AIr America States that Randi Rhodes Attack NOT A Hate Crime.

[John Kerry VonErich]

http://www.airamerica.com/

October 16-NEW YORK-On Sunday evening, October 14, Air America host Randi Rhodes experienced an unfortunate incident hindering her from hosting her show. The reports of a presumed hate crime are unfounded. Ms. Rhodes looks forward to being back on the air on Thursday.

[Mist]

1. Could they share with us why it's unfounded? nt

[LTR]

3. So far, there are no suspects

Without suspects, there is no motive...yet.

I have been holding back on blaming this on some RW nutcase. If it does turn out to be, well...

http://ltradio.blogspot.com/2007/10/air-americas-rhodes-violently-attacked.html

[asthmaticeog]

9. I'll share it with you: It's because there's no evidence yet.

When there's evidence, conclusions that follow from that evidence will be what we call "reasonable."

[Mist]

11. Good point--I'm carried away with outrage over what happened to Randi. Hope she's been able

to give some details to the police.

[asthmaticeog]

18. I hope so too. What happened is beyond awful.

I've been mugged, and that's no fun, but I didn't get *maimed* for god's sake. I hope her recovery is speedy and full.

[ronnykmarshall]

2. IT'S A KKKOVER UP!!

KKKarl's hands are all over this !!!!

:sarcasm:

Come on, you know SOMEONE is going to say it!

[cali]

8. It's already been said in an OP

entitled "TARGET KEY INDIVIDUALS".

[alcibiades_mystery]

55. Gahahahaha

:rofl:

Some times, people on this board are just fools. This is definitely one of those times. Poor woman fell down the stairs. You had people here conjuring up Kristallnacht. The panic and hyperbole are truly hilarious, even if the injury is not.

[cali]

56. I wish I found this

herd behavior more amusing.

[alcibiades_mystery]

73. You don't find it amusing?

Quelle dommage...

[NightWatcher]

4. "unfortunate" way to go for bat for one of the hosts

unless Randi wants this kept kinda quiet while it is investigated

[Richard Steele]

5. And what EVIDENCE do they have that it wasn't? ROBBERY was not the motive, so what's left? nm

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

7. What evidence was there that it was?

Random violence happens in NY alot. Until it's proven I will not jump to conclusions. I hope she's ok. It's all very sad.

[Richard Steele]

31. Nothing conclusive either way, that I've seen. I want to know why they discount one explanation.

There are only a handful of reasons for one person
to personally assault another. In a process of elimination,
I need EVIDENCE to remove any given reason from the
list of possible explanations for this incident.

To eliminate a possible explanation WITHOUT PROVIDING EVIDENCE
to support that elimination doesn't cut it with me.

If they can state so conclusively that it WASN'T something,
then they can demonstrate why it isn't.

[asthmaticeog]

13. Evidence that it WASN'T?

It's impossible to prove a negative. When there's any evidence at all, there will be a basis for drawing a conclusion. Conclusions reached absent evidence are worthless, whichever way they're drawn.

[jonnyblitz]

23. it's amazing that you even have to explain this basic concept.

:crazy:

as an atheist I encounter this often when debating the existence of God. ("You can't prove he DOESN'T exist")

[asthmaticeog]

25. I disagree that it's amazing. It's entirely too common to be amazing.

;)

[Richard Steele]

34. I agree with all your statements there.

"It's impossible to prove a negative."

Yet, a NEGATIVE is being claimed- they claim it WASN'T a "hate crime".
But no supporting evidence is offered with that claim.

I'm not throwing out some generic challenge to "prove it wasn't",
I'm asking for the evidence that backs up their SPECIFIC STATEMENT.
Precisely because "Conclusions reached absent evidence are worthless".

I apologize if my poor wording created any confusion about what
I'm asking here.

[Name removed]

53. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

62. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

70. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[John Kerry VonErich]

15. Gang related perhaps?

Nobody knows.

[cali]

24. How do you know robbery was not the motive?

How do you know, for example, that she wasn't wearing a necklace, that some creep tried to rip off her neck?

Just one possible scenario

[asthmaticeog]

29. Exactly...

just because nothing was actually taken doesn't mean that wasn't the motive.

[librechik]

72. apparently she fell down and hurt herself while walking Simon

maybe she had a TIA, or possibly just tripped.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/10/16/2007-10-16_air_america_host_randi_rhodes_wasnt_mugg.html

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

6. The hysteria on DU can be amazing. Why is everyone so quick to jump to

conclusions and state as fact something that has not been proven?


