HUGH HEWITT and Free Republic: How should we help him help us? [Who **IS** this guy?]

Hugh Hewitt confirms his NEW radio station list: NEW times, cities, call letters ^ | 10/20/2001 | RonDog

[RonDog]

In recent weeks, some here have expressed concern about the large number of posts on this forum aggressively promoting nationally syndicated talk radio host Hugh Hewitt, asking:

1 - Who **IS** this guy?
2 - Why is he getting so much attention here?
3 - Is this a good thing? (or proper, ethical, in our best interest, etc.?)

Since I have started (and contributed to) MANY of these threads, I now intend to address these concerns, and encourage vigorous debate among all who care to join in. ALL opinions are welcome, but INFORMED opinions are preferred.
If you do not yet know about Hugh Hewitt and his enormous positive, dynamic, long-term relationship with Free Republic, you are ignorant. This is not an insult; it is a definition:

"Everybody is ignorant. Only on different subjects." Will Rogers

Fortunately, that ignorance is 100% curable. If in the past you did NOT know about Hugh Hewitt and his relationship to Free Republic, after reading this thread you WILL. At least enough to make a constuctive contribution to the question:

What should Free Republic DO about Hugh Hewitt?

Here are the areas about which I propose to encourage SERIOUS discussion:

1 - Documented HISTORY of the relationship which has developed between Hugh Hewitt and Free Republic:

a - Hugh lurks here. He OFTEN promotes FR on his radio program, in VERY positive terms - sometimes referring to us as the "Coast-watchers over at Free Republic." Doug from Upland, ALOHA RONNIE, DLfromthedesert, PatiPie and many other FReepers are regular callers.
Hugh responds to suggestions that we make, and credits this forum as the source for MUCH of his news. He has promoted FReeper causes on MULTIPLE occasions, cited the screen names of MANY FReepers on the air, and OFTEN includes links from his "Message of the Day" page to specific threads here, in addition to maintaining a PERMANENT link to FR on his homepage.

b - He is a kindred spirit. He champions many of our core values, and wants to share the magic of Free Republic with his radio listeners and editorial readers across the USA. He is reaching out to help us achieve many of our common goals. He is a California-based (south of Los Angeles) evangelical Christian (elder in the Presbyterian church) who still teaches Constitutional Law (at Chapman College). He aggressively supports the military, vigorously defends people of faith, regularly attacks incompetance in government, and frequently exposes bias in the media.

c - He is an activist. Hugh has been a believer in the power of FReeping - even before he knew what it was! When the television networks tried to throw the Presidential election in 2000 by calling a winner before the polls closed, he set up a website (www.TheFloridaEffect.com) to document lost Republican votes. He understands the tremendous value of early financial support (even in very small amounts) for such worthy causes as the taking back the Senate in 2002.

2 - Short-term TACTICS to promote maximum exposure of "Hugh Hewitt" threads on Free Republic:

a - Search for "Hugh Hewitt": Since newbies that Hugh sends to Free Republic for the first time (and even a few old-timers here!) do not know very much about finding articles on this forum, JohnHuang2, Doug from Upland and I have been adding the name "Hugh Hewitt" to the title of articles about him that we post here, to make them easier to find. We also post his editorials in the "Editorial" sidebar, and other important information as "Extended News" for maximum exposure.

b - Search for Articles+Replies to:"Hugh Hewitt" - John Robinson's new "Bump List" Register provides an excellent PASSIVE mechanism for marking threads for easy retrieval at a later date. This new tool allows each of us to contribute to a "Hugh Hewitt clipping service" - by posting a reply to "Hugh Hewitt" on any thread which may be of interest to Hugh and his listeners. (Hugh is NOT registered to post here, but his NAME is on the "Free Republic Bump List Register".) The best part about THIS tool is that it can be used to mark MANY threads - even those which may be of only peripheral interst to Hugh and his listeners - since only those FReepers who actually search for these threads will find them. (They will NOT appear in a "Self-Search.")

c - "Hugh Hewitt PING list" - One of John Robinson's OTHER great new recent improvements to this forum is the virtually "unlimited PING list" feature which allows any registered FReeper to ACTIVELY summon all members of an certain "interest group" to a particular thread. This tool should be used sparingly - only for articles written by Hugh or specifically about Hugh - as it will force the "flagged" thread to show up in a "Self-Search" of everyone on the PING list. (In the next few days, I intend to post a RonDog's "Hugh Hewitt PING list" thread, with a complete list of all the screen names that I have gathered from the many previous Hugh Hewitt threads. After it is posted, please let me know if you want to get ON - or OFF - MY list. Thanks.)

3 - Long-term STRATEGY to plan and direct the benefits for Free Republic from this relationship:

a - Hugh is an EDITOR. In his "first anniversary" editorial for WorldNetDaily, Hugh identified "news judgment" as his primary strength. This is probably our MOST important area for influence: target selection. Assuming that we DO promote Hugh on this forum, what is our objective? What do we do with the power that we have to influence his opinions, his programming and his priorities? Personally, I like the idea of moving Hugh out of his "center-right" comfort zone - as far to the right as he can reasonably be enticed to go without losing market share. We can do this by appealling to his "Voice of Reason" - with logic, documentation, and well-reasoned argument.

