Ok, I've officially had enough of Randi Rhodes

[Bluzmann57]

Today she generalized about Iowa, and has already shouted down two callers. And all within the first 40 minutes of the show. This puts her in the same league with right wing talk show hosts. She is too much in love with her self and I think it's time to turn off her show.

[Nederland]

1. Randi has always annoyed me

You are correct, she is the left's version of Rush Limbaugh--close minded, intolerant and not very bright.

[cali]

3. I only listened to her show once.

and I saw her on C-Span once. That was plenty. She's a blowhard, and I agree that she's none too bright.

[TomInTib]

9. Same here. nt

[Cosmocat]

32. Yeah ...

and let me add one more thing, more than a little too lose with the facts ...

All the above and most of what others have noted have been things I see in her, too ... But, that she will flat out make things up is what led me to write her off ...

As someone else noted, THIS is why there won't be a "left version of Limbaugh" ... Those freaks just don't even think twice about making nonsense up ... But, we are are the "good guys" and the people speaking for us need to deal STRICTLY in the facts ...

Last I listenened to her, I liked Randi cause she was good as fleshing out important things at the fringes that don't get dealt with in the MSM, but once I found that what she said was not always true, I tuned out ... This is the way of Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck et al, not our people ...

[Supersedeas]

84. turned her off long ago -- I think she likes to her herself nagg ala Limpballs

[JuniperLea]

2. Gads... she's on a downward spiral, imho...

What was her generalization?

I've had the same thoughts about her ego. Her shows, and her television appearances are becoming more and more about herself than any cause.

Sad. She had a lot of people in the palm of her hand, myself included, and she wasted it all.

[Bluzmann57]

7. Her generalization was about how white Iowa is

She said something like if one took all the black people in Iowa, they wouldn't even fill an arena. Not the exact quote, but that was the gist of it. It was included in her Oprah rant.

[JuniperLea]

18. A quick check shows a Black population of 2.3%... still...

Out of nearly three million people, they would too fill an arena!!!

http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/19000.html

But besides her being slightly wrong in that statement, how the hell do you suppose that make Iowa's Black people feel? I'd be pissed as hell!

And then when you think that there are very progressive and NON-BIGOTED people in every state, it doesn't matter what the Black population of Iowa is anyway!

[RB TexLa]

48. Guess it doesn't matter what the urban population or the hispanic population is either

Everyone else should just stop trying to get uppity, accept the "White Primary" of Iowa and New Hampshire and shut the f*&k up, huh?

[JuniperLea]

54. No shit...

Pretty disgusting, even for this lily white ass...

[Liberal In Texas]

19. I didn't hear the whole thing, but I did hear here say that there were no blacks in Iowa.

And that is, of course, just nutty.

[Critters2]

69. As I said in another thread the other day,

I attended an integrated school in Davenport in the 60's. When I went to grad school in Boston in the 80's, those good, white Northeastern libs were still fighting tooth and nail to keep their schools segregated.

What matters isn't how many of a group there are. What matters is how people are treated. Iowans could give most of this nation lessons.

[Javaman]

4. It took you this long?

she's been like this forever.

[Bluzmann57]

13. Well, we don't have progressive talk around here anymore

And when we did, her show was only on for the last hour. But it seems that Ed Schultz has switched time slots, which is a GREAT move imo. Ed and Randi were on at the same time before. Now, since WCPT boosted their power, it comes in here in eastern Iowa so I can listen again w/o streaming.

[lazyriver]

27. I think she's gotten much worse in the last 3 or 4 months,

especially when it comes to talking over guests and/or listeners/callers. I've heard her do what I believe to be some of the best and worst talk radio on the air. She has an abrasive edge to her that used to work to her advantage when she kept it just enough in check. It now seems to dominate her style. I can't listen to her at all anymore.

[alstephenson]

5. Geez, she's on a HUGE rant about Oprah sounding too black while campaigning for Obama..

Although I have to admit I wondered about the same thing! Oprah sounded totally different than she does on her show.

[Gman]

11. Did she say, "I've been fighting all my life..." ??

[LSparkle]

12. I don't get why Randi doesn't understand Oprah can have two "voices"

Does Randi REALLY think that Oprah never talks the way she did at the Obama rallies with Gayle or Steadman? I just think it's incredibly limited for her to really, truly believe that the Oprah who stumped for Obama ISN'T the real Oprah. There can be TWO OPRAHS, and both of them can be genuine! What the fuck is so hard for her to understand about that?????

