Many of the usual suspects are on the list, Michael Savage, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and Glenn Beck even had the dubious honor of being dubbed 2009's "Misinformer of the Year" for calling the President a racist and comparing modern day America to the rise of Nazi Germany. You can watch the special video that Media Matters created for Beck at the bottom of this post.
In the mix with all of these nationally known Conservative voices is a man who resonates in a special way with the city of Cincinnati and who had three of his comments make the "Most Outrageous" list that was compiled by Media Matters.
Bill Cunningham has always been known for stirring up controversy on his Monday-Friday talk show and there have been a few instances when he has gained some national attention for his antics. Remember when Cunningham warmed up the crowd at a local event before John McCain took the stage in 2008 during the campaign season? Or how about the times when Cunningham has gone on Sean Hannity's show on Fox News to give voice to one crazy theory after another?
It should come as no surprise that Cunningham would land on such a list.
Here are the three comments that Media Matters considers among the "Most Outrageous" of 2009.
1. Cunningham on the Poor: "They're poor because they lack values, ethics, and morals."
On the January 4 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, Cincinnati-based radio host Bill Cunningham continued his attacks on the poor, stating: "[P]oor people were not and are not poor because they lack money. They're poor because they lack values, ethics, and morals." Cunningham added: "All that the mid-'60s and '70s did to the black community was to pay black fathers money on condition that they not be involved in the lives of their children and that black mothers were told that if you married, it would have a painful consequence. If, on the other hand, you acted irresponsibly by producing children out of wedlock, you would have a positive consequence, because government would fund bad behavior."
2. Cunningham on Section 8 housing: "I like keeping all those degenerates in one location so we can keep an eye on them"; residents "sit around and fornicate, defecate"
3. Bill Cunningham claims stimulus "give[s] ACORN up to $4.2 trillion" and contains "$350 million to hand out condoms and birth control pills so the poor can fornicate like rabbits"
and here is the video that Media Matters put together for Glenn Beck's "Misinformer of the Year" award:
You should check out some of the other items that made the Media Matters list and also feel free to post your favorite "outrageous" quotes in the comments section. What moments stick out in your mind from the past year either from national figures or on a local level from figures in Cincinnati?
This is cross posted here.
2 comments:
You're too young to remember when Cunningham just talked about local politics and sports and amused himself by calling Charlie Luken and assorted local media. Then Clear Channel decided controversy brought in better ratings and he turned into an idiot. I still don't know if his shtick is real or contrived.
Job number one in the media is to be entertaining and I find Cunningham to be among the best. You can find far more 'hateful' rhetoric if you listen to local black talk station WDBZ. But I generally think Lincoln Ware is among the best in the biz too. Genuine humorousness is such a rare ability that you sometimes have to just ignore the over-the-top rude speech.
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