Anti-war boycott hurting Rush? (It causes Rush Limbaugh's listeners to tune in more)

worldnetdaily ^ | 2/3/2003 | WorldNetDaily

[TLBSHOW]

Anti-war boycott hurting Rush?

The leader of an anti-war activist media lobby and a report in CBS MarketWatch claim a boycott of Rush Limbaugh sponsors is working.

Kicked off just over a week ago by Take Back The Media, the effort seeks to intimidate sponsors of the No. 1 radio show in the country.

Micheal Stinson, a Vietnam-era veteran and co-founder of Take Back The Media, claimed on Bill O'Reilly's Fox News Channel show tonight that RadioShack, Bose and Amtrak have all dropped the Limbaugh program as a result of the boycott.

According to CBS MarketWatch, RadioShack spokesmen said any ads that aired on Limbaugh's show were a mistake to begin with. The company said it "strictly adheres to a policy of not intentionally buying advertising space on programs that might be political or socially controversial or that promote any one individual's agenda or point of view."

Amtrak told CBS MarketWatch that its ads were part of a complicated barter deal and that it normally does not sponsor political shows and "in the future ... will communicate [that] practice to" other partners.

All three companies told O'Reilly show staffers that the boycott had no impact on its advertising decisions.

Other advertisers targeted by Take Back the Media include Darden Restaurants' Red Lobster chain, Pfizer, AutoZone and online retailer Overstock.com – none of which would comment to CBS MarketWatch.

Limbaugh is syndicated by Premiere Radio Networks, a subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications. While not addressing whether the show had lost any advertisers as a result of the boycott, Premiere issued the following written statement:

"There have been many times in the 15-year history of 'The Rush Limbaugh Program' when national and world events have generated increased listening as well as increased communication with individuals who have opposing points of view," said company President Kraig Kitchin. "The kind of compelling radio that generates opposition also causes Rush Limbaugh's weekly 20 million listeners to tune in that much more and listen longer."

[PJ-Comix]

That is a code word for, "I was in the service during the time period but did not do a tour in Nam."

Just what year did Stinson enter the service? He looks to be in early 40s or late 30s. To have actually been a real Vietnam Vet he would have to be at least 48 years old since American troops were pulled out of Vietnam in 1973. Somehow I doubt that he was even in Vietnam during his military service. I believe that the WWII "era" ended in 1946 even though the war ended in 1945 but would anybody consider someone who entered the military in 1946 to be a WWII veteran?

My homework assignment is to find out the exact AGE of Michael Stinson.

[PJ-Comix]

Military personnel who served in Europe even during the height of the Vietnam War don't refer to themselves as Vietnam Veterans or Vietnam Era veterans. Some of the descriptions of Stinson says "Vietnam Veteran" without even the "era" part tacked on.

[Katya]

This is the reply overstock.com sent me:

Dear XXXX,
I appreciate you sharing your thoughts and concerns. We have and continue to hear from concerned customers such as yourself. We certainly appreciate that so many took the time to offer their feedback. Unfortunately, due to an overwhelmingly negative response from our customers, we have respectfully requested that our banners be removed.
Please be advised that we do not support, nor are we associated in any way with any political organization or opinion. Nor are we able to control what is posted on other sites.
Please keep us in mind for your online shopping needs.
Thank you,
Heather www.Overstock.com

Sounds like they capitulated to pressure....I'd love to see more of us write them in particular.

[MrB]

Guy didn't pass the smell test

From the looks of him, this is probably a literal assessment of the guy.
What is it... "Long haired, Dope smoking, maggot infested, plastic banana, good time rock & roll, fm type"

[Taxman]

What did you think of the mattress?

I'm looking for a new one, but the SelectComfort is quite pricey.

[MrB]

Had the mall management just paid attention to market forces instead of whiny leftists, they might also have stayed in business.

However, if they themselves were leftists, well, sometimes they proudly go noseless out of spite.