[Connie_Corleone]

14. It's a black thing. Seriously.

I speak one way around white people and I speak in a different manner and tone around my friends, family, etc.

Just keepin' it real.

[in_cog_ni_to]

21. That's interesting. I never knew AAs did that. Is there a reason you do that?

To be more accepted by whites when you're with them? and then to be more accepted by AAs when you're with them? Is there a reason? This is an honest question...not trying to be snarky or anything.:)

[Dorian Gray]

29. It's probably the same

reason my husband inexplicably gets a Queens accent when he speaks to his family from Queens.

[soleft]

33. My mother starts saying over yonder when she's around her family

[Dorian Gray]

49. People fall into old habits

or certain dialects when around certain people. Hell, I lived overseas, and when I still speak to my Brit friends, I get a sort of (what I hope to be less annoying Madonna style) speech affectation. It's a sort of mimicry. It's certianly not meant to be "fake." It's a natural reaction to a desire to be heard, understood and accepted, I believe.

[Connie_Corleone]

38. Not about acceptance. Survival in the corporate world. That's all.

[in_cog_ni_to]

42. Ah. I see and understand.

Thanks.:hi:

[NOLALady]

67. Actually,

for me it just feels good. I fall into the dialect when I'm around some family members because I really like the way they/we talk. An outsider would probably need an interpreter. But it sounds good to me. It just reminds me of my childhood.

[Frank Cannon]

80. My wife and I lived in Texas for many years

When we go back there to visit friends and family, we fall back into our old Texas drawls.

There is no conscious effort to do this. It just happens.

On this subject, Randi doesn't know what the fuck she's talking about.

[maddiejoan]

51. Oprah wasn't takin' it home.

She was takin' it to the church. She was testifyin'

THAT's the problem I have.

Obama is being packaged as some kind of messianic figure.

[FloridaJudy]

58. *Everybody* does that!

I'm going to talk a lot differently around my fellow nurses than I am with a crowd of laypeople. So Oprah talks differently when she's on a political stump than she does to her usual audience. Most of us tailor our speech to fit the occasion.

I've thought a lot less of Oprah since she started promoting that "Secret" rubbish, but getting on her case for this is ridiculous.

[stevedeshazer]

65. Absolutely

I'm white. I speak fluent white city perfect western American English.

But I can speak farm. Rural speak is different. Southern, Cajun.

That's how I grew up. My grandparents were from Oklahoma to Finland.

This Oprah bashing stuff is ridiculous.

It's not a black/white thing.

American English has many dialects. Spanglish, Engrish, it's all good.

First poster in here with an ebonics blast gets hammered in advance.

A poster was in here yesterday hammering on people who use the term "ain't", but had a Willie Nelson avatar. I'm still laughing about that.

Thanks, Connie, your post IS for real.

[TheDebbieDee]

28. I have a more formal telephone voice AND

my casual, "at-home-with-friends" voice.

Does this make me a sociopath? I think not!

[Red Zelda]

6. WTF was up last week

when Randi said she likes KO but "never wants to meet him"? I think she's been consumed by her jealousy of Rachel Maddow.

[Hieronymus]

43. Randi has accused Keith Olbermann of stealing her material ... how

dumb is that? I think you might be right about Rachel Maddow, as well.

[riverdeep]

47. It's a phenomenon of not wanting to meet your heroes.

That's what she was getting at. She loves Olbermann.

[bunkerbuster1]

8. This is why there will never be a "liberal Rush Limbaugh" on the radio

...at least not, I don't think, anyone with Rush's ratings.

See, I happen to find Randi a great deal of fun in small doses. I would never listen to her for hours on end, but I'll catch her when I can. She's fiery, angry when she needs to be, and I don't expect her to be Miss Congeniality when it comes to suffering fools.

But I'm fine with folks rejecting her. See, we think for ourselves. I'm not going to give you a hard time for it.

[Bluzmann57]

24. Since Limbaugh pulls things out of his rear end,

has no sense of right and wrong, and is just an all around joke, I don't think we need a "Liberal Rush Limbaugh". Besides, if Ed Schultz can get on enough stations, I predict he will blow away Limbaugh in the ratings wars.

[bunkerbuster1]

41. That's a real big "if."

I gave the "content" reason why I think liberal talk shows don't draw like conservo-fascist version--i.e., liberals just don't have the same need to be ordered around.

But there's that institutional reason why the left-leaners don't draw, to wit, that corporate America doesn't have the same incentive to promote them. Thus even someone as moderate as Ed Schultz is unlikely to ever get the same opportunity to be heard as Limbaugh.

