FOT Forum
FOT Community => General Discussion => Topic started by: HaroldBlvd on April 04, 2008, 10:59:40 PM
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:oMe no likee this. Tired of writing letters to this station:
Scroll down to read my comments. I’m Harold06
Air America [airamerica.com]
http://airamerica.com/blog/2008/apr/03/statement-air-america-radio-chair-charlie-kireker-1
STATEMENT OF AIR AMERICA RADIO, FROM CHAIR CHARLIE KIREKER
By air America
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 3, 2008
New York - Air America has suspended on-air host Randi Rhodes for making inappropriate statements about prominent figures, including Senator Hillary Clinton, at a recent public appearance on behalf of Air America in San Francisco which was sponsored by an Air America affiliate station.
"Air America encourages strong opinions about public affairs but does not condone such abusive, ad hominem language by our Hosts," said chair Charlie Kireker.
Rhodes in action. [www.youtube.com]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4FBYwz_UjA
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Geraldine Ferraro is awful.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osmEvVBlDig
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She was the only REAL radio talent that AA had in the beginning.....
I wish they would back her up more but I guess it gets messy with the Clinton's ties to the owner etc.
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When AAR started 4 years ago they had the most remarkable lineup in commercial radio. Liz Winstead, Marc Maron, Rachel Maddow, Sam Seder,Janeane Garofalo, Randi, Al Franken, and the most wonderful Mike Malloy. I found myself listening to them all the time. All the radios in my house were tuned to AAR as was my car radio.. I tried to support their sponsors when I could. I even stopped listening to WFMU. It was so refreshing to hear the comical yet sharp insights into politics from the left point of view. It was great that we finally had our own media outlet. And it was great radio!
But in four short years they've managed to get rid of almost all the talent that made them so great. Of course Franken left to run for the Senate, but all the rest are gone and most under biter circumstances.
Everytime they fired someone I loved, it meant another angry phone call or email to their management. Of course there was no response. Compare that to WFMU. When Audio Kitchen ended I wrote a nasty letter to Ken Friendman threatening to cancel my mouse pledge. He wrote me right back and explained that the Professor wanted to quit and that he didn't want the show to end either. He also asked me to please not cancel my pledge.
What a difference.
Today AAR is a shell of what it once was. Randi and Rachel are the last great talents there. And they fired Maddow's brilliant comic partner Kent Jones recently leaving a gapping void in her show. And now they silence Randi. She was never my fav over there but I liked her show. She was fun to listen to and I agreed with most of her politics.
AAR seems to be intent on it's own destruction.Too bad because the idea of a left wing radio network is a great idea. For Shame.
So I'm back to WFMU and I ain't never going away again. I'm podcasting and pledging and most grateful for this island of free form radio in a sea of mediocrity.
What did Tom say during the pledge drive? By rights WFMU shouldn't even exist in today's corporate environment. (something to that effect)
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how much of your life would you say you spend writing angry messages?
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Her and Malloy were the only RADIO talent that started that station
Being good at radio takes work.
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Way too much. I can't help it. I hear something I like, then I don't hear it. I get angry and lash out at the powers that be. That's why I stick to WFMU now. No angry messages. It's almost magical.
As for Rhodes and Malloy. They were the only seasoned radio talent on AAR and their shows were great.
But the rest of AAR on air staff was made up mostly of comedians and that group turned out some of the best radio outside of 91.1.
Actually Seder and Garofalo had some radio experience. Tom allowed them to try out Majority Report on his show so those two had about two hours of solid radio time before before taking on their very own show.
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I used to listen to Air America, but I haven't in a while. The thing that blows me away about this is that Randi Rhodes has always been outspoken and I know I've heard her say things ON AIR that are way harsher than these statements. It just wasn't about the Clintons.
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Mike Malloy was talking about this on his show on Thursday. He pointed out that AAR has pulled all the talent off the air that gave credence to the 9/11 conspiracy theories. Tom Hartman and Lionel are gone. Now Rhodes at least for a time.
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Mike Malloy was talking about this on his show on Thursday. He pointed out that AAR has pulled all the talent off the air that gave credence to the 9/11 conspiracy theories. Tom Hartman and Lionel are gone. Now Rhodes at least for a time.
