Most destructive radio personality?

[George Drooly]

I second this... Alex Jones.

Buffoons like Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck, Olbermann, Sharpton, etc.--to hell with them. They're just a bunch of bloviating blowhards.

Jones on the other hand has a propensity for inspiring dangerous lunatics (White House shooter, Phantom Patriot idiot, Vegas cop killers, etc.) and stirring up trouble (Y2K scare).

Bullshit. Jones hasn't inspired any more lunatics than the fucking Carpenters or Barbra Streisand have. As for Y2K, a certain Art Bell was without a doubt the single largest propagator of that fraud. Jones barely had a national audience 15 years ago.

[nooryisawesome]

Tom Leykis



he created more douche bags like him.

[Marc.Knight]

[wr250]

after last nights show, it has to absholutly be the snooron. in addition to telling people to ignore doctors and take <insert medical advice of the moment>  , shilling "cures" , threatening to "effect the 2016 presidential race"  , lies about a hawiian studio, allowing alex jones airtime on a national radio forum, and slaughtering the engrish language, he broadcasts to millions of unstable lunatics (as evidenced by his callers) , who are apparently swayed by his ramblings.
question is are we among the unstable lunatics ? lol.

[Tarbaby]

Two words = paranoid delusional equals Jones. Still, doesn't mean he isn't right on a  few issues now and then. But G, what a pleasant voice he has.

[Spinner]

question is are we among the unstable lunatics ? lol.

No, we are not. We are very stable.

[RedMichael]

Bullshit. Jones hasn't inspired any more lunatics than the fucking Carpenters or Barbra Streisand have. As for Y2K, a certain Art Bell was without a doubt the single largest propagator of that fraud. Jones barely had a national audience 15 years ago.

Alex Jones is the worst. It is not even close.

[PerfectTommy]

Bullshit. Jones hasn't inspired any more lunatics than the fucking Carpenters or Barbra Streisand have.

Well here's a few of Alex's fans. You might recognize some of the names...

Richard McCaslin AKA the Phantom Patriot--self-styled vigilante who "attacked" Bohemian Grove:
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Masked-man-enters-attacks-Bohemian-Grove-2881742.php

Richard Poplawski--Pittsburgh cop killer:
http://www.post-gazette.com/neighborhoods-city/2009/04/07/Poplawski-s-Web-postings-warned-of-enemies/stories/200904070227

Tamerlan Tsarnaev--Boston Marathon bomber:
http://www.salon.com/2013/04/23/tamerlan_tsarnaev_was_an_alex_jones_fan/

Oscar Ortega--White House shooter:
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/39473_Alleged_WH_Shooter_Oscar_Ortega_Inspired_by_Alex_Jones

Paul Ciancia--LAX shooter:
https://www.hate-speech.org/lax-shooter-carried-manifesto/

Jared and Amanda Miller--Las Vegas cop killers:
http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/bundy-blm/rejected-revolution-jerad-and-amanda-miller-decided-start-their-own

Like it or not, clearly his brand of fear-mongering can be toxic for those of a certain persuasion.

As for Y2K, a certain Art Bell was without a doubt the single largest propagator of that fraud. Jones barely had a national audience 15 years ago.

Did Art ever blatantly LIE, spreading fear and panic amongst his listeners for the sake of spectacle?


http://youtu.be/7WkGyAqVmCk

Think The War of the Worlds, sans the attempt to notify listeners the broadcast was fictional.

[ItsOver]

No, we are not. We are very stable.

That's right.  I don't believe that if you don't think you're crazy, you're crazy.  Unless you're crazy.

[albrecht]

Well here's a few of Alex's fans. You might recognize some of the names...

Richard McCaslin AKA the Phantom Patriot--self-styled vigilante who "attacked" Bohemian Grove:
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Masked-man-enters-attacks-Bohemian-Grove-2881742.php

Richard Poplawski--Pittsburgh cop killer:
http://www.post-gazette.com/neighborhoods-city/2009/04/07/Poplawski-s-Web-postings-warned-of-enemies/stories/200904070227

Tamerlan Tsarnaev--Boston Marathon bomber:
http://www.salon.com/2013/04/23/tamerlan_tsarnaev_was_an_alex_jones_fan/

Oscar Ortega--White House shooter:
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/article/39473_Alleged_WH_Shooter_Oscar_Ortega_Inspired_by_Alex_Jones

Paul Ciancia--LAX shooter:
https://www.hate-speech.org/lax-shooter-carried-manifesto/

Jared and Amanda Miller--Las Vegas cop killers:
http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/bundy-blm/rejected-revolution-jerad-and-amanda-miller-decided-start-their-own

Like it or not, clearly his brand of fear-mongering can be toxic for those of a certain persuasion.

