The KFYI Mr. "Moonpie" Mohan in the Morning show topic du jour was the Cardinal stadium fiasco (surprise!) and more specifically the content of today's E.J. Montini's AZ Republic column where it is questioned if McCain can be unbiased in his newfound role as mediator between the FAA and the Tempe stadium interests, given the fact that his wife's family business gave $25,000 to help get the stadium initiative passed. The millions of dollars the Bidwells have contributed to McCain's campaign was briefly noted also, but not factored in as an issue (?). McCain phoned in to challenge the host and a heated verbal exchange ensued, with McCain claiming it was "foolishness" to suggest that he could be biased in any fashion. Mohan retorted that many pilots believe that the FAA "higher-ups" will be politically persuaded by McCain to reverse a "regional level" FAA decision to placate Tempe powers and the Bidwells.

The last paragraph of the column is quite funny ...

Will Spanky and Darla ever kiss and make up? Will Alfalfa and Buckwheat finally decide to play ball together? Did Grant the attack dog bite off more than he could chew? Will anyone under the age of 40 get the "Our Gang/Little Rascals" references? And finally, will the rest of us decide that a slapstick comedy revolving around a stadium, an airport and a bunch of juvenile politicians isn''t funny anymore and cancel the show?

» read more

Sad. Sorry. Pathetic. On Wednesday of last week, KXEM 1010 launched its "new, exciting" talk lineup. Hmm, only one show, Savage Nation with Michael Savage (see Jabbertalky) - another national show with a right wing ideologue that delights in berating callers for the amusement of himself and his audience. The remainder of the day on KXEM (all except 4p-8p) is devoted to AP news headlines.

Meantime, it's the third week for new KXAM host Gary Segerstrom and I haven't read one remark positive or negative here about the new "Afternoon Show". At least Debra Rich generated a firestorm of negative feedback - while with Gary's show I guess the only question is which other KXAM employee will be the guest today.

Well, what are your thoughts on Phoenix area talk radio? I've ranked all the local hosts, and offered my thoughts and commentary on their respective shows. Are you satisfied with the present talk host lineup?

Here is my ranking list for the local hosts. In a future article, I'll run down all the national hosts, including all the daily fare on NPR, Rush, Jimbohandin, etc. ... In no way is this a scientific survey - it's just a matter of educated opinion.
» read more

Vincent Bugliosi, former LA County prosecutor whose most famous trial was the Charles Manson case, has made the prosecutorial case here that the Supreme Court underminded the Constitution and chose our president. The "Supremos" committed the unpardonable sin of being a knowing surrogate for the Republican Party instead of being an impartial arbiter of the law. They stole an election from the people and delivered it as the spoils of power to the new king, thereby violating the laws the Justices swore to uphold and thereby reducing themselves to common thugs.

Bugliosi is not your knee-jerk, anti-government, anti-establishment citizen. His chances of being named Sweetheart of the Year by the ACLU are damn slim. So, when he calls the decision a "judicial coup d'etat", it's worth notice.
» read more

The NY Times is running a series of articles on the controversial Florida overseas absentee vote, and its impact on the 2000 election. Basically, the investigative research reveals that overseas ballots were treated differently, depending on whether or not the vote was likely to go for Bush.

With the presidency hanging on the outcome in Florida, the Bush team quickly grasped that the best hope of ensuring victory was the trove of ballots still arriving in the mail from Florida residents iving abroad. Over the next 18 days, the Republicans mounted a legal and public relations campaign to persuade canvassing boards in Bush strongholds to waive the state's election laws when counting overseas absentee ballots.

Their goal was simple: to count the maximum number of overseas ballots in counties won by Mr. Bush, particularly those with a high concentration of military voters, while seeking to disqualify overseas ballots in counties won by Vice President Al Gore.

A six-month investigation by The New York Times of this chapter in the closest presidential election in American history shows that the Republican effort had a decided impact. Under intense pressure from the Republicans, Florida officials accepted hundreds of overseas absentee ballots that failed to comply with state election laws. In an analysis of the 2,490 ballots from Americans living abroad that were counted as legal votes after Election Day, The Times found 680 questionable votes. Although it is not known for whom the flawed ballots were cast, four out of five were accepted in counties carried by Mr. Bush, The Times found. Mr. Bush's final margin in the official total was 537 votes.

» read more

Do you remember Jefferson Davis McGee, the inmate brutally beaten in the county lockup? Doctors removed his spleen, after a group of inmates mistakenly thought he was the main suspect in the rape and murder of an 8 year-old girl, and gave him a severe pounding. David Schmidt played the "good Samaritan" and bailed McGee out of jail. Well, today on the KFYI Charles Goyette show, David was a guest again, this time taking issue with today's column by Richard Ruelas in the AZ Republic that lamblasts Schmidt for taking advantage of McGee's peril. Ruelas phoned in and he and Schmidt exchanged barbs in dispute over Schmidt's involvement with McGee ...

Best known for getting minor celebrities such as Tonya Harding and LaToya Jackson to pose in skin magazines, Schmidt is going through a nasty custody battle that has included wild allegations of child abuse. He doesn't like the way he's been treated by the justice system.

Schmidt latched on to McGee - and his potential multimillion dollar claim - to exact a bit of revenge.

"If there's a little justice that falls in my lap . . . yeah, gee, how about that?" he said. "Maybe justice happens to be a matter of happenstance once in a while."

Schmidt convinced McGee to sign a power of attorney agreement with him, enabling Schmidt to hire lawyers and broker deals. Schmidt won't say how much cash he expects to receive for his trouble.

» read more