The truthers are being silenced one by one...? THIS RABBIT HOLE JUST GOES DEEPER AND DEEPER
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Randi left AAR today. I guess it's time for Air America to shop for a coffin.
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Dave Emory has always taken a much more well-researched and clear view on the 911 truth movement than any of those clowns.
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Can Dave Emory be trusted?
I tend to believe him but sometimes I wonder.
Also, Dave's programs lack humor and are rather dry. Sometime he is really hard to follow.
That's why originally liked AAR. The humor that "these clowns" brought to the table was refreshing.
Who do you like better? Dave Emory or Mike Malloy?
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9/11 conspiracy theorists are the worst of the worst. I'd rather hang out with klansmen and scientologists than "truth" people.
Some dope at work tried to tell me that no plane crashed into the Pentagon - it was really a bomb. When I told him my dad was an eyewitness to the plane crash, he thought about it for a second and then asked, rather cockily, "Well who's your dad?"
Really? Go change the Rolling Rock keg, you dolt. (That's what I should've said, but I didn't - I need the caysh.)
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Randi Rhodes died in 1982 but he was a pretty good guitar player.
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9/11 conspiracy theorists are the worst of the worst. I'd rather hang out with klansmen and scientologists than "truth" people.
Some dope at work tried to tell me that no plane crashed into the Pentagon - it was really a bomb. When I told him my dad was an eyewitness to the plane crash, he thought about it for a second and then asked, rather cockily, "Well who's your dad?"
Really? Go change the Rolling Rock keg, you dolt. (That's what I should've said, but I didn't - I need the caysh.)
Their are many unanswered questions about the events on that day and leading up to it. You can close your mind to it. I choose not to.
You can the believe the Bush Administration's story if you want. When have they ever lied to us before?
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9/11 conspiracy theorists are the worst of the worst. I'd rather hang out with klansmen and scientologists than "truth" people.
As someone who has hung out with all three of those perusasions, I wholeheartedly agree with that sentiment.
I used to watch a lot of "Real Time With Bill Maher". There was a great episode last year where 911 Truthers crashed his studio audience and started yelling out stuff in the middle of the show. Bill Maher got so mad he ran into the audience and bodily threw the people out of the studio himself. It was pretty funny.
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The truthers use the same line of reasoning that creationists use. The fact that you keep asking "questions" does not mean there are any remaining issues to discuss, when the kinds of questions you are asking are either irrelevant or of the same sort as have already been answered. Where creationists believe in a "god of the gaps," truthers believe in a "conspiracy of the gaps."
By the contempt they show for serious analysis of the issue from all sides, by their refusal to accept the valid answers that are given to their bogus "questions," and by their own refusal to seriously counter the devastating arguments that have been repeatedly put forth against their own views, the truthers have shown themselves unfit for serious debate.
Air America's getting rid of truthers is akin to the National Review's sacking of Ann Coulter. Grownups can have serious policy and fact disagreements without the need to condone immature conspiracy-mongering and divisive rhetoric.
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By the contempt they show for serious analysis of the issue from all sides, by their refusal to accept the valid answers that are given to their bogus "questions," and by their own refusal to seriously counter the devastating arguments that have been repeatedly put forth against their own views, the truthers have shown themselves unfit for serious debate.
Thank you! I liken this to people who think UFO's landed in area 51. Is the government hiding information? Yes. It's a top secret military base, people. They're working on materials normals are unfamiliar with and which are possibly unsafe to be exposed to because it's a top secret military base. They want to keep their secrets secret. Why does that necessitate a leap to extraterrestrials?
Also, I always wonder why it's so hard for people to swallow that someone could get one off on the U.S.A. We are hated the world over. If you walk around your neighborhood pissing everyone off, and one of your neighbors finally punches you in the face, there's no reason to believe that the motives for the face-punching start with your wife and kids, or your parents or something. It starts with people hating you.
