How to get Fired, by Michael Graham

Townhall.com ^ | 08/23/2005 | Michael Graham

[TBP]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1467941/posts

Call in or send an email to all of WMAL's other talk radio hosts that you will no longer be able to listen to them as long as they are carried by WMAL Contact WMAL advertisers to protest the decision to fire Michael Graham and to urge them to switch their advertising dollars to 570 AM or 1160 AM.

Contact 'em:

http://www.wmal.com/contactus.asp

CONTACT: Mr. Randall Bloomquist Program Director WMAL 4400 Jenifer Street NW Washington DC 20015 Switchboard: 202-686-3100 Direct: 202-895-2327 To be on a WMAL talk show, call 202-432-WMAL, toll free 888-630-WMAL E-Mail: randall.bloomquist@abc.com, ernie.fears@abc.com, chris.j.berry@abc.com

E-MAIL: testad@tcicomm.com, routhierd@tcicomm.com, tcimail@tcicomm.com, sales@pohankalexus.dealerspace.com, mandelle@pepperlaw.com, bbroullire@comcastsportsnet.com, jcreech@melwood.com, fedgov@1igsi.com, info@fairoakschurch.org, admissions@regent.edu, emba.coordinator@business.wm.edu, combsa@fmmc.army.mil, redelman@ricedelman.com, rmalone@fbw.com, cbraudis@mutualfundstore.com, trock@erols.com, crricchi@aol.com, chef47@msn.com, fodebbie@aol.com, midatlantic@basements.com, Roofdog@aol.com, sales@solatubeskylight.com, sales@sjroof.com, info@heartcheck.com, tony1winkler@yahoo.com, pumphrey@pumphreyfh.com, sfrazier@bgf.org, bill@1031.us, StewartTeam@PointingYouHome.com, info@annhand.com, cuttingedgekiosks@yahoo.com, pottenritter@jordankitts.com, jmack@gutterhelmetsystems.com, vabeach@procraftcoatings.com, info@thompsoncreek.com, smiles@bethesdasedationdentistry.com, info@theeyecenter.com, jay@rosenbergmedia.com, customerservice@tni.com, info@tonyandjoes.com, pr@1800gotjunk.com, gloriag@manorworks.com, fodebbie@aol.com, suggestions@merrifieldgardencenter.com, schapman@offenbachers.com, info@regionalpestmanagement.com, info@cabinetdiscounters.com, info@getstyle.com, etessel@croppmetcalfe.com, out2dry@nomorewater.com, jwingert@alexandriabuickpontiacgmc.com, mcarroll@brownscar.com, ernie@smithgifford.com, ehill@cherner.com, gsm@cowlesford.com, jeffdoughty@moorecadillac.com, elliot@roiadvertising.com, wanda@radialtire.com

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1467891/posts

http://abcradio.com/index.cfm?bay=comm.contact

includes links to their ad sales execs.

WMAL's on-air number: (202) 432-9625 (432-WMAL.)

Some other WMAL numbers: (202) 686-6100; (202) 686-3010; (202) 686-3018; (202) 686-3020.

Here is my email:

To: randall.bloomquist@abc.com ; Cccore@aol.com ; chriscore@630wmal.com ; info@talkers.com ; ernie.fears@abc.com ; chris.berry@abc.com ; mail@michaelgraham.com ; seanshow@abc.com ; hannity@foxnews.com ; rush@eibnet.com ; dittosrush@rushlimbaugh.com ; Marc.J.Horine@abc.com ; Irma.N.Aviles@abc.com ; Tammy.Blake@abc.com ; customerservice@abc.com ; George.Mayer@abc.com ; Lisa.Dunleavy@abc.com ; Dennis.Glynn@abc.com ; Wendy.Figliuolo@abc.com
Cc: wanda@radialtire.com ; elliot@roiadvertising.com ; jeffdoughty@moorecadillac.com ; gsm@cowlesford.com ; ehill@cherner.com ; ernie@smithgifford.com ; mcarroll@brownscar.com ; jwingert@alexandriabuickpontiacgmc.com ; out2dry@nomorewater.com ; etessel@croppmetcalfe.com ; info@getstyle.com ; info@cabinetdiscounters.com ; info@regionalpestmanagement.com ; schapman@offenbachers.com ; suggestions@merrifieldgardencenter.com ; gloriag@manorworks.com ; pr@1800gotjunk.com ; info@tonyandjoes.com ; customerservice@tni.com ; jay@rosenbergmedia.com ; info@theeyecenter.com ; smiles@bethesdasedationdentistry.com ; info@thompsoncreek.com ; vabeach@procraftcoatings.com ; jmack@gutterhelmetsystems.com ; pottenritter@jordankitts.com ; cuttingedgekiosks@yahoo.com ; info@annhand.com ; StewartTeam@PointingYouHome.com ; bill@1031.us ; sfrazier@bgf.org ; pumphrey@pumphreyfh.com ; tony1winkler@yahoo.com ; info@heartcheck.com ; sales@sjroof.com ; sales@solatubeskylight.com ; Roofdog@aol.com ; midatlantic@basements.com ; fodebbie@aol.com ; chef47@msn.com ; crricchi@aol.com ; trock@erols.com ; cbraudis@mutualfundstore.com ; rmalone@fbw.com ; redelman@ricedelman.com ; combsa@fmmc.army.mil ; emba.coordinator@business.wm.edu ; admissions@regent.edu ; info@fairoakschurch.org ; fedgov@1igsi.com ; jcreech@melwood.com ; bbroullire@comcastsportsnet.com ; mandelle@pepperlaw.com ; sales@pohankalexus.dealerspace.com ; tcimail@tcicomm.com ; routhierd@tcicomm.com ; testad@tcicomm.com ; joxley@wtopnews.com
Sent: Tuesday, August 23, 2005 1:09 PM
Subject: Islamofascism Runs Rampant in America: Terrorists Get Graham Fired