[John Jorsett]

I saw Stinson last night on O'Reilly. He appeared to be in his early 40s or late 30s. If so, then how could he be a Vietnam Vet?

I heard him say he's a veteran, but I didn't hear him say he was of the Vietnam era.

[bmwcyle]

I just e-mailed Bose. I told them I will continue to tell people not to buy their product.

I have worked in the Audio business for many years. I have gone to the Consumer Electronics Shows in Chicago and Los Vegas in 1980, 1984, 1989, and 1992. I have met the people who work for the Bose Company. Their produce is cheap and I would never buy their crap anyway.

[mathluv]

That is exactly what I thought. I would never have purchased a Bose the first time, if not for Rush. There will not be a second one after all... and I had been looking for that second one.

[mathluv]

I did send an email to Overstock. I will never use them if they oppose free speech.

[finnman69]

Stinson got his ass beat down hard.

OR Co-founder of group Michael Stinson.Alright, now first of all you’re angry… I mean I call some of the antiwar demonstrators anti-American when they start saying that the US is a terrorist nation you know and giving us this revisionist history that this one and that one and we did this and that and you know there’s a law and we respect the sentiment by the way here if you are against the war but once you start attacking our country as fundamentally an evil place which some of these antiwar people have done, then you are anti American in my opinion. Now your beef with Limbaugh is what?
SM: Well he said more than them being anti-American, he called them communists and Marxists and all kinds of foul things.

OR: Well some of them are. I mean SWA sponsored the big DC rally.
SM: That was problem.
OR:And they flat out admit they want a socialistic government.

SM Oh there were some of them. But he quoted ANSWER org and he talks about them being Muslims and radicals and all these things. A lot of these people are Methodist church members and things like that.
OR: Yeah I know.
SM: If you go to the ANSWER site…
OR What do you care what RL says on his radio program?
You know…
SM I’m a veteran. I’m antiwar I don’t appreciate his calling me a f…or whatever-- a communist.
OR: But he didn’t call you that.
SM: He called me a Marxist and a communist because I’m antiwar and I’m a veteran.