It seems naive to me to assume that our government is the only body of people sophisticated and cold-blooded enough to organize 9/11. Also, our government can openly exploit us at any given time with little to no serious consequences, so why would they manufacture 9/11? It makes way more sense for Al Quaeda to organize it on Bush's watch because Bush and his admin are such idiots that they'd take the bait and start an East vs. West quasi-religious war over it, thus giving Al Quaeda and friends even more fuel for the fire. And if you're of the mind that these two opposing forces are actually on the same team that's been painstakingly designed specifically to oppress you out of spite, you are hopelessly solipsistic.
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I'm glad that this board is full of people with common sense, although I'd add that while I believe that some people whom I disagree with on this point are misguided, I don't attribute that to naiveté or malice. I think there's a bug in the human brain that I myself have succumb to from time to time that seeks too much order and direction in the unplanned chaos of history.
My last comment on the point (because the last thing I want to do is get involved in some protracted debate here) is to quote Hanlon's razor: Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.
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I'd like to add that I do think there are plenty of unanswered questions surrounding 911. I just think the truth movement folks are asking the wrong questions. Every second focused on controlled demolition theories is a win for the Bush administration.
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Every second focused on controlled demolition theories is a win for the Bush administration.
And a loss for anyone within earshot.
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By the contempt they show for serious analysis of the issue from all sides, by their refusal to accept the valid answers that are given to their bogus "questions," and by their own refusal to seriously counter the devastating arguments that have been repeatedly put forth against their own views, the truthers have shown themselves unfit for serious debate.
Air America's getting rid of truthers is akin to the National Review's sacking of Ann Coulter. Grownups can have serious policy and fact disagreements without the need to condone immature conspiracy-mongering and divisive rhetoric.
What serious analysis of this issue has been put forth by the Bush Crime Family on 9/11? If anything, they have tried to block any investigation into 9/11. It was the "Jersey Girls" who pushed for the 9/11 commission. Aside from an article in popular mechanics, no real substansive questions have been answered about 9/11. What answers are you satisfied with? Have you ever even looked at the 9/11 timeline? You're satisfied that 19 Saudis with boxcutters were able to undermine the greatest security force on Earth. Does that sit well with you?
You know who is not happy with the government's handling of the 9/11 investigation? The families of the victims to start.
You can call them truthers and conspiracy nuts if you want. There are wackos in every group, I'll admit. But I like to refer to these people as not buying into the lies. Again I ask, when has Bush ever told the truth about anything?
Ann Coulter said that the 9/11 families were enjoying their loss. that they were making all sorts of fame and wealth from their losses. I think that is what got her canned from that magazine.
Again the AAR staff, the good ones are just trying to find the truth and call Bush out on his lies.
By the way, by calling these people truthers, you imply that those that don't go along with them are nontruthers or not interested in the truth.
When did conspiracy become a dirty word? It just means a plan carried out by two or more people. A famous conspiracy you may have heard of was the Revolutionary War.
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Doesn't ring a bell.
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There has been plenty written in legitimate mainstream journalistic outlets about how the 9/11 commission was a whitewash, but all the evidence points to the fact that any coverup was about absolute government incompetence rather than a conspiracy.
My big problem with the 9/11 truth movement is that it ascribes the government in general, and the Bush administration in particular, with an omnipotence that they just don't possess. Are Bush/Cheney overreaching, and too powerful? Sure. They're also a bunch of greedy fuckups. I do in fact buy that Saudis with box-cutters were able to undermine... well, I don't really buy that the US is "the greatest security force on earth."
The other thing I don't like about the 9/11 Truth movement is that it's clearly stupid on the face of it, and in the minds of the beleaguered American public, it gets conflated with other charges for which there is ample evidence - the rampant lies about Iraq (and, these days, Iran), the spying on US citizens by the government, and US torture all get lumped in with this X-Files nonsense. Sure, reopen the 9/11 investigations and hold both the Clinton and Bush administrations accountable, but don't expect some magical, easy solution to our multiple, complex, severe problems.
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You're satisfied that 19 Saudis with boxcutters were able to undermine the greatest security force on Earth. Does that sit well with you?
Really? You consider pre-9/11 airport security (or even today's) to be "the greatest security force on Earth"?
mega edit:
http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/42181/?page=entire
BUSH: So, what's the plan again?