And I hate using the hysterical word due to it's etymological history but I couldn't think of a better one.

[Bluzmann57]

10. Conspiracy theories are a fact of life in here

Even if it was just a random act of violence, and can be proven as such, there will be a few DUers who will refuse to accept it. Everything has some evil intents behind it according to these people. I have just learned to laugh at it and deal with hard facts.

[Mist]

16. Conspiracy theories are part of life in Busco America. Unfortunate, but I've learned to question

practically everything these days.

[tuckessee]

22. Truth is it started before Bush & will continue after he leaves.

Do you seriously believe Bush is the root of all evil in America?

[Stewie]

50. So the existence of conspiracies IS a conspiracy???????

I swear this board is getting unreadable when people essentially say "I'm not paranoid, it's just that there's a global conspiracy against me."

[John Kerry VonErich]

12. Correct.

A major player of the progressive movement gets jumped and immediately they say some sort of agent of Karl Rove did it. We should have a more open mind than this.

[cali]

14. It's much the same as freepers insisting that the Clintons

murder people.

[John Kerry VonErich]

19. You are right Cali.

nt

[Breeze54]

38. Speculation isn't conspiracy and the RW attack on a 12 yr old happened!

Others have been physically attacked for dissenting.

To call it a leap into 'hysteria' to speculate is condescending and dishonest.

Nobody (that I read) said it was a FACT that the RW was behind her injuries.

It was SPECULATION.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

42. Ooops

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2059480

[Breeze54]

47. I already read that this morning. It wasn't reported at all last night.

Hence last nights speculation.

And it's still unclear what actually did happen.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

48. When this AM?

[Breeze54]

58. When what? When was the article posted or published?

Go look! ;)

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

59. 1:27

I thought you might have been privy to earlier info

[Breeze54]

65. If I had known that last night, I would have posted it.

But many here did many searches last night looking for anything
about it, including on AAR, and there was nothing posted anywhere.

[EstimatedProphet]

49. Which is precisely why speculation at this time is pointless.

[Breeze54]

57. It's also very human.

People tend to discuss things that happen.

Hence the reason for books, newspapers, message boards, blogs, TV and radio.

[EstimatedProphet]

74. And every last one of those things has criteria that has to be met before publication

Except for one of them.

[Breeze54]

76. AAR Hosts have had deaththreats before this, so for people to speculate about this is understandable

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Randi Rhodes is the Victim of a Violent Attack

http://talkingradio.blogspot.com/2007/10/randi-rhodes-is-victim-of-violent.html

Updated on October 16 at 8:50 AM PDT. Update set in bold face italics

Randi Rhodes was mugged on Sunday night on 39th Street and Park Ave, nearby her Manhattan apartment, while she was walking her dog Simon.

According to Air America Radio late night host Jon Elliott, Rhodes was beaten up pretty badly, losing several teeth and will probably be off the air for at least the rest of the week. At of late Monday night we have not able to locate any press accounts of the attack and nothing has been posted on the AAR website.

Several liberal blogs, including the Randi Rhodes Message Board and Democratic Underground have logged numerous posts on the Rhodes mugging with most of the posters expressing concern about the condition of the popular lib talker.

SNIP-->

Some of blog posters also expressed concerns that the attack on Rhodes was hate crime. Other posters warned that we need more facts before any judgements are made.

According to Elliott, Rhodes was resting in her New York City apartment and was not hospitalized.

Attacks on liberal talk radio stations and their hosts are not a new thing. About a month ago a gunman fired a shot through a window at the studios of KPFT, Houston’s, Pacifica station narrowly missing a DJ who was hosting music show at the time. There is currently a $10,000 reward offered to anyone who identifies the shooter.

This is not the first politically motivated attack on KPFT. More than 35 years ago, the Ku Klux Klan blew up the station's transmitters twice within the Houston station's first year on the air.

Also, shortly after AAR morning talk show host Thom Hartmann, started doing talk radio (about four years ago), he was told by auto mechanic that there were several bullet holes in his car.

"To this day I don't know if somebody shot out my car as kids joyriding with a pistol or rifle... or was a warning or statement of displeasure about my radio show," Hartmann told TR. "I've gotten a lot of death threats and hate mail over the years - hate mail is pretty much a norm in this business - but nobody has taken a shot at me or my car since 2003."

Talk show host, Tom Leykis, who known to express liberal views on his daily "hot talk show" was assaulted outside a Seattle bar three years ago by agitated radio listeners.