Did Art ever blatantly LIE, spreading fear and panic amongst his listeners for the sake of spectacle?


http://youtu.be/7WkGyAqVmCk

Think The War of the Worlds, sans the attempt to notify listeners the broadcast was fictional.

I don't know. These folks were clearly crazy but even often they themselves doesn't trust Alex (if you read the details of the articles.) You know, cause Alex is married to a Jew and is a "gatekeeper" for this zionist occupied government, or, depending on their claims some kind of Mossad agent. So why would these neo-nazis support him?

Tarsenev maybe listened but I'm sure he was more influenced in his trips home and Islamic rhetoric. And the FBI and other agencies were aware of him and his brother but did nothing and "cleared them", likely due to political correctness.

So in all you got a hand full of crazy people who tried, or did, kill people. Most with tangential association (the successful killers) or "big fans" of Alex Jones (the unsuccessful killers) with Alex Jones. You get more deaths than that in a month in Chicago influenced by rap music, it could be argued. Or over the year by those influenced by violent video games, it could be argued. Or from drinking milk, it could be argued. Personally, I'm blaming the 80K killed in Mexico in the past few years on Mariachi music and Norteno music because the killers have listened to that type of music!
Correlation doesn't imply causation.

[PerfectTommy]

Correlation doesn't imply causation.

...But it does wink suggestively at it.

Though Poplawski and Tsarnaev may have been rabid anti-Zionists they can still find common ground with Alex in the view that the current government, and the minions who serve it, are an extension of whatever boogeyman belief system they incorporate on an individual basis.

Whether they believe in the shadowy Illuminati, Jews, NWO, Great Satan, the military-industrial complex, or the industrial-industrial complex, whenever one of these freaks snap it's always innocent people who pay the price.

Really, it's not so much about Alex, who is obnoxious, divisive, ignorant, and speculative, yes, but also about the times we are in right now. Look about you. The world we live in is falling apart around our ears, though not for the reason Alex and his ilk think.

When the government naturally responds naturally to the symptoms of societal decay, terrorism, lone nuts wigging out, etc. by cracking down--more draconian measures are enforced, Jones appears vindicated, paranoia from the nutjobs increases, and the merry-go-round goes round and round...

As things continue to collapse, those already on edge will be more likely to go over it. If they happen to be tuning in to Alex Jones, he'll be the one telling them whose to blame for society's ills, and they'll know just where to focus their ire... and their aim.

Expect this to amplify the worse it gets.

This is why I think Alex is a dangerous radio host. In these perilous times, our situation is bad enough. The last thing we need is another asshole opportunist such as he stirring the pot.

[Gd5150]

For me, if a program has only a hundred thousand listeners, well, that is less dangerous than someone with a million regular listeners.

That eliminates all left wing talk radio and their 3 listeners.

[albrecht]

...But it does wink suggestively at it.

Though Poplawski and Tsarnaev may have been rabid anti-Zionists they can still find common ground with Alex in the view that the current government, and the minions who serve it, are an extension of whatever boogeyman belief system they incorporate on an individual basis.

Whether they believe in the shadowy Illuminati, Jews, NWO, Great Satan, the military-industrial complex, or the industrial-industrial complex, whenever one of these freaks snap it's always innocent people who pay the price.

Really, it's not so much about Alex, who is obnoxious, divisive, ignorant, and speculative, yes, but also about the times we are in right now. Look about you. The world we live in is falling apart around our ears, though not for the reason Alex and his ilk think.

When the government naturally responds naturally to the symptoms of societal decay, terrorism, lone nuts wigging out, etc. by cracking down--more draconian measures are enforced, Jones appears vindicated, paranoia from the nutjobs increases, and the merry-go-round goes round and round...

As things continue to collapse, those already on edge will be more likely to go over it. If they happen to be tuning in to Alex Jones, he'll be the one telling them whose to blame for society's ills, and they'll know just where to focus their ire... and their aim.

Expect this to amplify the worse it gets.

This is why I think Alex is a dangerous radio host. In these perilous times, our situation is bad enough. The last thing we need is another asshole opportunist such as he stirring the pot.