CHENEY: Well, we need to invade Iraq and Afghanistan. So what we've decided to do is crash a whole bunch of remote-controlled planes into Wall Street and the Pentagon, say they're real hijacked commercial planes, and blame it on the towelheads; then we'll just blow up the buildings ourselves to make sure they actually fall down.
RUMSFELD: Right! And we'll make sure that some of the hijackers are agents of Saddam Hussein! That way we'll have no problem getting the public to buy the invasion.
CHENEY: No, Don, we won't.
RUMSFELD: We won't?
CHENEY: No, that's too obvious. We'll make the hijackers al-Qaeda and then just imply a connection to Iraq.
RUMSFELD: But if we're just making up the whole thing, why not just put Saddam's fingerprints on the attack?
CHENEY: (sighing) It just has to be this way, Don. Ups the ante, as it were. This way, we're not insulated if things go wrong in Iraq. Gives us incentive to get the invasion right the first time around.
BUSH: I'm a total idiot who can barely read, so I'll buy that. But I've got a question. Why do we need to crash planes into the Towers at all? Since everyone knows terrorists already tried to blow up that building complex from the ground up once, why don't we just blow it up like we plan to anyway, and blame the bombs on the terrorists?
RUMSFELD: Mr. President, you don't understand. It's much better to sneak into the buildings ourselves in the days before the attacks, plant the bombs, and then make it look like it was exploding planes that brought the buildings down. That way, we involve more people in the plot, stand a much greater chance of being exposed, and needlessly complicate everything!
CHENEY: Of course, just toppling the Twin Towers will never be enough. No one would give us the war mandate we need if we just blow up the Towers. Clearly, we also need to shoot a missile at a small corner of the Pentagon to create a mightily underpublicized additional symbol of international terrorism -- and then, obviously, we need to fake a plane crash in the middle of fucking nowhere somewhere in rural Pennsylvania.
RUMSFELD: Yeah, it goes without saying that the level of public outrage will not be sufficient without that crash in the middle of fucking nowhere.
CHENEY: And the Pentagon crash -- we'll have to do it in broad daylight and say it was a plane, even though it'll really be a cruise missile.
BUSH: Wait, why do we have to use a missile?
CHENEY: Because it's much easier to shoot a missile and say it was a plane. It's not easy to steer a real passenger plane into the Pentagon. Planes are hard to come by.
BUSH: But aren't we using two planes for the Twin Towers?
CHENEY: Mr. President, you're missing the point. With the Pentagon, we use a missile, and say it was a plane.
BUSH: Right, but I'm saying, why don't we just use a plane and say it was a plane? We'll be doing that with the Twin Towers, right?
CHENEY: Right, but in this case, we use a missile. (Throws hands up in frustration) Don, can you help me out here?
RUMSFELD: Mr. President, in Washington, we use a missile because it's sneakier that way. Using an actual plane would be too obvious, even though we'll be doing just that in New York.
BUSH: Oh, okay.
RUMSFELD: The other good thing about saying that it was a passenger jet is that that way, we have to invent a few hundred fictional victims and account for a nonexistent missing crew and plane. It's always better when you leave more cover story to invent, more legwork to do, and more possible holes to investigate. Doubt, legwork, and possible exposure -- you can't pull off any good conspiracy without them.
BUSH: You guys are brilliant! Because if there's one thing about Americans -- they won't let a president go to war without a damn good reason. How could we ever get the media, the corporate world, and our military to endorse an invasion of a secular Iraqi state unless we faked an attack against New York at the hands of a bunch of Saudi religious radicals? Why, they'd never buy it. Look at how hard it was to get us into Vietnam, Iraq the last time, Kosovo?
CHENEY: Like pulling teeth!
RUMSFELD: Well, I'm sold on the idea. Let's call the Joint Chiefs, the FAA, the New York and Washington DC fire departments, Rudy Giuliani, all three networks, the families of a thousand fictional airline victims, MI-5, the FBI, FEMA, the NYPD, Larry Eagleburger, Osama bin Laden, Noam Chomsky and the fifty thousand other people we'll need to pull this off. There isn't a moment to lose!