That said, I think Ed could give Rush a pretty serious run, at least. He's got millions of listeners already.

[ieoeja]

46. Last I heard Randi had higher ratings than Rush everywhere they competed.

Or do you mean "total listeners nationwide"?

Limbaugh's producer pays radio stations to carry his show. This puts him on more stations than any other show (which typically CHARGE, not PAY, stations to broadcast their show). For that reason companies that want to market their product nationally advertise on his show. Which gives him the money to pay the stations to carry his show.

A win-win-win all the way around. Which had nothing whatsoever to do with his popularity.

[bunkerbuster1]

82. I did, indeed, mean "total listeners worldwide."

And I agree that if you had our best lefties given opportunities--not just wattage, and geographical coverage, but advertising support--they'd do much better in many markets.

But I still don't think you'd get quite the number of zombified radio followers, overall, as Rush. His listenership are a special kind of authoritarian-loving sheep.

This is just idle speculation on my part of course.

[maddiejoan]

10. I think she's making a valid point.

If Oprah's mission is for people to express themselves "authentically",
then how does she account for two very different seeming Oprahs?

and which one is the "authentic" one? Or are neither authentic?

[Connie_Corleone]

17. Many black people have two "voices".

The way I talk at work is NOT how I talk at home. I'm just sayin'.

[maddiejoan]

34. Oprah wasn't at home

she was giving a broadcast speech to an arena.


just sayin'


And I know the phenom. BTW

I'm not a stranger in the black community, but thanks for the presumption.

[Connie_Corleone]

37. The word "home" was not to be taken literally.

I didn't presume anything. Just offering a comment. I'm just surprised people around here think that Oprah talks the same way at "home" as she does on her TV show.

No reason to get an attitude about it. Jeesh!

[maddiejoan]

39. Well I don't think that.

Like I say -- I get it.

My question is why at Obama's rally?

Oprah's a public speaker by profession, so am I.

Public Speakers know the power of their voices,and what their voices do, so what was she doing here?

[Liberal In Texas]

15. She's an interrupter. I have known a lot of people like this, they constantly interrupt

and don't even realize it most of the time. These people have all been women, though I don't know that it is necessarily gender-specific.

[in_cog_ni_to]

25. It's not gender-specific. I know a man who does the same thing. It's so damn rude.

and he's very annoying.

[Flubadubya]

85. I know a man who does it too... his name is Chris Matthews

and he is the WORLD'S WORST interrupter!!! :puke:

[EFerrari]

16. I've always found her irritating to the point where I can't listen

to what she is saying.

[butterfly77]

20. Randi has a lot of good information but...

she talks over callers and most of the time she never lets them finish their sentence when they call in then she proceeds to tell them what they were calling about.. I will take Randi over Stephanie Miller anyday, those sound effects get on my nerve I can't listen for long...

[RiverStone]

50. good on the politics, long on the mouth

Whats that old saying...something about we have 2 ears and 1 mouth because we are meant to listen twice as much as we talk.

Hey Randi --- are you listening? :shrug:

[Lex]

22. Never could listen to her.

I just can. not. listen to her. Grating.

[NOLALady]

23. Many Black people

speak dialect at home and "main stream" at work. Jeeesh. What is the problem with that? It doesn't mean that they are acting. Adaptation/Assimilation is necessary to survive in this environment.

[LSparkle]

31. Exactly! I'm not black but I speak VERY differently at home ...

Like a fucking sailor at home ... but a composed, respectful person at work. (Otherwise, I wouldn't have gotten as far as I have.)

Now maybe doing that is "inauthentic" but as you say, it's a survival tool that EVERYONE uses ...

[JohnnyBoots]

36. You're right it is called a "Professional Persona," you think I

like wearing a suit all day and all of the bullshit idle chitchat that goes on in an office? It's called playing the game. To use my at home voice, "How the fuck did this mental midget get her own show. Seriously, she sounds wicked out of touch."

[SeattleGirl]

44. But Oprah WASN'T at home. She was giving a speech in a

public arena. That's what Randi was pointing out. Oprah speaks in public all the time, and this was a definite departure from her usual way of speaking in public.

I see nothing wrong with wondering why she did that.

And I don't get this "speaking one way at work and another at home" stuff people keep bringing up. I speak differently to friends and family than I do to clients; I think a lot of people do that, regardless of race.