Very good points. Instead of diffusing the situation, what the government should be doing, it escalates the situation by militarizing police, more regulatory interference in our lives, and throwing the border open. It does feed into the paranoid's delusions. And it also is what the "real terrorists" want disrupting our society and economy. Sowing distrust of government and each other. Unfortunately at each opportunity it seems the government acts as the paranoids would predict. A crazy guy shoots someone? We need to ban (some) guns. Arab terrorist blows something up? We need to frisk grandma and your baby. Bad economy and low wages? We need to import more immigrants or even just open up border? Criminals use internet for crimes? We are going to spy on all your communications. And so on...

[yumyumtree]

Good thread. I'll limit mine to radio--Tom Leykis and Roy Masters.

[yumyumtree]

been saying this for years.  nobody would listen.  thank you, sir.  you're a great american.

i don't know about "toxic" where hannity is concerned... and i think it's really dangerous when everyone agrees, so i don't have a natural aversion to division, but i find hannity to be wholly ineffective at what he does.  he's definitely one of the weakest links in all of conservative talk radio.  i've pissed and moaned about it elsewhere on the forum, but he brings leftists on the show who are almost caricatures of leftist ideology knowing they'll be easy to laugh at, and then he also stacks the debate with a second "conservative" voice, and both he and the "conservative" will shout down the "wacko leftist" with no real debate or exchange of ideas ever taking place.  then, when he's not busy doing that, he's busy regurgitating the same worn out philosophies rush has been repeating for a quarter of a century.  there's not an original idea in the guy's head, and you won't come away from his show with an adequate understanding of what's happening in terms of political news.  it's just regurgitated neo-conservative philosophies, many of which have been discredited, in my opinion (like sending our military to the other side of the world to fight wars we can't win or shouldn't be involved in).  agree or disagree with rush, at least when you listen to him, you'll know what's happening and you can form your own opinions (unless you lack critical thinking skills).

I lost a lot of respect for Hannity when I caught his TV show once about 6 years ago and he spent an hour talking about the water situation in the Central Valley of California. It was awful. No  attempt to get a reasonable voice from the other side, or anything. He evidently went down there with his mind made up and clearly has no understanding of the intricacies of a problem like this, which has been decades in the making, I think.The fact that they fixate on the idea of the Delta smelt being only 4 inches long shows how dumb people can be about science in general and environmental matters in particular.

Then there's the matter of Hannity's freedom concerts. Debbie Schuessel did an expose of the small amount of help veterans actually get from them, and some of the typical charity problems, such as a lot of money spent on travel and administrative costs. Charity Navigator, however, gave them a pretty good grade, though I guess. That is even more troubling to me--Charity Navigator's credibility.  I rely on them, or rather I would, if I had more money to give to causes. If you google this, I will warn you, Debbie Scheussel is contoversial and has made a lot of enemies all over the place.(She's kind of like Pamela Geller.) Hannity's friends made the usual classy move--they attacked her.

I think we all mean slightly different things by "destructive" too. It could mean scaring the horses, making people not vaccinate their children, spend their money in silly ways or just experience brain rot that willl manifest itself in electing bad politicans or following the wrong gurus. I persnally dislike hosts who are proud of hating vegetables.  Some hosts are destructive because they're meaner than snakes--cynical and angry--lashing out at other hosts, callers, their own staff.  Well, actually that's pretty much just Michael Savage.

[MV/Liberace!]

curtis thornton.

[Albemuth]

Joe Pags: I don’t know if this guys an intentional moron or if it’s just part of his shtick, but *Wow* he’s none too bright…He has a Robin Quivers-like woman (“Cari”) with him whose sole job is apparently to agree with his viewpoint, but I sometimes feel sorry for her as she’s obviously sharper than this guy she's backing up…I sometimes have the misfortune of hearing his show (and an hour of Glenn Beck’s) while waiting for Dave Schrader’s Darkness Radio to come on locally…

[MV/Liberace!]

Joe Pags: I don’t know if this guys an intentional moron or if it’s just part of his shtick, but *Wow* he’s none too bright…He has a Robin Quivers-like woman (“Cari”) with him whose sole job is apparently to agree with his viewpoint, but I sometimes feel sorry for her as she’s obviously sharper than this guy she's backing up…I sometimes have the misfortune of hearing his show (and an hour of Glenn Beck’s) while waiting for Dave Schrader’s Darkness Radio to come on locally…

i've only heard promos for this show, but it sounds awful.  from his pukey delivery to the 30 year old political talk format he follows, it just reeks of shit radio.

[albrecht]

i've only heard promos for this show, but it sounds awful.  from his pukey delivery to the 30 year old political talk format he follows, it just reeks of shit radio.