BUSH: Don't forget to call all of those Wall Street hotshots who donated $100 million to our last campaign. They'll be thrilled to know that we'll be targeting them for execution as part of our thousand-tentacled modern-day bonehead Reichstag scheme! After all, if we're going to make martyrs -- why not make them out of our campaign paymasters? Shit, didn't the Merrill Lynch guys say they needed a refurbishing in their New York offices?
RUMSFELD: Oh, they'll get a refurbishing, all right. Just in time for the "Big Wedding"!
ALL THREE: (cackling) Mwah-hah-hah!
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I'm not referring to airport police. I know how lame they were. I saw Die Hard 2.
I'm talking about the US military. Norad. The fact that 4 airliners can make U turns in the sky over a period of 2 two hours and not a one Norad fighter was scrambled. For shame on that.
The fact that planes were able to fly over one of most restricted air spaces in all of the USA, and not get shot down? (DC) That's not good.
Look, I don't know what brought those towers down. I don't know about all the wild claims of charges being set. I don't Know why there is no air craft debris at the Pentagon. I don't know why only Democrats and the press got anthrax. What ever happened to that case?
Who knows? But all I'm sayin' is something stinks about the way the whole thing went down, And these question have never been answered.
A lot of things just don't add up.
It's good to be a bit broadminded and not dismiss all arguments as the rantings of crazy tin hat wearing fools
In any crime investigation the police always look at who benefits first. No one can deny that Bush and his neo con buddies benefited big time from 9/11.
Got Bush his Iraq war. Got him reelected for cripes sake. It's not like they've ever came forward and answered any of the charges about 9/11.
Hey, I started this thread because I was upset about Air America, and commercial radio in general. I didn't want this to deteriorate into a discussion on 9/11 theories. My point was that AAR was great when it started and the management totally wrecked some great radio. Decisions that were made there were made because of outside forces on the station. Be them sponsors or political influence. This is why I returned to FMU. They answer only to listeners. That's all. The 9/11 stuff can hang for all I care.
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What is Air America woos Tom?
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In any crime investigation the police always look at who benefits first. No one can deny that Bush and his neo con buddies benefited big time from 9/11.
Yeah, just look at how much they're benefitting. Ever since 9/11 they've sure been benefitting like crazy.
The fact that planes were able to fly over one of most restricted air spaces in all of the USA, and not get shot down? (DC) That's not good.
Actually, it happens about every 10 minutes, all day every day. The Pentagon is literally 1500 feet from an airport.
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The fact that planes were able to fly over one of most restricted air spaces in all of the USA, and not get shot down? (DC) That's not good.
Actually, it happens about every 10 minutes, all day every day. The Pentagon is literally 1500 feet from an airport.
Hahaha, yea, Reagan National Airport is like across the street from the Pentagon.
I love how people call this the truth "movement" when really it's just a bunch of uninformed idiots googling theories and posting them on message boards.
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(http://data.tumblr.com/vicErPwd778619f3sJXxauIY_500.jpg)
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(http://icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/funny-pictures-anakin-cat.jpg)
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Can anyone remember the X Files spinoff show called the Lone Gunman? Not a bad show but it only lasted a season.
The pilot episode was about a plot to crash an airliner into the WTC. The final scene climaxed in a fight to finish inside the cockpit.
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9/11 will seem like nothing when great Cthulhu awakes from his slumber in his house at R'lyeh
Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!
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Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!
Now you've done it....
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Here's why Randi left Air America Radio. AAR was probably paying Randi a hell of a lot more money than her ratings numbers could justify. They wanted Randi to adjust her salary downwards to a more sensible level. Rightfully, she refused. Air America had to bide their time until Randi gave them an excuse to terminate the contract. Predictably, Randi got drunk and stood up in front of a live mic in San Francisco and unleashed verbal vomit. Hillary supporters and even right wing media types nationwide expressed outrage. Randi's obscenity laced YouTube viral video was like a godsend to Air America executives. They seized their chance to legally place her under indefinite suspension, thus forcing her hand and eliciting her resignation. Whew, Air America relieved themselves of a burdensome salary and life goes on.
she actually said as much on Larry King.