OR I don’t think RL thinks every antiwar person is a communist or a Marxist.
SM: That’s what he says. That’s the only thing I can go by.
OR: I’ve have transcripts. I never heard him say that. I mean maybe he has.
SM: I can show you the site. Come to TBTM and we’ll be glad to show you.
OR: Alright, speaking of your site and the boycott which you put into effect earlier this month has resulted in him losing sponsors Amtrak, Radio Shack, Boze, Overstock.com. Is that correct?
SM: Yes.
OR: But we’ve called them and they say that’s not true. That they buy bulk they don’t buy individual shows. And that none of them bailed on Limbaugh because of anything you did, so what say you?
SM: Uh, that’s not what they told me. We talked to the gentleman who was in charge of advertising at Amtrak…
OR: You got any paper on that? You got a note on that a letter on that?
SM: Well sure. I believe he sent us an email. We can send you something on that.
OR: I’d like to see it because we made painstaking—we called all of these people—and they said uhuh we buy bulk we haven’t cancelled anybody…
SM: I personally heard them on the radio. We were at home. Other friends have heard them. I personally heard Boze speakers. They came off right away. They said they had nothing to do with RL. They never advertised with them and that’s simply not true.
OR: What do you think’s going on here?
SM: Part of the corporate media. The corporations decides that they are going to make us look silly by saying that when the truth is 20,000 people on one website have heard them say all these things. It’s absolutely ridiculous.
OR: Well Boze, here’s their statement to us. We don’t advertise on RL right now.
SM: Ads are there.
Our decisions are primarily based on on whether or not an ad is returning an investment. That makes sense.
SM: Right…
OR: Okay now here’s the deal. It’s after Christmas and Boze is going to cut back its advertising. I do the Radio Factor, I know the game…look what I’m saying to you is I don’t think your boycott has led to his losing sponsorship. Be that as it may, isn’t trying to silence someone like RL un-American in itself? Doesn’t he have the right to say what he wants to say?
SM: Yeah he’s got the right to say what he wants to say but 600 stations across the nation is not stopping anybody’s free speech. You know, this guy, no one else can get on the radio they’ve got it so blocked up…Clear Channel has 1200 stations, 600 have RL Where’s the liberal guys here? Where do I hear a moderate voice on the radio?
OR: Well NPR.
SM: (rolls eyes and head) I don’t one. Name one.
OR: NPR has more stations than Limbaugh. You can hear the liberal/moderate line all day long.
SM: That’s one station.
OR: You gotta sit through the wind chimes…
SM: That’s one station, not 600 stations.
OR: NPR has 800 stations, Mr. Stinson. National Public Radio you can hear all day long your point of view.
SM: Okay, that’s one. But can you hear3 hours a day?
OR: They’re on 24 hours a day, sir.
SM: 24 hours a day?
OR: Don’t you know what NPR is?
SM: RL is using inflated numbers on top of it. He doesn’t have twenty million people.
OR: Don’t you know what NPR is?
SM: Yeah, I know what NPR is. National Public Radio.
OR: That’s right They have more stations than RL. They’re giving your point of view all day every day and…
SM: Well if these RL people want to boycott them, feel free. We’re not listening to trash talk on radio…
OR: Well then don’t! Listen to NPR.
SM: They don’t promote hate, Bill. They don’t promote hate. This is hate radio we’re listening to with this guy. He promotes hate. He and Savage and this has got to stop. It’s tearing the country apart.
OR: Mr. Stinson, you are making his point for him. He’s saying you people are intolerant that you don’t want freedom of speech…
SM: Don’t want freedom of speech?
OR: And you go make his point for him.
SM: No one’s taking money away from him. That’s freedom of speech.
OR: But you don’t want him to speak. You are against his freedom of speech.
SM: 600 stations. He’s got freedom of speech.
OR: You’re against his freedom of speech.
SM: I’m not against his Freedom of speech.
OR: Yes you are. You want to take him off the air.
SM: Racist speech…racist speech. I don’t want to take him off the air…
OR: Oh stop…
SM: Are you kidding? I’ve heard him say to people “Take the bone out of their nose and call me back.” Black people. Is that not racist?
OR: Oh please. He never said that.
SM: He has said that.
OR: No he has not. (shakes head in condescending manner)
SM: Yes he has said that. Go and look at our website TBTM and have a good look at it. We’ve got information there.
OR: I have to say based on my interview with you that your website is propaganda. But we appreciate your coming on. Next…
SM: (Scoffs)

[ladtx]

Micheal Stinson, a Vietnam-era veteran ...

I watched O'Reilly last night. The guy doesn't look old enough to be a Vietnam vet. I think we may have another imposter here.

[finnman69]

Overstock ads were running yesterday!

[1Old Pro]

COntroversy increases listenership. More listeners = more money paid by advertisers. More money paid by advertisers = more money for the EIB and RUSH's wallet.

Oh this boycott wored, it worked perfectly for Rush.

[Rollee]

Then they shall spiral slowly into oblivion. They must be a company that conducts their business policies according to emotion, not logic. They ignore demographics at the risk of their demise.

[Dr. Scarpetta]

Bump for the note I just sent to Bose.

[yendu bwam]

Kicked off just over a week ago by Take Back The Media

Take Back the Media? This is liberal fanatical facism at its worst (well, maybe not!). Nobody owns the right to free speech. As the liberals do with those who are uncomfortable with racial set-asides, homosexual scoutmasters for our teenage sons, higher taxes, gun control, etc. etc., their recourse is not reasoned argument, but rather trying to use the power of the state and of spewing vitriol to try to intimidate and cow those who dare to disagree. Of course, the impotence of this effort will only drive more nails into the liberal fanaticist cause.

[skinkinthegrass]

You mean the one that Req'd. 7 power cords, 16 K mem.," '79 tower of power"