Unfettered Letters

Limbaugh is ‘oasis of sanity’

William R. Lenz (7/9, Letters) is appalled at Rush Limbaugh’s big new contract (7/3, A-6, “Limbaugh signs $400 million deal.”)

Typical of the left, he demagogically demonizes responsible opposing points of view as continuing to “poison the political discourse with hate speech.” How dare such a person achieve wealth in the free marketplace!

Rush Limbaugh is successful because he provides an oasis of sanity — an appealing alternative to the almost monolithic liberal bias of the mass media and its leftist allies from the two worlds of make-believe, academia and Hollywood.

Face it. When conservatives hit it big, Trotskyites gnash their teeth.

Michael T. Murphy
Prairie Village

Royals announcers hit home run

I was very happy to see a letter (7/10) regarding Royals announcers Paul Splittorff and Ryan Lefebvre. I, too, think they are a wonderful team. They know the game of baseball inside and out, they inject humor but don’t overdo it, and they seem to get along well and genuinely like each other.

There is no perceptible tension between them, which makes them very easy to listen to.

Keep up the great work guys!

Peggy Sajevic
Liberty

Cheers for Royals broadcasters

My husband and I watch every Royals game — and Chiefs game, for that matter — that we can.

Our favorite broadcasters are Paul Splittorff and Ryan Lefebvre. They are knowledgeable, interesting and have a great sense of humor that we enjoy.

We hope the front office will pay no mind to David Henning (7/4, Letters, “Royals need pro announcers”). He should put his efforts at getting rid of the Kansas City Chiefs general manager.

Judith Bruder
Blue Springs

Date rape no laughing matter

I was offended and shocked at a disc jockey’s recent remarks made on a local FM radio station. The disc jockey kept bantering on about how he had “date raped a drunk girl this past weekend.” His statement was always followed by laughter and was repeated several times. As a civilized person, I am offended and appalled.

As a mother of both sons and a daughter, I am sickened that this was talked about on air in such a cavalier way. It is, in fact, against the law, and I see no humor in it whatsoever.

I believe this requires more than just tuning it out or off. I have contacted the station, and they responded that I heard this out of context. However when I requested the entire segment, they did not provide it.

I fail to see how even “in context” this is appropriate and not offensive.

Mary Calkins
Overland Park

Royals need pro announcers

Royals, now that you have upgraded the team and the front office, it’s time for more changes for next year. Specifically, the TV broadcast team has to go.

Those of us who subscribe to the Major League Baseball Extra Innings package on cable get to hear so many actual professional broadcasters that we just cringe having to listen to our bush-league team.

Please, continue to upgrade our image and help save my TV. Get some professional broadcasters.

David Henning
Kansas City

More to do than watch TV

Mike Morris (6/11, Letters) complained about the local TV stations’ excessive coverage of the June 3 fuel-tank fire.

He could have left the TV off the entire night and read a good book, visited with his significant other, played with his children or grandchildren, worked on a hobby, driven to a nearby mall and become a mall-walker, written a letter to an out-of-town relative or started or completed a home-improvement project.

Experts say that withdrawal symptoms among families forced by circumstance to cease TV watching indicate there may be an addiction problem.

Perhaps the term “boob tube” isn’t so funny after all.

Mary Mylar Arends
Kansas City

She must be on funnel cloud nine

I have been racking my brain trying to imagine the exhilaration, the exuberance, the unholy tingling sensation, the thrill and level of personal excitement that Katie Horner must feel when the possibility of devastating weather exists anywhere near Kansas City.

About the best I can do is what a dog must feel like when turned loose inside Fritz’s Meat Market. Oh, the joy!

Don Cameron
Overland Park

Live coverage, dead horses

Well the TV news media has found another way to beat a dead horse. I am talking about the fuel tank fire on June 3.

It should have been a 10-minute report. However, it went on forever. I am surprised they just didn’t leave one of the city cams on all night without commentary, so we could keep a close watch on the fire.

Of course they kept on reporting all the bad weather in the area, and when the storms cleared out of the area some of the stations kept on about the storms in southern Missouri.

I couldn’t stand the sight of all the blood from the dead horses and went to bed.

Mike Morris
Kansas City

Changes in KKFI lineup

Steve Penn's column (5/15, Local, "Change at KKFI-FM is a sad refrain") suggests he doesn't really get community radio. KKFI's mission, "to provide a channel for individuals and groups, issues and music that have been overlooked, suppressed and under-represented by other media," encompasses much more than just blues and jazz.

