Perhaps Pentagon (or high administration) officials felt that pulling the plug on progressive talk show host Ed Schultz’s debut on Armed Forces Radio literally hours before his show was to be broadcast would make it just go away.
If so, they badly miscalculated.
The reasons: On his show, Schultz is reminding his listeners of the agreement his show had to be broadcast, the controversy has gathered traction in terms of the mainstream news media, gotten attention on cable, and Democratic Senators have sent a pointed letter to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
Make no mistake about it, though: This is NOT an issue about Republicans or Democrats. Some years ago, Rush Limbaugh’s listerners clamored and protested when it looked like Rush wouldn’t be carried on AFR, arguing that it involved issues of free speech and expression. So, are those principles limited to conservatives who defend the administration — and exclude liberals or centrists who have serious questions to ask and may not use their shows to solidify GOP support?
Here’s part of the letter from Democratic Senators (and, due to the principle involved, it truly is irrelevant what party they belong to) posted HERE on Schultz’s website:
More than a year ago, the Senate unanimously adopted a resolution offered by Senator Harkin expressing the sense of the Senate that the Secretary of Defense should ensure full implementation of the American Forces Radio and Television Service goal of maintaining equal opportunity balance with respect to political programming.
AFN Radio carries the shows of a wide range of conservatives, including Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Laura Schlesinger, and James Dobson, to the near total exclusion of progressive talk radio hosts. This is in violation of DoD’s own guidelines on political programming on the American Forces Network, specifically, DoD Directive 5120.20R, which calls for political programming on American Forces Network that is “characterized by its fairness and balance,” as well as news programming guided by a “principle of fairness” that requires “reasonable opportunities for the presentation of conflicting views on important controversial public issues.”
On September 29, 2005, Manny Levy, Chief of the Radio Division of the American Forces Network Broadcast Center, formally advised the syndicate that distributes “The Ed Schultz Show” that AFN Radio would “begin carrying the first hour of ‘The Ed Schultz Show’ each day, beginning Monday, October 17, 2005 at noon PT/3 ET.” However, higher-level DoD officials subsequently backtracked on this commitment. A Pentagon spokesman said that Mr. Levy “got ahead of the process,” and that no decision had been made in a review of which programming to add to the network.Inclusion of “The Ed Schultz Show” would have been a first, partial step toward achieving balance in political programming on AFN Radio. Even that first step has been abruptly canceled. Why, more than a year since the Senate passed its resolution, has DoD not implemented any program changes to balance political programming? At this late date, why is DoD still in violation of its own guidelines for political programming on AFN Radio? Given the time that has passed since this issue was brought to the attention of DoD by the Senate, the problem is not that Mr. Levy was “ahead of the process.” The problem is that DoD is woefully behind in addressing this imbalance and coming into full compliance with its own guidelines and procedures.
We request that you provide us with an action plan and timeline for achieving greater political balance in AFN Radio programming as quickly as possible. We respectfully request that you respond to this letter by November 1, 2005.
By November 1st? Given the way this administration responds to anyone who strongly disagrees with them (as Barry-Goldwater-descended classic conservatives are finding out in crossing the administration on the Harriet Miers nomination) we will make a two-word prediction on this happening:
Fat chance.
Meanwhile, Keith Olbermann did a segment with Schultz on his MSNBC program. You can read the transcript and watch the video by CLICKING HERE.
The military newspaper Stars And Stripes ran this account of the controversy.
This will be an interesting case to watch. If you look at the pattern of what’s happening with this administration in terms of going after conservatives who oppose them, then what liberal or even centrist talk show host can conceivably be put on Armed Forces Radio? These days this administration will get criticism from any quarters except the super-staunch types such as Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. (They couldn’t put on Michael Savage, who marches to his own drummer on the right, either. And a reader notes that Limbaugh broke with the administration over Miers).
And, until they put on a countervailing voice, the military (read that government) has determined that people in the military are only allowed to hear one point of view when it comes to commentary: commentary that doesn’t merely support the government and military policies, but commentary that actively slams and demonizes one particular political party and constantly praises and defends another. All paid for by the tax dollars of Republicans AND Democrats AND independents. This isn’t a Democrat/Republican or Liberal/Conservative issue. Rush’s fans who clamored to get him on should be outraged, too.
How can this end? At the very least, even if he is never put on AFRN, Schultz’s ratings will go up and he’ll pick up stations. His show already has adeptly run a clever announcement that it’s “The Show Donald Rumsfeld Doesn’t Want You To Hear.”
By nixing him for whatever reasons (and as we’ve written here the coincidences in this controversy require somewhat of a suspension of belief akin to accepting Dennis Kucinich as the next James Bond to accept the official explanation), Schultz’s powerful non-fans have probably set him on a course to become nationally the Rush Limbaugh of the left to center left (which wouldn’t be surprising since his show was purchased by two executives instrumental in Limbaugh’s and Clear Channel’s development).
If you haven’t heard Schultz you can visit his website here — and/or read our extensive Q&A interview with him. We did this before he learned his show would not be carried and had to slightly redo it but all the original text is there. He was candid and detailed in his responses to our many questions. If you can’t catch his show, reading this interview will give you a good idea of his thinking.
UPDATE: Larry Scott, a former military broadcaster who knows the background of AFRN has this MUST-READ PIECE. A small taste:
In the battle for the hearts and minds of the American military, AFR has become a playground for conservative political commentary. So, the entrance of Ed Schultz into that playground was considered the utmost in fair play. The right got their hour of airtime and now the left would have an hour. “Fair and balancedâ€? comes to mind–except I think somebody already uses that.
Now, that balance hangs in the balance. If Ed Schultz does get on AFR our military personnel in 177 countries will have a chance to balance Limbaugh’s commentary. If the Pentagon refuses to put Schultz on the air then our troops lose…..
….Even though we frame this situation in terms of what is “fairâ€? and what is “balancedâ€? and question if Ed Schultz is getting a raw deal, it goes to a more personal level. The Bush administration’s desire to keep our uniformed uninformed is a slap-in-the-face to those who serve. It questions their intelligence. It questions their decision-making abilities. And, it makes a mockery of the liberties for which they have been told they are fighting.
Read the rest yasself.