jason kept arguing that the public schools are dens of liberalism plastered with Wellstone bumper stickers and that the appearance by Vets for Freedom would have provided some needed balance. Presumably, Jason feels that the public schools have a responsibility to provide balance, because they are, after all, public schools.
Poor Jason. He must be terribly upset over the state of the public airwaves. That’s another arena where public resources get skewed politically. Conservative voices on the air must outnumber liberal ones by ten to one or more. To make Jason feel better, the public airwaves probably should be brought back under the protection of the Fairness Doctrine.
I’m sure Jason would appreciate a consistent application of his principles.
Comment posted March 30, 2008 @ 8:55 pm
RWNCracker pulls a Straw Man “If Bremer is going to assert his free speech rights so forcefully in the public arean, he needs to be prepared for the possible consequences (Can you say Dixie Chicks?).
In front of his home? No. Calling him out and rebutting his arguments – absolutely.”
EY: Straw man argument. The issue isn’t whether Karl Bremer has any problem having his arguments being rebutted in the public square, the issue is that Jason Lewis, Drew Emmer, True North, Minnesota Majority etc are trying to use intimidation tactics to shut Karl Bremer up. Unfortunately, those tactics work all too often.
Comment posted March 31, 2008 @ 11:26 am
I take your point, Sir. It was probably an unfair characterization to use the term “cracker”.
What I meant to say was “listener”.
The point is that the intimidation tactics encouraged by radio talk show hosts and members of the right wing blogosphere have the distinct possibility of inciting violence from individuals that feel empowered by them into taking violent action against political opponents.
This kind of rhetoric is not the honorable, open, free, political discussion that Mr. Lewis portends to endorse. It’s the stuff of shock-jocks, and Jerry-Springer-outraged-to-violence culture. It’s turning public discourse into personal vigilantism; this restricts free speech, and is not a manifestation of it.
Comment posted March 31, 2008 @ 12:07 pm
Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due Michael Brodkorb just deleted a post disclosing my full name and city of residence.
Comment posted April 17, 2008 @ 12:11 pm
Typical Liberals You guys have to remember this:
KMSP, KSTP, etc. actually call themselves “news” stations and are obviously not balanced in their coverage while talk radio stations are entertainment shows.
If you watch the news at night (I don’t anymore), it’s pretty obvious the local media’s anchors and staff aren’t exactly leaning to the right.
How is is that something like this is allowed to carry on, but when a smaller niche market like talk radio has some (very successful) conservative talk show hosts (that do not claim to be news outlets, by the way) this is seen as biased and unfair. Typical liberal double-standard whining.
“This kind of rhetoric is not the honorable, open, free, political discussion that Mr. Lewis portends to endorse”
– and the protesters’ way of doing it is? Disrupting our daily lives and destroying our cities?
Oh, and at the schools vs. radio companies, I’m pretty sure you can’t buy stock in a public school. But of course you being liberal you probably don’t distinguish between public and private property. The sake of having airwaves “public” is actually to protect them so that not one company can own all of them and block out everyone else.
The airwaves also apply to TV too, so should we get rid of all liberal news networks too so that we have equal numbers of each?
My guess is we would rid ourselves of much more liberal TV “news” stations than conservative “entertainment” radio shows.
Come on guys open your eyes and get realistic.
Comment posted March 28, 2008 @ 10:14 am
It's all politics… …until one of these crackers, encouraged by one of the usual suspects on the righty airwaves (who think they can't be held liable for incitement to violence), take matters into their own hands.
Death threats, and incitements to intimidate ARE serious, dangerous, and illegal. We get so caught up in the gamesmanship of political argument, that we forget that there are some seriously instable individuals out there.
Jason Lewis, as a professional who I assume would like to have a long and prosperous career, needs to make himself aware of what can quickly get out of hand with his listeners. Lord knows the Clear Channel lawyers are probably taking a long, serious look at this.
Comment posted March 28, 2008 @ 11:55 am
Sadly, These RightWingNuts ARE Dangerous There is a poster on M.D.E. who figured out who I am, and went to a non-profit I'm at and spead disinformation about me.
It's really rather despicable. And the hosts of these sites do little, to discourage it. Jason Lewis is the epitome of the problem.