It is with great sorrow that I see WMAL cave in to the pro-terrorist organization CAIR. CAIR is a spin-off of a group described by two former FBI counterterrorism chiefs as a "front group" for the terrorist group Hamas in the U.S. Several CAIR leaders have been convicted on terror-related charges.

Isn't it interesting that a Saudi prince who has invested large amounts of money in CAIR also came up with millions to help support Euro Disney?

CAIR will keep upping its demands as long as Chris Berry keeps going along with them. They won't be happy until Michael is crucified.

CAIR has the right to freedom of speech but Mr. Graham does not?

Bob Grant got canned by WABC for a minor joke about Ron Brown after his plane crash death. Disgraceful treatment for such a legend who made them a fortune in ad revenue. But ABC/Disney is always looking to undermine conservatives.

Chris Berry has made the statement that "we make our decisions independent of external pressures or third parties." I assume that is why Mr. Berry has done eactly what CAIR wanted in this situation all along the line.

WMAL wouldn't have been asking for an apology if CAIR hadn't insisted on one. You may claim otherwise, but the fact is that each demand CAIR has made has been accepted.

After Graham was suspended (at CAIR's insistence) , CAIR issued a press release demanding that Graham be fired. Now he has been. He has been fired for making remarks offensive to terrorists. If anyone is owed an apology, it is the moderate, Muslim community who have been failed once again by the mainstream media.

If CAIR and other radical organizations are able to shut down any criticism of their anti-American agenda this way, then there is a chilling effect on free speech that will do damage to all of us and to the American way of life. But at least it will keep pressure groups off your back.


This is what the once-great WMAL has come to. It is shameful.

Getting fired for telling the truth? What has this country come to these days? While I do not agree that all Muslims are the enemy, the statement that Muslim leaders (most of them anyway) are complicit in terrorism is accurate. Perhaps they support it, perhaps they are scared, but they do nothing to condemn it or to stop it. (There was one brave Imam in Spain who put out a fatwa on Osama bin Laden, but he is the rare exception.) All Muslims are not terrorists. However, so far all the terrorists have been Muslim.

Michael is right that most Muslim leaders seem to be intimidated and afraid to criticize the terrorists. They need to be more outspoken.

Here are a few stories about one of the few Muslim leaders with the courage to speak out publicly, one of the chief Imams in Spain, who issued a fatwa against bin Laden:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,150066,00.html
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/03/11/madrid.anniversary/
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1274981,00050003.htm

Yet Ibrahim Hooper of CAIR credited 'criticism from talk radio' in part for the recent fatwa against terrorism issued by a group of U.S. Muslim scholars. Guess when that fatwa was issued? The day before Graham was suspended!

Here is the truth about CAIR from WorldNetDaily.com:

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45887

In April, the founder of the Texas chapter of CAIR, Ghassan Elashi was found guilty of supporting terrorism. Elashi, along with two brothers, was convicted in Dallas of channeling funds to a high-ranking official of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, Mousa Abu Marzook. Elashi was the third CAIR figure to be convicted on federal terrorism charges since 9-11.

CAIR is a spin-off of the Richardson, Texas-based Islamic Association For Palestine, or IAP, which was founded by Marzook. Former FBI counterterrorism chief Oliver Revell has called the IAF "a front organization for Hamas that engages in propaganda for Islamic militants."

Marzook, deputy chief of Hamas' political bureau in Syria, founded the IAP in 1991. At its conferences in the U.S., the IAP hosted leaders of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. Marzook was deported in 1997.