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...am I really going to join this thread? Apparently so.
I tried and tried to like Air America when it first came on. I came of age during the Al Franken Decade, so it should have been easy.
But as it turns out, getting harangued and lectured for hours by people you agree with isn't much more fun than getting harangued and lectured for hours by people you disagree with. At least that was my experience. And as boring and overwrought as Franken was on the radio, Randi Rhodes made him seem positively upbeat. Did the world really ask for the perfect mix of Bob Grant and Lynn Samuels? If so, I wasn't part of that gruesome chorus.
She had a radio career before, she'll find someplace to go next. Hopefully I won't get that station where I live.
As for all the 9/11 stuff: Harold, I live in a part time flight path for Newark, and possibly JFK. Even now, with all the post 9/11 nonsensical "Security Measures" that we've been fed and have lapped up as an idiotic people, I haven't seen a patrolling military plane since before October 1, 2001. How many hundreds of planes were in the skies on the morning of 9/11? What you're envisioning is the Air Force essentially repelling a massive, diffuse air invasion that had already breached the borders and was being carried out by an unknown percentage of a huge number of planes. It can't be done safely and effectively.
Oh, and two more quick points:
1) My wife was a flight attendant for 13 years. Prior to 9/11, the protocol for dealing with hijackers was to do what the hijackers wanted; not to fight. This was so people didn't get hurt. I don't know what changes there have been since.
2) Planes make U-Turns routinely due to mechanical or medical reasons. Would you have had the Air Force shoot down any plane that made a U-Turn? What if they shot down a plane that had a heart attack victim on board? Would that fuel further conspiracy theories?
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2) Planes make U-Turns routinely due to mechanical or medical reasons. Would you have had the Air Force shoot down any plane that made a U-Turn? What if they shot down a plane that had a heart attack victim on board? Would that fuel further conspiracy theories?
I would expect that their would have to be some kind of contact with planes before deciding what action to take. In this case the transponders were turned off. I think that means they can no longer be tracked on radar. I do believe that cell phones were made from these planes telling of the hijacking.
Also, didn't they pick up the hijackers saying there was a bomb on board?
I think that once transponders are turned off Norad is supposed to be notified.
As for Randi Rhodes here is an interview with her and Marc Maron when he filled for Mike Malloy last week. Her firing was all about the money and her contract and nothing to do with her views on 9?11.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G16sX1Y7wRY (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G16sX1Y7wRY)
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9/11 conspiracy theorists are the worst of the worst. I'd rather hang out with klansmen and scientologists than "truth" people.
Some dope at work tried to tell me that no plane crashed into the Pentagon - it was really a bomb. When I told him my dad was an eyewitness to the plane crash, he thought about it for a second and then asked, rather cockily, "Well who's your dad?"
Really? Go change the Rolling Rock keg, you dolt. (That's what I should've said, but I didn't - I need the caysh.)
Their are many unanswered questions about the events on that day and leading up to it. You can close your mind to it. I choose not to.
You can the believe the Bush Administration's story if you want. When have they ever lied to us before?
Really?
Really?
Come on, guy.
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Since Harold gets to proselytize 9-11 truth, I would like to introduce some Scientology recruitment materials I made myself for you to consider and enjoy.
(http://www.grabup.com/uploads/3cca2e1ed1f5f5285a2ac99c074919c6.png)
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Since Harold gets to proselytize 9-11 truth, I would like to introduce some Scientology recruitment materials I made myself for you to consider and enjoy.
(http://www.grabup.com/uploads/3cca2e1ed1f5f5285a2ac99c074919c6.png)
No one's ever put it that way to me before. I'm going to the nearest Scientology center right now to sign up.
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Is there some sort of Scientology equivalent to the Bar Mitzvah?
I don't think 9/11 was an inside job BTW.
It was outsourced.
You fools, you refuse to believe. Sometimes I think I must go mad.
I'll bet Tom agrees with me.
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If it was outsourced that doesn't mean it's not an inside job.
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I'll bet Tom agrees with me.
There's only one way to find out - wouldn't this be a great call-in topic?
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How can it be inside if it's out sourced?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCluyRJnldo