New Hampster oddems: the baby buddha; hemorroidal rage; winnebagel sage; the rancid sacklunch; judy canova lives; phil hendry dies; goldwater/miller in '08

~ A Romney man. (hat tip to Jesus' General)

~ An invitation to a stalker... It was just strange, said a reader: KIRO fill-in talk host cRaZy! BrYaN sTyBLe! asked listeners to invite him to their New Year's parties if they wanted to add a "radioactive guy" to their celebration. Wouldn't he be a fun addition to any festivity? Sadly, for the pathetic peripatetic, no one thought so. So Bryan on that night of nights emulated the Baby Buddha: "I cry, I sit alone, I sleep."

~ Hemorrhoidal rage: Glenn Beck took some time off from his daily radio and TV talk shows, (KTTH m-f, 6-9a) released a confessional video with an unshaven and bedridden Beck telling a vague but horrible tale about a near fatal hospital stay, a hemorrhoid operation that went "horribly awry;" blood coming out of places blood shouldn’t come out of; and drug effects to the former addict that produced suicidal thoughts. Many were surprised that the snarly little brabbler actually can bleed but the experience as shown on the video seems real. We're hoping all of it will change his heart and he'll become a compassionate liberal and give up the mean schtick that's made him so popular in places like dogfights and Minutemen rallies.

~ who the hell is Phil Hendrie, besides the new talent m-f 10p-1a on KIRO? Liberal or a conservative? Seems he's a little of each and wiggles neocon-- Here's his Wikipedia entry-- which he obviously wrote himself:

Hendrie considers his views unique for modern talk radio: on one hand, he is a registered Democrat who vocally supported Bill Clinton, voted for Al Gore over George W. Bush in 2000, both Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale over Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, and Michael Dukakis over George H.W. Bush (although Hendrie claims "I had to hold my nose when voting for Dukakis"). Hendrie is also adamantly pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, and pro-amnesty for illegal immigrants. At the same time, he is extremely supportive of the Iraq War as well as the War on Terror. He voted for and supported President George W. Bush in the 2004 election, chiding Democrat John Kerry as trying to be "all things to all people" and cautioning listeners that Bush would in time be viewed as one of the greatest American presidents. These views caused a stir among some of his fans and tended to dominate his show throughout 2002 and 2003. Hendrie eventually started a blog, titled and located at www.georgewbushisgod.com (seemingly to incite those who felt he was moving too far to the right). The blog came down after a few weeks, partly because Phil was tired of squabbling with readers. Hendrie has since renounced using his radio program for political ranting, saying that he didn't want to be "another white man all mad and ready with the answers" in a 2006 live chat with fans.

~ MORE CHANGES AT KIRO: the creaky website, we hear, is about to be replaced with something more helpful. Look for it in a week or so...

~ White-bearded Michael Hood finishes his pint, and holds forth. (photo right)

~ What does Jen Andrews, TBTL producer/sidekick ( KIRO m-f, 7-10p) look like? She doesn't much like our ass, and won't send us a current picture so w e're stuck with the old ones like we ran Monday, or the one on the left. Anone who has a new pic of Jen, PLEASE SEND IT TO US, and we'll pay you in Blather-bucks.

~ We halfheartedly supported Cthlulhu http://blatherwatch.blogs.com/talk_radio/2008/01/praise-him.html for the Republican nomination, but we've had our head turned by New Jersey's Jonathon "the Impaler" Sharkey. He seems to have the compassion required to run on that ticket.

~ Billo went to New Hampshire over the weekend to see if he could make the early primary about him. He almost succeeded. At an Obama rally, he was fortunate enough to be able to shove a security guard who was blocking a camera shot his crew was trying to make. Obama, Billo said, was a gentleman, but the security guy who got in his way did so to get "cred from the far-left." Billo shoved him, called him a son of a bitch, and had to be talked to by the Secret Service in order to "protect the Constitution."  O'Reilly stretched the scuffle to an hour on his radio show and to several TV segments. We never did get the  security guy's name so we could enter his his far-left cred in our far-left ledger.

Progressive Talk, (KPTK) host the Seattle stop on the Goldwater-Miller '08 Campaign Tour. in a campaign rally as Stephanie Miller and CC Goldwater continue their run
for the White House, Saturday Jan. 19th at Laughs Comedy Spot in Kirkland (12099 124th Ave NE) from 1 to 3p. The liberal talk host's (KPTK m-f, 6-9a) father William Miller was CC's grandfather Barry Goldwater's running mate in 1964. The dazzling descendants told BlatherWatch: "Let’s be honest, this is clearly just a cheap publicity stunt to promote the DVD release of CC Goldwater’s HBO Documentary Film, Mr. Conservative: Goldwater on Goldwater and The Stephanie Miller Show."

Comments

[Emphyrio]

We seem to have another case of 9/11 derangement (see Tom Friedman).

Too bad. Phil's a real talent.

[Tommy008]

Taliaferro and his callers had nothing but contempt and mockery for Hillary last night on KGO 810 from S.F. as well as delight over her tears and defeat. A couple of guys made a good point. They noticed that instead of seeing Hillary shed tears over 911 or some other incident or issue outside herself, we only now finally see tears when she realizes her own desires and ambitions are in danger of being snuffed out. She's crying tears for herself and herself alone, not about what she could do for the children , and blah blah blah, as she stated in her tearful interview. I believe Hillary and Bill are both malignant narcissists.

[andrews]

This will not be good news for ol Duffman, could be his karmageddon.

Def: karmageddon - It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's, like, a serious bummer.

[carrie nation]

"Dpwning a pint"?? For shame!

[andrews]

Not 'for shame' kudo's to ya! Least your not participating in a decafalon.

Def: decafalon - The gruelling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.

[sparky]

Amazing, Bla'M! When you drink you take on a vague resemblance to Ernest Hemmingway.

Curiosity drove me to stream KIRO last night to hear this Phil Hendrie person, mostly because several on here have pointed out that he provides all the voices of his guests and callers--essentially talking to himself for 3 hours.

I managed to leave it on for a whole 15 minutes and with the exception of The Sty, it was the worst thing I have ever heard. I can't imagine how he stays on the air. His voices are not even very good. Weird.

[Catlin Capital]

Why do Ron and Don still have their job?

They interviewed the same preacher that Monson interviewed one hour earlier...!?! The freak that wants to takeover Microsoft.

The guys also talk constantly about the Seahawks.

Amazing show prep!

So much for we read the papers so you don't have to...

What a bunch of dumbass idiots on my radio! Everyday they grew up somewhere else....Chicago, New Orleans, New Mexico, Oakland...what gives man!

These guys will be diehard Tennesse Titan fans once they get fired from KIRO and become traffic reporters in Nashville.

[Rich]

Did'nt ya see that some mook signed there dunbasses to a new contract. That's why said mook caned Frank. He needed the bucks to pay the airheads.

[Mike the Driver]

Yep KIRO had to let Frank go to pay the TBTL host(s)... I say Jen will stab the poor schmuck she is working with so she has her own show....

If KIRO can have Phil Hendrie on, get rid of Ron and Don and put Tom Leykis in the drive time...

After all, if Phil can talk about PMS and "Heavy Flow", Tom can't be as bad as that...

[AuthenticAndrew]

Even if they let go of Shiers in order to afford other hosts it only confirms that he was a greater drain than a benefit. Justice served either way.

[Nevets]

Is that D&D in his Dungeon garb getting ready for a long night of questing?

[mark]

"caned" frank? like in Singapore? that would make interesting radio- no prep needed either.

maybe KIRO just drug his ass out behind a diarheatic donkey...

hey Bla'm - you don't look like Clive Cussler either.

[asfdsadfas]

Tom leykis' voice is completely shot.

He needs to retire and grow fat with his millions of dollars and house in the hills. He is an entertaining host, but his voice isn't up to the task anymore.

[joanie]

Enjoyed the Postman article. You sounded perspicacious and erudite, Michael.

Has Andrew finally reached the ripe old age of twenty-one?

I've never though of you as Hemingwayesque but if the photo fits...mmmmmmmm.

[Tommy008]

Leykis doesn't have to "grow" fat.He's more than there, already.

[William Rennick]

Phil Hendrie is nutty, yet entertaining.

[sarge]

Hendrie is wearing on me already just 2 nights in. It's clever but repetitious. I'm back to Mike Malloy. .

[AprilMayJune]

Something I don't understand:

I am not a Hillary fan, BUT; this alleged "crying" incident was really just a choking-up. I didn't see any tears. She simply became emotional, yet everyone keeps talking about her crying.