According to the Seattle Times, a witness reported two men were involved in the incident:
"…One of the men said to Leykis, "I called your show once and you called me" a name. "You had no right to do that." Then a man standing to Leykis’ left kicked him in the face. The blow knocked him to his knees, leaving his right knee scraped and bruised."

Last year Stephanie Miller received a death threat from a nut case in Ohio named "Sock" Sokolowski. Here's what the letter said in part.

"As with Cindy Sheehan the best thing that could happen to you would be seeing some WONDERFUL activist sticking an AK-47 up your Glory Holes and sending you into eternity" ---
Miller called Socko during her show (yes, he actually included his phone number in the letter) and Socko claimed several times during the phone call that he didn't threaten Miller in the letter.

(Socko is not to be confused with Spocko, who is a liberal blogger who was threatened by ABC Radio's lawyers after he posted a list of advertisers to Lee Rodgers and Melanie Morgan's conservative talk show on KSFO-AM in San Francisco.)

Apparently, some right-wing critics of lib talk aren’t happy that conservative talk only accounts for 90% of the programming on talk radio. These whack jobs appear determined to whatever it takes to silence the opposing point of view.

Not surprisingly, the only talk radio host killed for his political views was a liberal. In 1984, two right wing extremists gunned down Denver talk show host Alan Berg. Berg’s tragic murder was memorialized in a chilling movie Talk Radio

Given the history and the political climate the last 7 yrs., I think
it is within reason for people to have speculated on what happened.
Last night, nobody had any info. until 1:30 PM today.

[EstimatedProphet]

78. Discussion is one thing. Jumping to conclusions is another.

[QC]

77. OMG!!! THEY'VE GOTTEN TO YOU TOO!!!!! n/t

[rocktivity]

82. If it simply an accident, they simply would have said as much right off the bat.

That's why everyone's so concerned--it's not self-generated hysteria.

"Rhodes' lawyer told the Daily News she was injured in a fall while walking her dog. He said she's not sure what happened...He stressed there is no indication she was targeted or that she was the victim of a "hate crime." Well, if she's NOT SURE what happened, how is she so sure that she WASN'T attacked, moron?

:headbang:
rocknation

[Beelzebud]

17. So what happened?

I woke up, and read that she was severely beaten, and had teeth knocked out.

Now they're saying she'll be back to work in 2 days... And didn't file a police report..

what the hell is going on?

[zbdent]

20. Chandra Levy went jogging without a purse or keys

and the MSM painted Gary Condit as a murders ... without evidence ...

A year later, her body was recovered only a few blocks from her apt. ... in a park that was "searched", but was found by some guy walking his dog (not a bloodhound) ... nevertheless, the MSM allowed speculation that Condit had her "dumped" somewhere where nobody could find her ...

[EstimatedProphet]

51. DC went crazy over that

and the media sat back and fed the hysteria, happily. Condit's name is still ruined.

[CK_John]

21. Maybe the dog bolted and she just fell. Story sounds fishy to me. n/t

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

26. Please keep something in mind:

Randi lives in Manhattan. Somewhere on Madison Ave., if I recall from an article I read. This is not a high crime area and quite frankly, Manhattan is pretty safe. Lots of aggressive policing.

It is not the Manhattan of the 70's and 80's. There is not a lot of random street crime.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

28. Last year there were random stabbings and a guy attacking someone on

a subway platform with a power saw. It happens.

[necso]

27. Whatever happened,

let me express my sympathies and best wishes.

[backscatter712]

30. This whole situation

makes the Charles Bronson in me want to come out and go to work...

[NorthernSpy]

32. though she is indeed injured, there may have been no attack...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2059340


Randi does not remember what happened too well, it seems. She did not file a report. At this point, the police think that she fell and hit her head on the pavement.


Those voices of caution that urged us not to jump to conclusions, they were very wise.

[Blue Belle]

36. So how does she loose her teeth?

Did she fall directly on her face?

[NorthernSpy]

41. that can happen...

Owww...


:scared:


She had recently had a bunch of dental work done, it seems. Perhaps some of her jaw was still in a relatively fragile state?

[Blue Belle]

46. Perhaps...

It would have to take a direct shot to hit her teeth and not break her nose.

[AngryAmish]

33. Not a hate crime?

A bunch of Freepers jump her and beat the shit out of her because she dares to challenge Chimpy McHitler, and it's not a hate crime???

[NorthernSpy]

35. not a crime of any kind, apparently...

She fell and hit her head. No mugger, no angry freepers, no lurking brownshirts, no obsessed stalker, no random lunatic with a baseball bat.

