Jocks don’t come any more shocking than this. Comment from Peter Saxon
Last Wednesday a rally for some cause or other was held in Sydney, attended by all of 350 people. Despite the seemingly miniscule support for it, they managed to disrupt peak hour traffic and inconvenience thousands by insisting they march through the main arteries of the CBD.
A spokesperson for the activists who spoke to 2UE’s Jason Morrison, justified the mayhem saying he was confident ‘people won’t be angered, if they caused traffic gridlock.’ Who’s he kidding?
Whether it is this group or the cyclists of Critical Mass who are fond of blocking the Harbour Bridge, no one sitting in their car, late to pick up a child or see their mother in the nursing home, or just busting for a pee is going to feel any warmer or fuzzier about whatever cause, no matter how noble, as a result of being inconvenienced.
No, the real game is getting attention in the media. Morrison asked his audience, ‘why can’t they just march around Hyde Park or something?’ Of course, he answered his own question simply by giving the young man air time on his show.
If the protest merely wandered around Hyde Park getting in no one’s road, the media wouldn’t care, unless 10,000 turn up. But if you can only muster a few hundred, it’s only newsworthy if they cause trouble. Doesn’t have to be anything to do with the actual cause, it just has to be the kind of trouble that makes for good footage, headlines and talking points on talk radio. And even though Morrison was dismissive of the spokesperson, the young activist had achieved success just by getting on.
So if you’re a right wing shock jock on internet radio looking to make a name for yourself in America, which is close to saturation point with right wing shock jocks, what do you do? You go where even Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh have not gone.
Self-proclaimed ‘truther’ and conspiracy theorist Pete Santilli said last week he wants to ‘shoot Hillary Clinton in the vagina.’
Also on his show, which airs 11am – 2pm Monday to Saturday on the Guerilla Radio Network, Santilli told listeners, ‘President Barack Obama needs to be tried, convicted, and shot for crimes against the United States of America. And if anybody has a problem with that, then you are an enemy of our state.’
Yet, Santilli can’t be accused of being totally without balance. His rants aren’t reserved just for the left. On the same show, he has also called for the Bush family to be shot for treason.
If you thought Alan Jones’ comments on 2GB about putting Julia Gillard and Bob Brown in chaff bag and throwing them overboard out at sea was beyond the pale, listen to this…
While he’s busy making a name for himself on internet radio, Santilli seems to be angling for a broader audience. He says on his site, “I am a radio talkshow host ready to take my show to national syndication. That is, of course, if the FCC regulated AM/FM radio stations can handle my truth and honesty.”
There’s no doubt Santilli is out to out shock the established order of shock jocks. But tell me, is he for real? Is he dangerous or just talk back’s version of WWE’s Smackdown?
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