[andrews]

AMJ: I think that's as 'crying' as it gets with Hillary.
Don't know if you listened to the last hour of the Dave Ross Show (KIRO, 9-12) today but Ronald Reagan was sitting in for him (while he travels back from NH).
Any way RR's take on this is that the polls were indeed wrong, Hillary was never actually below Obama in the polls. As a matter of fact he said the last 'valid' poll showed Obama down by near 12 pts. Thus actually he (Obama) is the one who should be classed as the 'come-back-kid' as he came to within 2 pts. Ron poses that it was basically a MSM spin to show her making this dramatic come-back.
Who knows...she did seem visibly upset when she answered the question of the lady (who apparently voted for Obama).

[Nevets]

If that was the case, as even Maddow said today that Hillary had been up for a year of polls in NH, then two questions, 1. Why did GayRea bring up the rumor of Obama independents voting for McCain and 2. Why were all the polls right on McCain winning. Maddow says that Romney was up on the GOP side for all of last year yet lost to McCain.

Maybe all those polls that said 70 percent of Americans were against the war but never showed up at any anti-war protest were wrong also. Thats what I've been saying all along.

[Nevets]

Need to find that article of Cindy Sheehan saying that Hillary didn't even come close to tearing when her and another mother went to her with their stories of their sons sacrificing their lives for this country. Anyone have a link to it.

[Fremont]

"I've never though of you as Hemingwayesque but if the photo fits...mmmmmmmm" Yeah, Joans, bullfights and suicide...that's totally Bla'M, for whom the bell tolls.

[Fremont]

OMG! Major autopsies are now occurring on the failure of the pollsters! How in the world could such a thing have happened? HAVE WE BEEN DEFRAUDED? Is it the racist or gender voters who skewed the polls? How could the polls have been so wrong? ANSWERS, WE MUST HAVE ANSWERS...!

[EntropeWoman]

Hillary nauseates me. Her crocodile tears were able to convince the socially ignorant masses of Americans, although they wouldn''t have been enough to slightly sway even a dog. I am a woman studying psychology and anthropology at a very good university. Any decent clinical psychologist or primatologist would be able to see through her facade of warmth and vulnerability and recognize that she was nothing more than a snake that''d simply stopped rattling for a moment''s rest. For the likes of little ol'' me it''s Obama or Canada.

[PugetSound]

"OMG! Major autopsies are now occurring on the failure of the pollsters! How in the world could such a thing have happened? HAVE WE BEEN DEFRAUDED? Is it the racist or gender voters who skewed the polls? How could the polls have been so wrong? ANSWERS, WE MUST HAVE ANSWERS...!

Posted by: Fremont | January 09, 2008 at 06:09 PM"

you know that if it had been a similar scenario in a general election with a Repub winning the cry would have went up 'Evil Diabold!' or 'election fraud' et al. As you know, when Repubs win it's fixed and when Dems win the machines are fine.
Hell, you still got people crying about Florida 2000 and Ohio in 2004.

[Nevets]

Well entropewoman, you seem to have been hypnotized by that subliminal message Obama has been putting out in his campaign. I'm suprised you have not caught onto it yet and shaken it.

[Nevets]

And Puts, they are screaming that also. Wait a day and it will be all over AA.

[PugetSound]

you know the deal nevets...and just for you.

check out mark levin just eviscerating olberman

Part1

Part2

Part3

[Nevets]

Puts here is what I was refering to what may have happened in NH. Look at the votes by hand count and you will see Obama is ahead by 2,500 or so votes. The talk is that the machines should be relatively the same, hence someone fixed the machines.

[Nevets]

Levin vs Overbite, what a celebrity deathmatch that would be.

[joanie]

Malloy's ranting about rigged voting machines too. And some people are citing Zogby polls but Zogby is one of the most unreliable pollers out there according to pollsters.com or something like that.

As for Florida and Ohio? Geez, that's old news and pretty well verified. You haven't read about, puts, because faux news wouldn't air it. Check out Greg Palast who writes for the Guardian.

I think this country is in a quagmire and I don't know who you can believe. But, as long as some of you prefer to see everything through a polarizing political-party lens, it will only get worse.

So be it.

As for Olberman or Levin, who cares? Are they your avenues to information on issues? What a sad commentary.