Comment posted March 29, 2008 @ 2:22 pm
RWNcracker Can you guys ever comment without using racist and abusvie language? Cracker? RightWingNut? While using these words may make you look big in the eyes of some of your friends, all it does is weaken your arugments in the eyes of those of whom you are trying to convert.
If Bremer is going to assert his free speech rights so forcefully in the public arean, he needs to be prepared for the possible consequences (Can you say Dixie Chicks?).
In front of his home? No. Calling him out and rebutting his arguments – absolutely.
Comment posted March 30, 2008 @ 5:45 am
all it does… Yeah, “right”.
And Professor Gingrich didn't know what he was talking about.
Comment posted March 30, 2008 @ 6:43 am
Fair and Balanced
During the show Jason kept arguing that the public schools are dens of liberalism plastered with Wellstone bumper stickers and that the appearance by Vets for Freedom would have provided some needed balance. Presumably, Jason feels that the public schools have a responsibility to provide balance, because they are, after all, public schools.
Poor Jason. He must be terribly upset over the state of the public airwaves. That’s another arena where public resources get skewed politically. Conservative voices on the air must outnumber liberal ones by ten to one or more. To make Jason feel better, the public airwaves probably should be brought back under the protection of the Fairness Doctrine.
I’m sure Jason would appreciate a consistent application of his principles.
Comment posted March 30, 2008 @ 3:55 pm
RWNCracker pulls a Straw Man “If Bremer is going to assert his free speech rights so forcefully in the public arean, he needs to be prepared for the possible consequences (Can you say Dixie Chicks?).
In front of his home? No. Calling him out and rebutting his arguments – absolutely.”
EY: Straw man argument. The issue isn't whether Karl Bremer has any problem having his arguments being rebutted in the public square, the issue is that Jason Lewis, Drew Emmer, True North, Minnesota Majority etc are trying to use intimidation tactics to shut Karl Bremer up. Unfortunately, those tactics work all too often.
Comment posted March 31, 2008 @ 6:26 am
I take your point, Sir. It was probably an unfair characterization to use the term “cracker”.
What I meant to say was “listener”.
The point is that the intimidation tactics encouraged by radio talk show hosts and members of the right wing blogosphere have the distinct possibility of inciting violence from individuals that feel empowered by them into taking violent action against political opponents.
This kind of rhetoric is not the honorable, open, free, political discussion that Mr. Lewis portends to endorse. It's the stuff of shock-jocks, and Jerry-Springer-outraged-to-violence culture. It's turning public discourse into personal vigilantism; this restricts free speech, and is not a manifestation of it.
Comment posted March 31, 2008 @ 7:07 am
Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due Michael Brodkorb just deleted a post disclosing my full name and city of residence.
Comment posted April 17, 2008 @ 7:11 am
Typical Liberals You guys have to remember this:
KMSP, KSTP, etc. actually call themselves “news” stations and are obviously not balanced in their coverage while talk radio stations are entertainment shows.
If you watch the news at night (I don't anymore), it's pretty obvious the local media's anchors and staff aren't exactly leaning to the right.
How is is that something like this is allowed to carry on, but when a smaller niche market like talk radio has some (very successful) conservative talk show hosts (that do not claim to be news outlets, by the way) this is seen as biased and unfair. Typical liberal double-standard whining.
“This kind of rhetoric is not the honorable, open, free, political discussion that Mr. Lewis portends to endorse”
– and the protesters' way of doing it is? Disrupting our daily lives and destroying our cities?
Oh, and at the schools vs. radio companies, I'm pretty sure you can't buy stock in a public school. But of course you being liberal you probably don't distinguish between public and private property. The sake of having airwaves “public” is actually to protect them so that not one company can own all of them and block out everyone else.
The airwaves also apply to TV too, so should we get rid of all liberal news networks too so that we have equal numbers of each?
My guess is we would rid ourselves of much more liberal TV “news” stations than conservative “entertainment” radio shows.
Come on guys open your eyes and get realistic.
Comment posted January 10, 2011 @ 6:39 pm
Anyone remember this? Jason Lewis and his cohorts act no different than a polical mob.
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