Fanfare for the Common Man

Human Events ^ | 1/7/08 | D. R. Tucker

[MartinaMisc]

It’s painful when a friend loses his job—even if that friend is someone you’ve never met.

For talk-radio fans in the thirty-eight states that receive the powerful signal of Boston’s CBS Radio affiliate WBZ-AM, the two most important hours of the weekend were on Saturday night between 7:00pm and 9:00pm Eastern. For most of this decade, that timeslot was occupied by an outstanding host named Pat Desmarais.

Desmarais, who had appeared on radio stations in New York, New Hampshire and Massachusetts prior to his tenure at WBZ, was an intellectually vibrant host, a man unafraid to defend positions generally considered unpopular in the station’s home state. A proud Republican who was firm in his support of President Bush and the Iraq War, Desmarais accepted ideological challenges from callers with sharply differing perspectives—and emerged from almost all of these fights with his head held high.

Often, I would cringe as caller after caller went after Desmarais with ruthless aggression, attacking the alleged stupidity of his views. Desmarais stood his ground with style and a smile; he was the very definition of cool under pressure.

I called into Desmarais’ show several times between 2005 and 2008. Sometimes, I would dial the station’s number as soon as the show came on, hoping that I would be the first caller. I didn’t do this out of ego; I did this because I knew he would face a crush of criticism for his markedly conservative views, and I wanted him to know that there were a few listeners who thought his views were, well, right on.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OLWgrr671g