[PugetSound]

yep, i would agree. if they are your news source it would be sad. instead, if you view levin or olby's as 'entertainment' then you are in better shape. i am not a huge levin fan but damn he was spot on funny in regards to olby on those clips.
in regards to greg palast, i've read his book on the subject.
there is a pulitzer for the news org that could prove the florida or ohio voting fraud. none have been able to do so. instead, org's like the new york times or washington post -neither of them an organ of the repub party- have looked at it and come away with the view that bush won.
sorry, facts are stubborn things.
greg palast always promises a lot but he doesn't really deliver.
you're problem is that whenever someone disagrees with you it is because they are ignorant. sometimes people will disagree with you in good faith after having done their due diligence and looking at both sides.
this place we call america, what a wonderful country.

[joanie]

And so NY Times and WA Post are objective? Judith Miller...David Brooks...William Safire...John Tierney?

Oh, Miller sure knew what she was talking about, didn't she?

You've read the Palast books? I haven't. Only heard him on air and read pieces from The Guardian. What's the story as you read it? Where does his story break down? Am curious?

[PugetSound]

I read the Palast book circa 2003-4 or so on the Gore v Bush election. Can't really give you a book report on it at this late date other than to tell you my take on it was that it didn't really lead anywhere. Lots of sizzle but little steak. My proof would be that a book that broke a story about such a fraud would be up for a Pulitzer or similar award.
Hey, if you want to read a strong legal book on the topic read Vincent Bulgiousi's book on the Supreme Court decision. He is very harsh on the Rhenquist Court ruling.

[sparky]

Many a great book and many a great writer have failed to earn an award...Lack of such doesn't negate the value of the text or the writer!

Try Thom Hartmann's book "Screwed"...
It is really good!

[PugetSound]

I'll give it a read. I read Hartmann's opus on the JFK Assassination.
Did you ever read 'Nickle and Dimed'

[sparky]

No, havent read that one yet.
Thom Hartmanns opus on JFK was made into a program I think on the History Channel.

[neo-realist]

Puget Sound

I read the Palast book on the book dealing with Gore v. Bush, and I thought there was plenty of steak with respect to the evidence of voter disenfranchisement of african americans in florida. I thought the material about the energy pirates was limited to the sizzle.

I miss hearing Tom Lykis rabble rousing take on relations between the sexes at a reasonable hour, but the last time I heard him one evening, his voice sounded terribly shot, and there were far to many commercials to enjoy any semblance of a show

[joanie]

I'm rusty on the whole affair as well except that I have heard Palast itemizing his findings in the past and was impressed. Neo-realist and I apparently evaluate similarly but differently than you.

And the mess in Ohio was equally disturbing.

When ballots can't be produced and people go to great lengths to make sure they can't be produced - per Black Box voting - there's at least smoke if not fire.

John Conyer's report What Went Wrong in Ohio lists a lot of problems and they were reminiscent of what went wrong in Florida. From what I've read, there were many similarities.

Of course, I supposed it could be "coincidence" - well, at least to the politically naive.

At least the good people of Ohio at the good sense to bounce Blackwell.

[Tommy008]

If yo go to youtube.com and click on the tom leykis section, you'll find a video where he's on with Conway and Whitman discssing Paris Hilton with 2 news anchors. This footage was taken last smmer sometime, or late spring and it shows him to be morbidly obese. I've got to think the weight is effecting his voice although he gives some bs medical reason for his current voice. Leykis'es show has degenerated from an often enjoyable battle of the sexes affair, to a reductio ad absurdum trainwreck where Tom contnuously calls women "bitches", says girlfriends and relationships are strictly sucker's games, and crows about how ecstatically happy he is living alone, travelling alone, and having a "bullpen" of women available to service him , get dressed and leave. As a recent female caller told him, he's become "a bitter, rich, little troll". I would add hateful to that. His callers seem to keep geting dumber and dumber as his anti-woman pronouncement's get farther and farther into crank territory. Jimmy Kimmel's protege and friend, Adam Carolla has the morning show on Tom's home station in LA. Tom recently confronted Jimmy on his show about rumors he heard that Jimmy had warned Adam not to have Tom on his show. Kimmel, embarrassed, finally admitted that he'd told Adam he was concerned about Adam's show being associated with Tom's "misogyny".

[AuthenticAndrew]

Wow he's fat, and divorced yet again. It's interesting how a man can have such an obvious and severe social disorder and yet go on the radio and call it a life style and "teach" it to others. That's like an anorexic giving tips on curing hunger pains.

I liked Leykis back in the late 90's when he'd cover issues and berate callers, then he changed the format to exploitation talk without being decent enough to make an official announcement. When if comes to cutting down callers he's unparalleled. He also had a great radio voice back in the day, when you'd finaly see his picture you'd wish you never had.