He has expressed interest in the "big picture" of environmental law issues represented by the Federal government in the Klamath Basin Crisis. He has spoken on his radio show about the Second Amendment aspects of the recent Emerson decision in the Fifth District court. Other areas of possible influence are reforming immigration policy, limiting the power of the UN, protecting individual rights, restraining the growth of the federal government. What else?

b - Hugh likes "JOINT VENTURES" with Free Republic. One of the classic "combined projects" is The word 'rapist' censored from George Will's column, where Hugh found the original story on Free Republic, reported it on the air, and then asked FReepers to post side-by-side versions. Other such examples of radio-Internet synergy are HUGH HEWITT ASKS FREEPERS FOR FEINSTEIN TRANSCRIPT and Hugh Hewitt asks for Free Republic help to pressure Gore to concede. What OTHER "joint ventures" could we (or SHOULD we) attempt to do with this "good FRiend" who happens to broadcast into 40+ radio markets across the USA? Any ideas?

c - Hugh likes to INTERVIEW authorities. Like Clint Eastwood in Magnum Force, Hugh believes that "a man's got to know his limitations." He often defers to the specialized expertise of regular guests like "Fred Barnes and Morton Kondracke... ...Terry Eastland, Erwin Chemerinsky and John Eastman..." There is no good reason that MANY more FReepers could not join the team of "experts" that contribute by calling his show on a regular basis. (800) 520-1234

I intend to continue promoting Hugh's weekly WorldNetDaily column. In addition, I feel that we should expand upon Doug from Upland's HUGH HEWITT SHOW threads, and that we should maintain an active "running commentary" thread for Hugh's radio show - EVERY day.

My intention is to start this discussion with "testimonials" about Hugh that have been posted here by OTHER FReepers, then provide links to other threads about Hugh, and finally, add biographical information and personal commentary.

If your words are quoted, please feel free to modify, enhance, clarify, retract, recant or disavow anything attributed to you.
All others, chime in whenever the spirit moves you. (Regular listeners to Hugh are particularly encouraged to contribute.)

Good Morning Glory, and Evening Grace!

[colorado tanker]

You are spot on. Hugh is a good friend of FR. I was a daily listener, but now that Hugh is on in the afternoons, the last hour is about all I hear. Morning glory, to you!

[esther2]

Metro Washington DC. WABS carries Hugh's show but it has a really weak signal--probably have to be across the street to pick it up. I wish he could get on the FM Christian station here (WAVA); it's a SRN station, too. For now, I suppose I'll try to remember to listen via Internet (while I watch FoxNews at the same time!). Thanks for the pings.

[BibChr]

Thanks. Well, I tuned in about 3:58 PST, when it was mostly over. In the next hour, there was some backwards mention to his having difficulty saying nuclear correctly (he seemed a bit cranky about it at this point), so I guess I missed what would have been an interesting discussion. I'm glad he's aware of it, hope he had some fun with it.

Dan

[Outraged]

I listen to him every day Ron...good guy that Hugh Hewitt!

[goldilucky]

Thank you for this!

[LeeMcCoy]

I have a question about Hugh's bumper music: Just before the last segment of his show, Hugh always plays the same haunting melody. Does anyone know what the name of this tune is? I've looked on his website, but can't find it and I know he used to have it listed. Silly me, should have written it down. Thanks!

[RonDog]

I have a question about Hugh's bumper music: Just before the last segment of his show, Hugh always plays the same haunting melody. Does anyone know what the name of this tune is?

It is from the recent movie, "Last of the Mohicans." There was a link to a .wav file of it on a previous HH thread.
(I will find it later, and post it here.)

[LeeMcCoy]

Thanks, RonDog!,/p>

[RonDog]

Thanks for the ping to your GREAT work here, RonDog!

This just in! From a Google search for "Hugh Hewitt" and "Free Republic", I found a post from Ron C. about Hugh which was chosen as a Bonus Byte from RJayneJ's WONDERFUL Free Republic Highlights:

From:
Iceberg ahead! Hugh Hewitt warns Bush on affirmative-action case
Posted on 08/14/2001 00:52:37 PDT by JohnHuang2

To: JohnHuang2

Hugh Hewitt is a conservative, and sometimes a dumb conservative - one who frustrates the hell out of me at times with his obvious disconnects from reality... but, on this one, he hits the nail on the head.

The problem here is not some great decision made by the president himself, it is a decision made by a Justice Department that we had far greater hopes for... only to see those hopes continue to be dashed as the corrupted, crippled and discredited DOJ behemoth continues to pervert the very justice it is supposed to uphold - wretchedly failing - miserably, long after supposed "help on the way" arrived, and apparently morphed into little more than a momentary puff of rancid purple smoke.

Where is that help from you AG John Ashcroft? Did you fall into a pit, has someone bound and gagged you? Was your spine surgically removed during confirmation? Or did you perhaps suffer a brain transplant, and the truth is conservative John Ashcroft no longer exists?

No, Hugh - there is considerable doubt in my mind that this thrown spoke, and the one a few days ago, and the one before that will keep the wheels under this administration long enough to get it to the end of "a superb first term." Unless George W. Bush gets a firm grip on a huge tube of glue to keep the spokes of conservatism from flying out of the works, he'll find himself dragging behind the horses running away from disaster behind.

One metaphor is enough, no iceberg is needed - either this administration maintains its promise of conservatism and those who made it possible will extend it, or it continues an already rapid disintegration into what may well be another one term Bush presidency.

2 Posted on 08/14/2001 05:17:54 PDT by Ron C.

Not a RINGING ENDORSEMENT, but the kind of compliment that really validates Hugh's value to those of us here who may be a little more "hard core" on some issues than Hugh is. ;) AND, it showed up in Google, as well as in the Bulldog Bulletin! (ANY PR is good PR.)

[RJayneJ]

Thanks for the heads up! Nice job! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! };^D)

[RonDog]

See also:
Snow Bunny is "on the air" - RIGHT NOW! - with Hugh Hewitt
[plugging our USO Canteen Freeper Style!]
Posted on 10/31/2001 15:08:23 PST by RonDog