Michael Graham Fired

Radioeqaulizer.blogspot.com ^ | 22 Aug 2005

[AgThorn]

22.8.05

DC Talk Host Fired Over Islam Statements

MICHAEL GRAHAM FIRED

DC Talk Host Was Target Of Islamist Campaign



Confirmation of WMAL/Washington talk host Michael Graham's removal from the ABC station has been made with his just-released statement.

Graham had been suspended for making comments local fringe Islamists from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) found offensive, now we've learned he won't be returning to WMAL.

CAIR has been linked to terrorist group Hamas.

Official ABC reason: insubordination, for apparently not doing enough "outreach" after an incident where Graham called Islam itself a "terror organization".

In a Jewish World Review column, Graham further ticked off Mickey's suits with this (via Michelle Malkin):

I take no pleasure in saying it. It pains me to think it. I could very well lose my job in talk radio over admitting it.

But it is the plain truth: Islam is a terror organization.

For years, I've been trying to give the world's Muslim community the benefit of the doubt, along with the benefit of my typical-American's complete disinterest in their faith. Before 9/11, I knew nothing about Islam except the greeting "asalaam alaikum," taught to me by a Pakistani friend in Chicago.

Immediately after 9/11, I nodded in ignorant agreement as President Bush assured me that "Islam is a religion of peace."

But nearly four years later, nobody can defend that statement. And I mean "nobody." Certainly not the group of "moderate" Muslim clerics and imams who gathered in London last week to issue a statement on terrorism and their faith.

When asked the question "Are suicide bombings always a violation of Islam," they could not answer "Yes. Always." Instead, these "moderate British Muslims" had to answer "It depends."

Previous Radio Equalizer coverage on the issue is found here. Michelle Malkin's recent piece can be found here.

At this moment, he's still listed as a host on the WMAL site. Ads specific to Graham's show are still shown.

Because WMAL is an American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) shop, Graham has a number of potential grievance options. Usually, terminations for cause can be the trickiest for broadcasters, because they are easier for the union to fight than if he were let go for performance (ratings, revenue) reasons.

Also stunning: WMAL Program Director Randall Bloomquist, a longtime industry veteran, hasn't been seen at the ABC building in a week and isn't returning messages or emails.

Has he also been fired? He wasn't scheduled to be away for the week. Speculation is running high tonight that Bloomquist, Graham's direct supervisor, is the second casualty of the CAIR campaign.

The Radio Equalizer is waiting for a response from ABC.

So far, ABC has never told listeners why Graham has not been heard on the air, forcing them to rely on newspaper accounts and blogs for the latest.


Here's Graham's statement:


Contact: Michael Graham
Email: mail@michaelgraham.com

CAIR WINS, FREE SPEECH LOSES AT ABC RADIO
Radio Station Gives In To CAIR Demands, Fires Host For Comments Regarding Islam

The following is a statement from Michael Graham, former mid-morning host at ABC Radio's 630 WMAL in Washington, DC:

The First Amendment and I have been evicted from ABC Radio in Washington, DC.

On July 25th, the Council on American-Islamic Relations demanded that I be "punished" for my on-air statements regarding Islam and its tragic connections to terrorism.

Three days later, 630 WMAL and ABC Radio suspended me without pay for comments deemed "hate radio" by CAIR.

CAIR immediately announced that my punishment was insufficient and demanded I be fired. ABC Radio and 630 WMAL have now complied. I have now been fired for making the specific comments CAIR deemed "offensive," and for refusing to retract those statements in a management-mandated, on-air apology.

ABC Radio further demanded that I agree to perform what they described as "additional outreach efforts" to those people or groups who felt offended.

I refused. And for that refusal, I have been fired.

It appears that ABC Radio has caved to an organization that condemns talk radio hosts like me, but has never condemned Hamas, Hezbollah, and one that wouldn't specifically condemn Al Qaeda for three months after 9/11.

As a fan of talk radio, I find it absolutely outrageous that pressure from a special interest group like CAIR can result in the abandonment of free speech and open discourse on a talk radio show. As a conservative talk host whose job is to have an open, honest conversation each day with my listeners, I believe caving to this pressure is a disaster.

I for one cannnot apologize for the truth and I cannot agree to some community-service style "outreach effort" to appease the opponents of free speech.

If I had made a racist or bigoted comment -- which my regular listeners know goes against everything I believe in -- I would apologize immediately, and without coercion. When I have made inadvertent fact errors in the past, I apologized promptly and without hesitation.

But we have now gone far beyond that, with demands that I apologize for the ideas my listeners and I believe in. It is not a coincidence that, after my suspension on July 28th, WMAL received more than 15,000 phone calls and emails protesting my removal from the airwaves.

Why such a huge response? It wasn't about me; The listeners I spoke to said they felt betrayed by my suspension because the vast majority of them agree with me on the subject of Islam. By labeling my statements as unacceptable, these listeners felt that WMAL management was insulting them, too.

I cannot speak for anyone else, but I care about the listeners of 630 WMAL. I respect them and I appreciate the amazing support they have given me.

I could not dishonor their principled support for free speech by giving into these demands. I cannot join ABC Radio in bowing to CAIR's wishes. And I will not apologize for my opinions or retract the truth.