The point here is that Oprah WASN'T at home, or with her girlfriends, or whatever. Thus, Randi was asking why she did that. I wondered that too. Valid question, I think, and yet there were people calling the show saying stuff about having a different public and private voice. Oprah WASN'T in private, folks.

[BonnieJW]

26. I must agree.

She interrupts her callers and guests, and she stutters. She is extremely sarcastic which is really not productive or informative. I can't listen to her. I sometimes turn on her show just to see if she has a good guest on, and then turn her off if she doesn't. Ed Schultz is much more informative and has great guests on regularly.

[tnlefty]

30. I turn the radio down when she gets like that.

The African American woman who called in was making some sense to me. I don't always speak the same at home as I do when I'm at a meeting, etc. When I'm in a group of adults you'd better believe the language can change in a hurry especially if we're cutting up about something. When I'm around African American parents that I know well from school or band, when we're in smaller groups and more relaxed everyone's speech changes. It's a pretty common occurrence in my little sphere.

I grew up in GA and my spouse swears that my speech changes to 'that GA thing' just from being on the phone for 5 minutes with 2 particular friends.

Perhaps Oprah was acting as Randi asserts or perhaps Oprah just felt a little more relaxed and comfortable (she did grow up in the south), and her speech changed. Either way, I don't really give a flying fiddler's damn and I think it's a silly topic and not one worthy of her getting so worked up over, IMHO. Especially after the really good show that she had yesterday. :shrug:

[SoCalDem]

35. I had enough of her and AAR a long time ago

I still listen in the car, but that's about it for me.. I like Thom Hartmann, but the others are not all that great..and she IS very "into herself"..

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

40. When I heard Oprah I thought exactly what Randi voiced. Randi also, quite correctly pointed out that

Hillary did the same kind of schtick when speaking at a black church. Obama does this too. He was raised in Indonesia and Hawaii... where are his black southern roots?. I find it all disingenuous.

[Psychmd]

45. Bingo

I bet most of you commenting on here didn't even hear the conversation. She was making a point about pandering. The comment about no blacks in Iowa was obviously sarcasm.

[riverdeep]

52. Randi has an in your face personality.

Love it, or hate it, but there it is. Personally, I don't think a few of those on our side is such a bad thing. She also has a wicked, and subtle sense of sarcasm. She won't always telegraph it, so if you're not paying attention, you could think she's being serious.

My only beef with her is that sometimes she is condescending to her callers. I compare that with Mike Malloy, who of the two you would think he'd be the one to rip into callers. But he's actually very kind and tolerant. Even to the point where he'll let them ramble.

[Whisp]

53. then turn it off, I did....

I don't like listening to her live for some of the reasons mentioned in this thread, but I sure appreciate what she is doing generally and it would be a shame not to have her voice shouting for us out there.

I read the transcripts when I have the chance and find that is a much better way to listen to Randi.

funny tho how this jump on Randi thread got started today. certain funny patterns I see happen ... maybe a coincidence.
Just yesterday she had a really important hot subject on her show....

[Quixote1818]

55. She was HORRIBLE today!

:thumbsdown:

[proud2BlibKansan]

56. For me, it's either Randi or Bill O'Reilly

I gladly choose Randi.

[DainBramaged]

57. Well, have a great life, there's always "Lite FM" for a cottage cheese thought process

It's Randi's fucking show. If she wants to talk about crab apples and how bad they suck in jam, so be it. She needs to do a little more shouting at the Reichwingers who dominate her phone lines.



So many crank-ass bitchers, CHANGE THE FUCKING STATION, who else do we have to listen to Big Ed????


She is more relevant than ANY Reichwinger in existence.

[knixphan]

61. disappointed

Wow, Randi's behavior really soured me today. We're supposed to be better than that on the left side.

Oprah was not 'Pandering', nor was she 'inauthentic'.

To understand what she WAS, Randi should have contacted her directly...

...or actually LISTENED to the intelligent folks who called in and were shouted down in a highly disrespectful manner. Nobody was enlightened as a result of that blatant attempt to stir up race-defensive emotions.

Not cool. I'm probably off the wagon. Other options on progressive radio.

[Olney Blue]

63. Welcome to DU, knixphan!

:hi:

[knixphan]

73. merci!

Glad to have found it ---

[DainBramaged]

68. NO ONE can be 100% EVERY DAY, even medicated

Cut her some slack, Jesus it's Talk Radio not brain surgery for beginners. SHE had a point, and the people shouting HER down didn't want to hear her point,



JUST LIKE NOW.



