Posted on 05/10/2005 6:07:28 AM PDT by tgslTakoma
Michael Graham wants to start a war in Washington. And Maryland. And Virginia.
Why? It's good for ratings, which is good for business, which is good for Graham - and his corporate patron, ABC Radio.
At the moment he's getting assistance from an unlikely ally - the Montgomery County police.
Graham is the new right-wing talk radio jock in the D.C. area. You can hear him on WMAL in the midmorning. He's the setup guy for Rush Limbaugh. WMAL is to WTOP what Fox News is to CNN. Rush does national issues. Graham sticks to enraging locals on local topics.
Graham's weapons are the standard fare of conservative talkmeisters: riffs on gay marriage and illegal aliens and stupid liberals. WMAL program director Randall Bloomquist calls it "right-wing screaming brain vomit."
The reviled liberals surround Graham in his "Ronald Reagan Studio" at Friendship Heights, snug in the swank corner of Northwest Washington, hard by the Maryland line. If Maryland is a blue state, Northwest D.C. and Montgomery County are royal blue.
"It's hard to find more insanity than in Montgomery County," he tells me.
Graham, 43, is a tall, sinewy guy, married with two kids, native of South Carolina, a graduate of Oral Roberts University, veteran of a Pat Buchanan presidential campaign, author of "Redneck Nation: How the South Really Won the War." He had lived in Maryland, but he moved to Virginia - "God's side of the river."
On Sunday, Graham took his act to Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville. The school was hosting a rally by Latino immigrants protesting the Real ID Act, a federal law that would deny drivers licenses to illegal aliens. Maryland is one of 10 states that issues licenses even if applicants don't prove they are legal residents.
Proponents of the law say it will make it harder for terrorists to get licenses and legal status; critics argue that it will discriminate against immigrants - in particular illegal ones.
You know where Michael Graham comes down on this one. So do the organizers of Sunday's rally.
Graham strolled up to the high school. He was wearing his black T-shirt with INS in white letters, which translates to "I Need (Border) Security." He held a tape recorder and a camera. What happened next is a subject of interpretation and perhaps litigation:
Security people stopped Graham and asked for identification.
"Funny for them to ask me for ID," he tells me.
He flashed his ABC credentials and tried to walk in. They jumped him. A struggle ensued. Someone alerted the police officers standing nearby. "Finally," Graham figured, "they're going to pull these illegals off of me." But no. They took him into custody and asked him to leave.
"Makes sense, actually," he says, "if you consider the whack jobs who run the Montgomery County Police."
Monday morning he made verbal mincemeat of the county, the cops and CASA, the group that organized the rally, which he referred to as a front group for illegal aliens. Actually, CASA is a well-respected advocacy group for immigrants of all kinds. They are known, for instance, for rescuing enslaved domestic workers.
Everything was going according to script until the Montgomery County police went to extremes. Lt. Eric Burnett told Graham's boss, WMAL president Chris Berry, that police were planning to "file a complaint against Graham."
I asked Burnett about the charges. Failure to shut up?
"Graham was acting unprofessional as a reporter," Burnett said.
But as Chris Berry says, Michael Graham is an entertainer, not a reporter. The cops did their job on Sunday. Now they are just giving Graham more material.
Make his day:
Arrest him.
I don't know how new he is in the DC area; I think he's been on WMAL for at least a year, IIRC.
In any event, his show today is likely to be another fun one. You can listen live online HERE
Michael Graham ROCKS.
Morning, Tiggles!
Windows Media
9:00-11:45am EST M-F
http://abcrad.wm.llnwd.net/abcrad_wmal
I see English is a second language for Lt. Eric Burnett. Beyond that, please o please arrest Graham. He will make mincemeat of MC and they will end up spending (wasting) even more of the tax dollars of their MC subjects.
Mash on Question of the day.
Mornin' Bufe.
Bump for another right-winger.
Mike Graham is a prety bright fellow. But I had no idea that he was so goofy looking. Yep. He's got a face for radio. I enjoy his show. Graham has a lot of enthusiasm.
The Monkey County Police? Meatheads. Superb meatheads.
Go get'em, Mike!
BUMP
"The cops did their job on Sunday"
Er no. They pulled the equivalent of "her skirt was too short, she had it coming". Morons.
I live in Montgomery County. Police: your job is to protect the rights of law-abiding citizens. Protestors threatened Graham with violence, and the police claim *he* is the one causing trouble.
Michelle Malkin's blog is on this one.
Graham is seriously funny. I got "Clinton and Me" as a gift several years ago, and it's howlingly hilarious. Not bad from a country boy from Pelion, South Carolina.
Ping to the SC ping list for a favorite son.
}:-)4
What a riot.
Gee, the last thing we would want to do is discriminate against illegal aliens. I mean, it's not as if they're, uh, illegal or anything.
And once again, when the "wrong" type of person's rights are being violated, the ACLU can collectively be observed putting its fingers in its ears and singing, "La la la la la la la...."
Respected by whom? Graham was right about them; they're a front for illegal aliens. Whatever other work they do is secondary at best.
Graham's biggest problem is that he's on opposite Laura Ingraham on WTNT.
Thanks for posting this. I hope to see more of how this shakes out. Micheal Graham is super! I wish he could switch his timeslot with Hannity.
Did the Montgomery Kounty Klown Kops ask anybody else or the known illegal aliens for their ids?
bump
I used to teach at BCC in Mont. Co. in 1959-60. Md. is a Blue state but has some chances to get some red in it with Steele. Perhaps Mike can persuade some voters. The funny thing is , Mike was on Fox just a few days ago and came across as reasonable not as a nut. If his program is a winner in DC, and MD. and perhaps even N. Va., how can he be just be supported by 'right wing listeners to vomit'??? Someone is making his program a winner and it just isn't being Rush's caddy.
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