The whole point of the Michael Graham Show is what my listeners and I call the "natural truth," those obvious facts about modern life that the p.c. police and mainstream media believe should never be discussed. That includes the tragic, but undeniable relationship between terrorism and Islam as it is constituted today.

The conversations my listeners and I had on this subject were not offensive or bigoted in the least. In fact, Ibrahim Hooper of CAIR (who has appeared on my show several times) credited "criticism from talk radio" in part for the recent fatwa against terrorism issued by a group of US Muslim scholars. Ironically, it was issued the day before I was suspended.

That's the real tragedy here. The people who most need free speech and open dialogue on the issues facing Islam today are America's moderate Muslims. These are people of good will who have the difficult job ahead of reforming and rescuing their religion. They need all the help they can get.

The decision to give CAIR what it wants-a group with well-publicized ties to terrorists and terror-related organizations--will make it harder for the reformers to successfully face Islam's challenges. Still worse, silencing people like me will make it easier for Islamist extremists to dismiss all sincere calls for reform as mere "bigotry."

When CAIR is able to quell dissent and label every critic a "bigot," the chilling effect is felt far beyond ABC Radio and 630 WMAL. If anyone is owed an apology, it is the moderate, Muslim community who have been failed once again by the mainstream media.


Update: coverage from LGF here, Backcountry Conservative here.

Update: from new WorldNetDaily story:

Graham's suspension stems come from characterizing Islam a "terrorist organization." Graham explained that when a significant minority of a group conducts terrorism and the general population of that group does not denounce it, it is safe to conclude that the group promotes it. He drew an analogy between Islam and the Boy Scouts.

"If the Boy Scouts of America had 1,000 scout troops, and 10 of them practiced suicide bombings, then the BSA would be considered a terrorist organization," he said.

"If the BSA refused to kick out those 10 troops, that would make the case even stronger. If people defending terror repeatedly turned to the Boy Scout handbook and found language that justified and defended murder – and the scoutmasters in charge simply said 'Could be' – the Boy Scouts would have driven out of America long ago."

Your Amazon orders that originate here, regardless of what you end up ordering, greatly help to support this effort. Thanks!

[AgThorn]

Checked and only found articles that were talking about threat of being fired, and all earlier than this one. So much for free speach in this county versus political correctness.

[Keith in Iowa]

See also:

CAIR WINS, FREE SPEECH LOSES AT ABC RADIO

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

CAIR is nothing more than an Islamic ACLU, a front organization trying to portray Muslims as nice people (Sort of like the good cop in the good cop/bad cop routine).

That said, WMAL needs to be FReeped big-time.

[A CA Guy]

Sorry Sean Hannity, but what you do is not listen to ABC radio for a month, or you write their sponsors that ABC sides with terrorism and that since they are sponsoring shows, you will be boycotting their products.

[Stellar Dendrite]

hell, this could end up being a blessing for this guy. i had never heard of him until now....maybe he'll get a show on another network and it will be bigger?

[backhoe]

CAIR is nothing more than an Islamic ACLU, a front organization trying to portray Muslims as nice people (Sort of like the good cop in the good cop/bad cop routine).

Oh, they are worse than that...CAIR is a front group for terrorists:
Background:

CAIR Founded by "Islamic Terrorists?"

-- from Anti-CAIR:
*Sen. Charles Schumer: "we know [CAIR] has ties to terrorism"

The real CAIR

CAIR's Campaign of Lies

CAIR Proposes World Islamophobia Report

CAIR: 'Moderate' friends of terror

An Open Letter to Islamic Organizations in America

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[krasdorf]

i am sending our ipetition to wmal even though it is beating a dead horse. you can see the petition results PDF file on http://www.supportmichaelgraham.com/ under the "what you can do" page

you can sign the petition at
http://www.ipetitions.com/campaigns/SupportMichaelGraham

[backhoe]

Thanks- I'll look at your links.

[Desron13]

Bookmarked for later read. Thanks.

[maggieb807]

Michael Graham had a great show. We in the DC Metro area love him and support him. I have emailed Sean Hannity, Rush, ABC Radio and WMAL (local station that carried Michael's show) and informed them as to the reasons they have lost this listener. Check out Michael's website. All the information you need about him is there. I also sent an email to CAIR to let them know what I think of them chrushing Freedom of Speech. Proves their true colors as a terrorist organization, in my opinion.

[maggieb807]

He has been fired. Free Speech loses to Islam.

[TBP]

Terrorists win again. Typical namby-pamby, lily-livered liberals. They would rather accomodate terrorists than protect those who make controversial statements.

As I said in an email to them, they hired Graham to be controversial then fired him when he was. Maybe WMAL ought to go back to playing standards. It's much less controversail. They'll get much less criticism. (And nobody in the DC market is doing it.)

[TBP]

Any details on CAIR's ties to terrorism? Names of people convicted, details of the financial ties, that sort of thing.

[TBP]

Looks like hte terrorists won this one. We must keep up the emails and calls to WMAL, letting them know what we think about this.

Meanwhile, for those in the DC area, there are lots of good alternatives. Laura Ingraham is on 570, Tony Snow is on 1160, Dr. Laura is on 930, and Tom Marr is on 680. All are very good.