It was not the first conviction for Elashi. As chairman of the Holy Land Foundation charity in Dallas, Elashi was convicted last year of making illegal technology shipments to two countries on the U.S. list of terrorist-sponsoring states, Libya and Syria. Four brothers, including Bayan and Basman, also were convicted.

Other CAIR figures convicted since 9-11 are Randall Todd "Ismail" Royer, a former communications specialist and civil rights coordinator, and Bassem Khafagi, former director of community relations.

Royer was sentenced to 20 years in prison on charges he trained in Virginia for holy war against the United States and sent several members to Pakistan to join Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Kashmiri terrorist group with reported ties to al-Qaida.

In a plea bargain, Royer claimed he never intended to hurt anyone but admitted he organized the holy warriors after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S.

After his arrest, Royer sought legal counsel from Hamas lawyer Stanley Cohen, who said after 9-11 he would consider serving as a defense lawyer for Osama bin Laden if the al-Qaida leader were captured.

Khafagi, was arrested in January 2003 while serving with CAIR and convicted on fraud and terrorism charges.

Current CAIR leaders also have made statements in support of Hamas and the domination of the U.S. by Islam.


WMAL's sales pitch to advertisers promotes a " High Percentage of Loyal Listeners: Loyal listenership equals results for advertisers."

Many loyal listeners are staying away from your station until Michael Graham is reinstated. Now that he has been fired, they are turning off your station entirely. This is bound to hurt your sales. Loyal listeners are letting the advertisers know what they think about Graham's suspension. Do you really want to lose loyal advertisers?

To fire Graham for doing just what you hired him to do -- express controversial opinions -- undermines the very foundation of talk radio. Perhaps you should go back to playing standards. There's much less controversy.

Graham should be brought back immediately, and I am not listening to WMAL or supporting your advertisers until that happens. (I can get Rush and Sean elsewhere if I so choose.) AM 630 is off my dial. That hurts the advertisers because they will have a lot fewer people listening to their advertisements. If I were an advertiser, I would be seriously reconsidering whether I wanted to be on a station that caves in to pro-terrorist organizations. Certainly, I, for one, will not patronize these advertisers as long as they advertise on a station that acquiesces to the demands of a terrorist front.

http://www.wmal.com/contactus.asp

We welcome your comments and concerns at 630 WMAL.

You can send us mail at 4400 Jenifer Street NW, Washington DC 20015.

Switchboard: 202-686-3100

Sales: 202-895-2344

Programming: 202-895-2327

News Room: 202-686-3020

To be on a 630 WMAL talk show, call 202-432-WMAL, toll free 888-630-WMAL, or #630 on Cingular Wireless.

Do we want to FReep WMAL offices on Jenifer Street???

[MayflowerMadam]

"All I had to do to get fired is show up to work in a blackout and tell my boss the job sucked and so did he."

That's it?! Sheesh... some people just can't take a joke!

[milford421]

I couldn't agree with you more.

I can't listen to Hannity anymore. He's gone PC.

[milford421]

TBP,

This is really very, very well done.

I personally appreciate the time, effort and attention to detail.

A very, very useful post...greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

[fr4tad]

More advertisers need to hear from us. I sent this out a few days before the hatchet job:

Dear WMAL Advertiser;

I am writing to you as a listener of WMAL and a potential customer of yours. As you probably know WMAL has given in to pressure from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and “suspended” it’s morning host Michael Graham for having the audacity to tell the truth about Islam. What was supposed to be an absence of one week has now stretched into three with no end in sight.

You are probably asking, “Why does this concern me?” The answer is I, the listener. In response to WMAL/ABC suspending Michael, I have “suspended” my listening to the station. That means that I am no longer hearing your advertisements and I know I am not alone. I am also disinclined to purchase products and services from advertisers that continue to buy airtime on WMAL.

For now I have transferred my listenership to another station lower on the AM dial and am enjoying hosts like Laura Ingraham, Glenn Beck and Michael Savage in place of Michael, Sean and Chris. For news and traffic, I have found another station at the high end of the AM dial that also simulcasts on FM. May I suggest that you consider transferring some of your advertising budget to these other stations.

Thank you for taking time to read this letter and to reconsider your radio advertising strategy.

Sincerely,
A “suspended” WMAL listener

[Steve_Seattle]

"Not that anybody really likes Savage... he seems to go out of his way to make himself unloveable."

I haven't listened to him in more than a year, since KVI in Seattle dumped him (or he dumped them, I forget which). Occasionally one of his rants would be funny, and he'd occasionally come up with a good name for somebody (Larry King = "Larry Seltzer"), but more often than not he was just annoying and over the top.