Just human clumsiness and hard damn piece of sidewalk. At least, that's how it's looking at this point.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2059480

[Cetacea]

37. Miami Herald reporting a crime.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_dade/story/273295.html

[NorthernSpy]

43. all I know is that her lawyer says no...

:shrug:


Just passing along the update. I have no first-hand knowledge of the situation.

[bluetrain]

39. And why did Air America initially confirm that she had been mugged and then

give a new statement couched in careful language? Why would Jon Elliott have felt secure enough in the limited information he had last night to risk his entire professional reputation on the issue if there was no attack at all? This is getting weird.

[Blue Diadem]

40. It certainly is getting weird.

Guess we'll have to wait to see what Randi says when she comes back.

[nadinbrzezinski]

44. Here are the reasons that are based from ten years of working side by side

with police officers

Oh and one that is also part of the pattern

1.- They are investigating and in order to carry it out they need to quiet this down. Hate crimes at times need that illusion that nothing is being done by the police...

2.- Advise of lawyers to temper this down while the investigation goes on (which actually is a good thing, if there are perps to be had... you need a certain space)

3.- This is the not so tinfoil, but kind of average in some attacks. She was given a cover story and if she does not... they threatened her life. Seen this before.. with my patients. You know and they know they were beaten, but they will tell you that they fell... and it takes months, even years, to find the perps.

And yes it is getting weird, since AAR has changed its story... completely.

[rocktivity]

84. DING DING DING! Nadinbrzezinski, you're our grand prize winner!

...(T)hey need to quiet this down...Hate crimes at times need that illusion that nothing is being done by the police...
Fine. But by pre-emtpively rejecting the possibility of a hate crime when Randi hereself reportedly isn't sure what happened, it's Air America management who brought the noise. If she simply HAD fallen, as I've said, then that's what AirAm SHOULD have said, and without delay.

I remember a trial where wiretapped tapes of suspects in a fatal armored car robbery were played. The police had deliberately given false information about the robbery to the local press, and you hear these guys laughing about it: "Those dumbass cops--they said our getaway car was green when was really blue!"

:headbang:
rocknation

[EstimatedProphet]

52. Yeah! Commandos under the command of Karl Rove have her extraditioned!

And they say there's not hate crime involved?!?

[LSK]

67. except nobody jumped her???

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/10/16/2007-10-16_air_america_host_randi_rhodes_wasnt_mugg.html

[Breeze54]

45. Air America DIDN'T state anything! That's a post from a MEMBER on the BLOG!

But she still has an injury, so I hope she recuperates quickly.

I'd like to know who told Jon Elliot that she was mugged.

I don't think he would spread a rumor unless he felt the source was legit.

I'll wait to see what he says on his show tonight.

[flyarm]

54. ED SHULTZ JUST READ THE SAME THING FROM RANDI'S LAWYER AND AIR AMERICA OWNERS.

[Breeze54]

61. That original link was to an article by the NYP.

The link in the blog on AAR leads to this link:

And the blogger says that AAR posted it but it's NOT posted BY AAR!!

http://talkingradio.blogspot.com/2007/10/randi-rhodes-is-victim-of-violent.html

The point is that last night it was speculation based on a report by Jon Elliot.

I want to know who told him she was attacked. He must have trusted that source.

[ben_meyers]

69. Nothing posted at Truthout n/t

[LTR]

60. That was the official AAR statement

Nancy Skola is the network's official blogger.

[Breeze54]

64. Thanks, I didn't know that! But that wasn't known last night!

http://talkingradio.blogspot.com/2007/10/randi-rhodes-is-victim-of-violent.html

AAR's official blogger, Nancy Scola, posted the following message on the lib
network's website this morning:

snip-->

Attacks on liberal talk radio stations and their hosts are not a new thing. About a month ago a gunman fired a shot through a window at the studios of KPFT, Houston’s, Pacifica station narrowly missing a DJ who was hosting music show at the time. There is currently a $10,000 reward offered to anyone who identifies the shooter.

This is not the first politically motivated attack on KPFT. More than 35 years ago, the Ku Klux Klan blew up the station's transmitters twice within the Houston station's first year on the air.

Also, shortly after AAR morning talk show host Thom Hartmann, started doing talk radio (about four years ago), he was told by auto mechanic that there were several bullet holes in his car.

"To this day I don't know if somebody shot out my car as kids joyriding with a pistol or rifle... or was a warning or statement of displeasure about my radio show," Hartmann told TR. "I've gotten a lot of death threats and hate mail over the years - hate mail is pretty much a norm in this business - but nobody has taken a shot at me or my car since 2003."