WTF would you be hearing Joe Pags up there? I thought he was only a local San Antonio guy. Geez, shows how bad the big radio companies are. Find some local guy and syndicate his crap nationally. I don't even disagree with much of his politics, from the few times I got stuck listening to him in traffic, but can't stand him and his "banter" with the chick side-kick. Of course, I never liked Stern either but still clearly an attempt to emulate that style.

[cweb]

His website is a work of art, too.

Screengrabbed, to avoid hits. (Flashblocked, to avoid listening.)

[Albemuth]

WTF would you be hearing Joe Pags up there? I thought he was only a local San Antonio guy. Geez, shows how bad the big radio companies are. Find some local guy and syndicate his crap nationally. I don't even disagree with much of his politics, from the few times I got stuck listening to him in traffic, but can't stand him and his "banter" with the chick side-kick. Of course, I never liked Stern either but still clearly an attempt to emulate that style.

Yep, he lucked into some sort of syndication package. We get him in the St. Paul/Minneapolis market ...I guess anybody can hold a radio job these days...

[ItsOver]

Yep, he lucked into some sort of syndication package. We get him in the St. Paul/Minneapolis market ...I guess anybody can hold a radio job these days...

Do you get the redneck poser Micheal Berry?  He makes Pags tolerable.

[albrecht]

Do you get the redneck poser Micheal Berry?  He makes Pags tolerable.

Thankfully, I don't but I do recall this story. Anyone from Houston knows what goes on in Montrose. You don't go there for a "cold beer" unless you are looking for that kind of scene:
http://www.texasobserver.org/homophobic-radio-host-busted-at-gay-bar/
http://blog.chron.com/newswatch/2012/02/bouncer-claims-michael-berry-rammed-vehicle-at-gay-club/

Most people also don't get a very prominent attorney like Dick DeGuerin (amongst many others he defended high-profile people like Tom DeLay, David Koresh, Robert Durst, and got Billy Joe Shaver off from that shooting) for a simple "misunderstanding" hit-and-run unless they really don't want something going to trial, has priors, or "there is more "there" there...."

[Paradox]

Anyway, to answer the question with a question: does Alex Jones count? Does he have a radio show? Because if he did, I can't see that thing being healthy to listen to at all.

That was my first reaction.  Alex Jones. He's the master of The Hegelian Dialectic, going into a situation, creating turmoil then screaming about how he is being mistreated, telling his audience I told you so and then presenting his audience with his solution to the problem.  Listened to him a couple of times, watched a video and blew him off. 

But his followers can be a dangerous bunch.  Some scary people hang on every word he utters.

[wr250]

That was my first reaction.  Alex Jones. He's the master of The Hegelian Dialectic, going into a situation, creating turmoil then screaming about how he is being mistreated, telling his audience I told you so and then presenting his audience with his solution to the problem.  Listened to him a couple of times, watched a video and blew him off. 

But his followers can be a dangerous bunch.  Some scary people hang on every word he utters.

so he is just like  al sharpton , only a right wing nutcase as opposed to sharptons left wing nuttery?

[Paradox]

so he is just like  al sharpton , only a right wing nutcase as opposed to sharptons left wing nuttery?

And if we put them together we get a moderate? 

[albrecht]

so he is just like  al sharpton , only a right wing nutcase as opposed to sharptons left wing nuttery?

So far at least, and there might have been a few outlier individual incidents, 'crazy' or not- none of Alex's listeners, certainly as a group at least, have consistently used almost any occasion to riot and loot, shot cops, burnt down the shops and businesses, run amok in malls and public venues, or shot and murdered each other- seemingly every day- but especially on weekends or during holidays.

[wr250]

So far at least, and there might have been a few outlier individual incidents, 'crazy' or not- none of Alex's listeners, certainly as a group at least, have consistently used almost any occasion to riot and loot, shot cops, burnt down the shops and businesses, run amok in malls and public venues, or shot and murdered each other- seemingly every day- but especially on weekends or during holidays.

alex jones has listeners?

[Paradox]

So far at least, and there might have been a few outlier individual incidents, 'crazy' or not- none of Alex's listeners, certainly as a group at least, have consistently used almost any occasion to riot and loot, shot cops, burnt down the shops and businesses, run amok in malls and public venues, or shot and murdered each other- seemingly every day- but especially on weekends or during holidays.

Now you have a point here and it is true.  I have no knowledge of outlier incidents, but I do know some AJ listeners and while I will admit they do not represent the majority of his followers, believe me when I say they are scary people.

[Zetaspeak]

Hannity does seem like the worst of the right-wing bunch

Mark Levin and Bill Cunningham are also kind of atrocious.