[dhuffman@awod.com]

Ahh yes, here it is... http://www.charleston.net/stories/?newsID=37269&section=localnews In 1999, a comment about Colorado school shooting victims cost the Pelion native a talk show on Charlotte's WBT. Earlier, he was banned from South Carolina public radio for ridiculing politicians.

[jcb8199]

This is a very well-reasoned argument. So many things are "fair game," but once you step on the wrong toes, you are gone...

[johnb838]

he'd occasionally come up with a good name for somebody

Yeah, occasionally his names for people are good, but they're too often sophmoric. Sean Vannity is pretty good though. I have to admit though, Hannity and Limbaugh have both become pretty tame, O'Reilly too... they'll spike stories they think are too hot, like they wouldn't touch able danger or the expulsion of the Jews last week. Hannity has become Greta Lite which is pretty pathetic. Rush is still quick witted and insightful, but not very daring, IMO. So that leaves Savage. He is putting up big numbers, and he is the talk show host that the competition dares not speak his name. I think he attacks them just trying to call them out. People are wanting that. People are attracted to that. People are feeling very edgy and they want talk that's on the edge, not "fair and balanced". Tony Snow is pretty good too, in a genial way, he too tells it like it is, but has more fun doing it. A "happy warrior". I like those. Glenn Beck screws around too much. Laura Ingraham is good, but maybe a little too flippant... I don't know... she's good. She is good. Maybe she is too laid back I don't know, she doesn't get me riled up the way some of the other ones do.

[Prime Choice]

But instead, I made the one move certain to endanger my career: I told the truth about a minority group. And in the politically correct nation we live in today, that's the fast track to the unemployment line.

You told the truth about Islam? Tsk-tsk. Shoulda consulted the definition of Political Correctness first!   ;o)

[Prime Choice]

Hannity's been nothing but a set of timed catchphrases for months. I lost interest in him in late 2004.

[rmlew]

Graham was not hired by a station in LA, he was hired by RIGHTALK.com.
About a dozen promo spots come to mind.
Looks like I'll be missing the first hour of Rush.
Will blog this.

[rllngrk33]

Actually, a child is more likely to be abused by a public school teacher these days...

Sending kids to a public school is abuse.

[whenigettime]

john838 wrote: "People don't realize it but this IS the Soviet Union Lite, with better TV and better Music. Sort of a Bird in a Gilded Cage kind of arrangement."



Back, in the USS, back in the USS, Back in the USSR... you don't know just how lucky you are, boy.... (Soviet Light.... you speak truth here, dude)

[incredulous joe]

"How many CAIR members were truly patronizers of WMAL's advertisers anyway?"

Zero! I hope the advertisers send MAL a message. Something along the lines of "You suck!" Graham did such an awesome job supporting our troops and entertaining us. I can't believe they did this!

I didn't necessarily agree with what Michael said. I thought that it made for excellent "provocative theater"! It was great having Muslims get on the horn to attack his position, then be given the opportunity to denounce violence and terrorism against Israel and the US.

Hello?? Anybody home?? Hey the line went dead again. How d'ya like that?

During the span of time that Michael entertained this topic I only ever heard one person condemn Islamo-facism, and that guy turned out to be an ex-Muslim. I didn't know you were even allowed to live under such circumstance.

I am very disappointed in MAL for what they have done here. I think they're a bunch of quislings.

I listened to the guy in Graham's slot today and the quality of callers has fallen through the floor. We can always just turn 630AM off to send a message, but I think going after the advertisers is a nice way to continue to take a bite out of MAL. Is it me, or is their website looking a little sparse for banner ads these days??

Man, I wish Michael would come over to CBM in Baltimore during that space!

[incredulous joe]

Agreed.

Is it fair to say let the street's of our nation's capital run like rivers with red ink? Or might that be offensive to CAIR?

[Shortstop7]

Good point. I've never heard of him before this happened. But, I'm interested now. The powers that be don't need to be messing with talk radio. We are allowed our side too.

Sheesh.

[Shortstop7]

The msm will continue with these antics as long as we continue to buy the papers and magazines and watch the network news.

Yes, I firmly believe that. They will continue this crap as long as they can get away with it. Cancelled my subscription to our local paper yesterday. I found I only read three pages out of the whole thing anyway. A waste of money and time. My $26 a month might actually matter to them.

[Shortstop7]

I disagree. I think Hannity made a big impact on the election with his Freedom Concerts. I also think he's made a big difference on the border issues. We are starting to hear some noise now.

Rush and Hannity make a big difference. I haven't seen anything like that from Savage.??

[Shortstop7]

Good point. I've never heard of him before this happened. But, I'm interested now. The powers that be don't need to be messing with talk radio. We are allowed our side too.

Sheesh.