Fucking haters here are hair trigger. Next thing ya know they'll be all over The Olive Garden.

[Name removed]

66. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[cali]

79. yawn. she' s a bore and a boor.

That's why I only listened to her ONCE. That was plenty. And if you don't like your precious Randi being criticized, don't click on a thread dedicated to criticizing her. Take your own advice, or be a hypocrite. I don't much care.

[izzybeans]

59. Her whole shtick is yelling down callers and then yelling about how they won't let

her speak. I stream most of the day at work but I turn it off when she comes on.

[weeve]

60. Randi lost me.

Originally I tuned in because she was fiesty and all. Now I can't even listen. My AA station still broadcasts Mike Malloy ( thank god - love that passionate dude ), and there's no beating Thom Hartmann for his intelligence and evenhandedness. Randi's a joke, and not very much on top of the facts. Even a female Rush on our side gets extremely old quite rapidly.

[WakingUpUSA]

74. Randi always checks her facts

So you are not a fan. However, Mike Malloy adores her and she is in no way like Rush.

[travelingtypist]

62. She's so wrong and her really intelligent callers...

...are telling her why she's wrong and she won't admit that she's
wrong.

Randi, when you say you're a black woman and a black journalist,
are you acting?

It's entertaining radio, but she needs to admit the flaws in her
attack on Oprah. Geezle already.

[Blashyrkh]

64. I'm glad you didn't let the irony of making generalisations about Randi stop you from posting.

40 minutes of show boiled down to a generalisation about Iowa and shouting down two callers. That's 2-3 minutes tops.

Not that I agree with her, nor care. I just like irony.

[Malikshah]

70. Damn that Sky!!! It's blue! I'm over it! *grumble*

Relax and have some dip.

It's more productive than creating more discussions on how rude Randi his.

Damn that sky.

It's called a tuner/dial/on-off switch.

[WakingUpUSA]

71. Randi Rhodes is only human ...

... just like the rest of us.  I have been listening to her
show since AA radio began.  She has been the most informative
radio talk show host other than Mike Malloy. Ilove her sense
of humor and silly sarcasm.  I have nothing but respect for
her. She puts her heart and soul into her work and she should
be proud of her self. She researches and triple checks all the
information she puts out there.  She has
taught me how the government works and SHOULD work.

I am indecisive about today's show.  I agree with her on
certain aspects and I agree with those that have opposing
views.  However, the one constant that remains is that we need
more people like her to shout out all the criminal actions of
this vile administration.  She uses FACTS unlike the right
wing nuts.  She's not perfect and neither or we.  

I have been a lurker for about 2 years now and I just wanted
to share my two cents on this.  I love to read but hate to
type.  So, please don't pick on me.

[knixphan]

72. Thom Hartmann gets my vote

...As the best all-around 'enlightener-type' host. Even when he vehemently disagrees with a caller, he'll calmly employ facts to support his point of view. He respects his opponents and runs his show with class, dignity and grace.

A model for all the rest.

I like Rachel Maddow too. She's going to get more ear-time from me.

[Swamp Rat]

76. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[bdamomma]

88. welcome to DU!!!

yea, Thom and Rachel are really layed back, calm and full of knowledge.:hi:

[Swamp Rat]

75. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[WakingUpUSA]

77. Thank you

Glad to be here.

[bunkerbuster1]

83. Welcome to DU!

Anyone who listens to Mike Malloy regularly can't be all bad.

[bdamomma]

87. welcome to DU!!!!!

you can always share your two cents here!:hi:

[B Calm]

78. Getting more and more like Judge Judy everyday...

[mwb970]

81. I can't listen to her.

She is so strident and argumentative - very unpleasant radio. If I want that, I'll catch Limbaugh or Hannity.

Randi and Lionel are the two on "our side" that I can't stand. Rachel, however, I love to pieces!

[bdamomma]

86. Randi has much as I like her, has a abrasive edge to her

can you see why Keith asks Rachel or Sam on his show, but calm and collected. Randi is Randi.

[ellacott]

91. She doesn't seem to understand that

When she was on Dan Abrams show she trashed him the next day on her show. She can't look at herself and admit any fault.

[timtom]

89. I must regretfully agree with you.

Often, when someone tries to share their opinion with her she cuts them off with "Listen! Don't you get it? The neocons....."

Even when they are merely rephrasing the same point of view.

But I must say, that when she's on fire -- she's on fire.

[helderheid]

90. welcome to the club n/t