Talk show host, Tom Leykis, who known to express liberal views on his daily "hot talk show" was assaulted outside a Seattle bar three years ago by agitated radio listeners.

According to the Seattle Times, a witness reported two men were involved in the incident:
"…One of the men said to Leykis, "I called your show once and you called me" a name. "You had no right to do that." Then a man standing to Leykis’ left kicked him in the face. The blow knocked him to his knees, leaving his right knee scraped and bruised."

Last year Stephanie Miller received a death threat from a nut case in Ohio named "Sock" Sokolowski. Here's what the letter said in part.

"As with Cindy Sheehan the best thing that could happen to you would be seeing some WONDERFUL activist sticking an AK-47 up your Glory Holes and sending you into eternity" ---
Miller called Socko during her show (yes, he actually included his phone number in the letter) and Socko claimed several times during the phone call that he didn't threaten Miller in the letter.

(Socko is not to be confused with Spocko, who is a liberal blogger who was threatened by ABC Radio's lawyers after he posted a list of advertisers to Lee Rodgers and Melanie Morgan's conservative talk show on KSFO-AM in San Francisco.)

Apparently, some right-wing critics of lib talk aren’t happy that conservative talk only accounts for 90% of the programming on talk radio. These whack jobs appear determined to whatever it takes to silence the opposing point of view.

Not surprisingly, the only talk radio host killed for his political views was a liberal. In 1984, two right wing extremists gunned down Denver talk show host Alan Berg. Berg’s tragic murder was memorialized in a chilling movie Talk Radio

[DaveJ]

63. This has given the freepers plenty of fodder...

An Airhead America Radio host Randi Rhodes apparently got injured. She first reported that she was attacked/mugged. She is temporarily off the air during the "recovery" While she was off, her fellow airheads accuse people of hate crime by conservative attacker. Later it turns out, her story was phony. She is one of phony victims. She falsely accuse others of attacking her when the attack never happened. These people are I-am-a-victim, point-a-finger-at-others, and accuse-others-first-ers. They always do this. They trout out phony victims, phony soldiers, phony people, etc.. most of these people phony and lack substance, these VW Passat driving phony superficial vain jerks.

And it goes on and on....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1912037/posts

[Breeze54]

66. That's been SOP since 2000!

Nothing new at all.

[SoCalDem]

68. "...They trout out phony victims,..."...Oops, they've done it again..

:rofl:

[rocktivity]

83. THEY trout out phony victims?

Ooops, THEY'VE done it again!

:headbang:
rocknation

[EstimatedProphet]

75. I hate when people trout out phony victims

It's a red herring. They should feel like a shad, floundering around out of plaice like that. They're always up on their high perch.

[librechik]

71. more from NYDN

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/10/16/2007-10-16_air_america_host_randi_rhodes_wasnt_mugg.html

[Mutineer]

79. Let's try Newsday instead of the NYDN shall we?

more credible. Not owned by Murdoch. Much better source. And the person interviewed is Rhodes own lawyer denying she was mugged. But go ahead, let's build some more conspiracy theories shall we? Not nearly enough of them here on DU.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--people-randirhode1016oct16,0,7372381.story

[Breeze54]

80. From: pinto DU Moderator --> most current update here:

pinto DU Moderator

Tue Oct-16-07 07:17 PM
Response to Original message
144. most current update here:

Attorney for radio's Randi Rhodes disputes report of NYC mugging
1:49 PM EDT, October 16, 2007

NEW YORK -

An attorney for Air America radio personality Randi Rhodes is disputing on on-air report by a colleague that the liberal talk show host was attacked on a Manhattan street.

~snip~

Elliott's account of the incident, however, was contested Tuesday by Rhodes attorney, Robert Gaulin.

Gaulin confirmed that Rhodes was injured after she was floored by someone _ or something _ as she strolled the streets of Manhattan's Murray Hill district around 8 p.m., but wasn't sure herself what sent her tumbling to the pavement.

"She hit her head on the street and was disoriented," Gaulin said. "She's not sure what happened.
She didn't see anything." He added that she never reported the incident to police.

Air America released a statement saying that "the reports of a presumed hate crime are unfounded."

Air America's vice president of programming, David Bernstein, said Rhodes missed her shows on Monday and Tuesday, but hoped to be back soon.

more:
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny ...

[rocktivity]

81. If she simply fell, they would be calling it an unfortunate ACCIDENT, not "incident."

And they would have called it that hours ago.

:headbang:
rocknation