You think other’s shouldn’t be able to speak their mind that don’t share the same views with you?

Everything everyone says is going to be offensive to somebody.

I’ll try one more time - people have the freedom to say whatever they want, but they have to understand that it is possible that they will be held accountable for it, especially if they do it in an environment that has standards to which they must be held. You have the freedom to hit on your subordinate at work, but you will be held accountable for your actions if it breaks company policy.

And yes, everything that people say is going to be offensive to somebody, but if you can’t agree that there are any distinctions between calling someone a slope or a white jew lawyer on the radio from Dr. Basketball saying he hates Georgia football fans, then your mind is closed and nothing I say is going to change it.

And by the way, it seems like many people here are trying to stifle MY free speech in saying RTN is a racist punk who should be fired? Don’t I have the right to say that? Yes! If it bothers you, just don’t read any more of my posts.

Now, can we scoot away from that & start talking about the more specific case of hate speech - how it hurts people - how it creates racial strife - how it tears down our society instead of building it up? We agree about the fact that radio stations can police themselves. Now can we talk about whether they should?

Davey, talk radio - and hell - the comments section on this blog - are exactly for people expressing themselves when they have different views.

That is my point exactly, I have no problem with people expressing their views, agreeing or disagreeing…I am saying, if you dont like something then turn the station or turn the channel and or boycott the sponsers. Otherwise I dont like what you are suggesting.

I dont know what part of this that you dont understand.

I am not saying that I agree with everything he says, I do think that people tend to blow things out of proportion.

He shouldn’t just wait to see what “sells” and base his judgment about what to keep on the air on how many people in Chattanooga are willing to embrace or tolerate racism.

Like I said…You have options.

The option I think that some here are suggesting is one that I dont and never will agree with…Dictating priniciples and morals to a public audience by an ever present “thought police”…

The radion station can police themselves. They are in the business of making money.

You have options. When you jump down other peoples throats when their perspective just happens to differ from your own then how do you differentiate yourself?

The problem isn’t “different views”. It is dehumanizing language. It is the cultivation of racial disharmony. That’s no mere molehill. Offering hate speech as “entertainment” is like offering rat poison to a hungry man and calling it “food.”

jadarm, RTN is just a local afternoon radio host, and if he wants to be an antisemite on his own time that’s his business. But he is getting paid to serve the public with his brand of “entertainment”, and Bill Lockhart should care enough about the quality of that entertainment to make sure his afternoon hosts know better than to take their hate-speech onto his radio station. He shouldn’t just wait to see what “sells” and base his judgment about what to keep on the air on how many people in Chattanooga are willing to embrace or tolerate racism.

I can walk down the street and wave my arms around all I want, but when I start hitting people as I walk by them, then I need to stop waving my arms or I will be held accountable for my actions.

Hardly a good excuse when what we are actually talking about is freedom of speech.

I will say one more thing before I let this go entirely.

You keep on saying that I told you to “ignore” what they are saying. I never said that. In fact, I did say that everyone has the right to agree or disagree.

If you feel that it is sooo offensive to you then call the radio station or boycott the sponsors. That is how it works.

Personally, I think everyone is ragging a little too hard on RTN…he is what he is…an afternoon talk radio co-host. He has a job to do, to keep people listening.

I dont think Bill Lockhart is so unaware as to what RTN is doing or saying.

You think other’s shouldn’t be able to speak their mind that don’t share the same views with you?

Everything everyone says is going to be offensive to somebody.

If the radio station thought what he said was bad enough, he would be held accountable. Hell, if the FCC even thought it was, you know he’d be held accountable.

People are turning a mole hill into a mountain.

What a great argument. Too bad you weren’t able to convince Ghandi, MLK, Medger Evers, or anyone else that has led a social change movement that, instead of confronting a racism or any other problem and fighting for what is right, they should have just ignored the problem and it would go away! Poof! I guess alot of people suffered and died for nothing. I admit that RTN’s brand of racism doesn’t really require a social movement to confront it, but why should I ignore it?

One thing about America is freedom of speech…article 19 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

I am so sick of people using this argument to justify racist speech. Yes, we all have freedom of speech, and RTN has the right to say whatever he wants. But freedom of speech doesn’t mean freedom from accountability for what you say. I can walk down the street and wave my arms around all I want, but when I start hitting people as I walk by them, then I need to stop waving my arms or I will be held accountable for my actions. If RTN was a teacher talking about the Vietnam War and told his students that the Slopes were dirty fighters or called MLK the n word, he wouldn’t be arrested and through in jail, but he hopefully be held accountable for his actions and probably fired. If I work for a corporation, or a school, or a church, I will be held accountable for things I say. That’s not taking away my freedom of speech. If you don’t agree with that, then go into work tomorrow and call your boss a fucking asshole and see what happens.

Personally, although I believe strongly in the first amendment, I do believe that we have a right, as a society, to regulate our public airwaves. The first amendment doesn’t guarantee a right to a chunk of radio frequency bandwidth to get your message out. But, I don’t think government censorship is necessarily the right avenue for this. I think, if our culture is going to change and stop tolerating bigotry, then - as you said - consumers have to do the leg work. If turning the station is all you can be troubled to do, then that’s fine. But going that next step: shaming the radio host and shaming the people who hand him a microphone to spew his hateful, racist message is definitely not “going overboard with political correctness.”

And, if some people feel that government censorship is the right way to go where it concerns the public airwaves - I disagree with them, but they certainly have a right to that viewpoint and to argue it in the legislature and in the courts. And, while I disagree with them, I disagree more with those who want to shout them down with cries of “political correctness”.

You would’ve had a ball in Germany during the 1930’s.

Gee, now I am offended…but I have the option of not reading your comments also dont I?

…actually, I think the Germans would be the ones telling people on the radio and television airwaves what they can and cant say…kind of like what you have been suggesting.

So basically your saying ignore racism when you see or hear it.

Turning the station is not ignoring. Like I said, if enough people do it then your particular problem will take care of itself.

I will never advocate telling people what they can and cant say…what to feel and what not to feel. That doesnt mean I have to agree with them…it just means that we live in America.

No matter where you go, you’re going to be around racism, hear racism, experience racism, so what does stopping one person do?

Racism isn’t a cold or a virus, it’s not something you can cure. Everyone is racist to a certain degree.

One thing about America is freedom of speech…article 19 in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Everybody thinks different, everybody has different views.

Nobody on this planet, let alone this country, will think exactly like you and share your views.

So, if this guy can’t speak his mind, whether it’s moral or not, why should you be able to?