Red State Radio

While channel surfing on the way to work this morning, I tuned in to the John Boy and Billy show on the local classic rock channel. Since for some ungodly reason the powers-that-be in radio have determined by mass market research that people just don't want to hear MUSIC in the mornings, its either John Boy and Billy or Bob and Tom or about three different channels of local yokels talking to the type of people that call into radio stations to chit-chat. And there's only so many times I can hear some old fart dj mangling somebody's name or the sidekick's fake laugh and exclaimations of "Isn't that funny? That's too funny" .... yeah, I'll listen to elevator music before that shit...

Anyway, sometimes John Boy and Billy are funny, mainly when they are making fun of themselves, but I clicked in just as professional curmudgeon Robert D. Raiford was going into his little speechifying... If you don't know who he is, a simple description is a redneck Andy Rooney, minus the whine and plus a couple of shots of whiskey. He's the old coot who's bitching about why the good ole days were so much better than today. He has some interesting takes, some I don't agree with, but when he hits on something that you DO agree with, he kind of takes you to that "Hell yes!" place with him. Today, he was answering a letter from a conservative fan of the "big show" who was upset about comments Raiford had made about global warming.

Oh hell, here we go, I thought. Here comes the "L" word... And I'll be damned. Ole Raiford tore that poor conservative a new one. Now, Raiford ain't a "liberal", ain't no way- But he sure took the argument that "Mark from Knoxville" was making about politics being behind global warming and shot it out of the sky, skinned it, stuffed it, and hung it on the wall like an extinct exhibit from yesteryear.

It's nothing that most of us Liberals didn't already know: Global warming and climate change IS occurring and most of the people who are telling us this aren't liberals or left-wingers but Scientists and about 95% of them at that. It's just that the smart people out there actually give some credence to the scientists who are telling us about potential problems and actively respond with calls to action.

The only people who are putting politics before facts are the people who decry evidence of climate change- simply because they don't want to hear it. And Raiford stated this very succintly. I wish I could find a link to a transcript- if anyone can let me know.

The amazing thing was- this was on the Big Show - A bunch of Nascar rednecks whose humor mainly consists of denigrating the triumvirate of Red-State Enemies: Women in sports, Gays, and immigrants.

So, I was floored that global warming is now even being accepted by the modern day equivalent of a red-state philosopher- A talk show radio celebrity. And he even slammed a listener to do it. Sumbitch!

Hope for America blossomed anew for a moment- and the one good thing about the Big Show- it actually interrupts its own blather to play some classic rock every 10 minutes. So Raiford ended, the Doobie brothers came on with "Listen to the music". And everything was right in the world.

Well, until the song ended, at least, then - back to reality.

"John-boy" or Billy or some other podunk asshole came on with a sports critic guest. First they set up the critic's credentials. Then they talked of a colleague who had been "Imus-ed" for his disparaging remarks about lesbians in the LPGA. After that "innocuous" preface, they then jumped into making fun of women in sports and how they can't compete with the men. After attacking 15 year old Michelle Wie, they turned to Anna Kournikova and what a "baby doll" she was, I turned the radio completely off.

Sigh. Well, at least we won global warming, for today.