KKFI offers 38 hours of jazz and blues every week, along with this city's most diverse array of reggae, hip-hop, Mexican and Tejano, Native American and World music.

Our recent changes moved to strengthen our public affairs mission in both English and Spanish. Our news and talk programs give alternative perspectives for independent analysis. Our listeners are passionate supporters of shows like "Democracy Now," "Heartland Labor Forum" and "The Tenth Voice" because they're available only at 90.1 KKFI.

Programming changes are not determined by our station manager. These decisions are made after many hours of discussion and debate by democratically elected committees.

Charles Ferruzza
President, KKFI Board of Directors
Kansas City

Never again, Mr. Savage

Michael Savage, a Jew, needs to look to the horrific way Judiasm has been treated over the centuries and learn from it. His anti-Islam diatribe sounds scarily close to the early Nazi-era attacks on the Jews (5/19, Local, “Religious group protests radio host; The Interfaith Coalition Against Bigotry wants KCMO 710-AM to drop Savage Nation program”). Have we learned nothing from the past?

We must stop these hateful attacks before they have a chance to grow into another Nazi-like attack on innocent people. In today’s tinderbox world, Savage’s hateful rhetoric is much akin to yelling fire in a movie theater. I applaud the Interfaith Coalition Against Bigotry’s stand. I am sorry I wasn’t at the protest Sunday.

We must remember the monument at Dachau concentration camp: “Never again.” Yes, never again for attacks on Jews, Christians, Muslims or any our other brothers and sisters in God’s one creation.

Never again, Mr. Savage. Never again.

Deacon Allen Ohlstein
Director, Episcopal Hunger Relief Network Episcopal Community Services
Kansas City

KKFI programming changes

I was disappointed to read Steve Penn’s column about KKFI (5/15, Local, “Change at KKFI-FM is a sad refrain”), I love the blues and enjoy the jazz programming more than what I hear on other area stations.

KKFI has been increasing the amount of time it devotes to alternative news programs because there is a crying need for news and information not provided by the mainstream media. That is why the program “KC Media WatchDog” is one of its most popular shows. KKFI listeners obviously appreciate these programs and have said so with their donations.

As Mr. Penn mentioned in his column, KKFI’s mission statement says, “...educate our audience ... provide a channel for ... issues...that have been overlooked, suppressed and under-represented by other media.” That is exactly what the station is doing with its increased focus on alternative news programming.

If The Star, and other local news media, would do more to bring us the under-reported news that KKFI’s listeners are looking for, perhaps KKFI could devote more airtime to music.

Bill Langsdorf
Kansas City

Buy a weather radio

I was in the Brookridge neighborhood tornado that hit at 2:02 am. There was no siren going off. We had two sirens going off earlier in the evening.

I have now learned that you don’t want to put your life in the hands of any TV meteorologist. After what we went through, I know the only hope of staying alive is owning a weather radio. Please buy one! When you are asleep at 2 a.m., it will likely be your only chance of survival.

We went to bed at 9:30 p.m. after the local weather said the risk of tornadoes was over.

Ann Sims
Kansas City

English-only warnings

I was dishearted to read the letter from Jodi Jeffries (5/6), applauding the fact that local newscasts reported the warnings about the dangerous thunderstorms in English.

I’m shocked that this was her primary concern that night, as several families suffered real damage because of the storm. I’m saddened to hear such xenophobic comments at a time when many of us spent the night in our basements, wondering if we were going to be hit hard.

Seriously, is Jeffries really happy about the fact that there was a chance that some children, whose parents may not have understood the real danger of the storm, might have perished? This was an emergency, for Pete’s sake, and I see absolutely nothing wrong with making sure every human being in the viewing area has a chance to take cover and protect their children.

I’m really tired of people who are so focused on themselves and their interests that they lose all manner of compassion.

Donna M. Davis
Overland Park

Warnings are about saving lives, not about your native language. When Jodi Jeffries’ ancestors came here, they probably couldn’t speak English during their initial visit either.

I hope for her sake that if she ever visits another country and an emergency situation occurs, they will put it in plain English for her sake and others abroad.

Al Ramirez
Overland Park

Unless Jodi Jeffries plans on going back to her ancestral land, then I can only assume she plans to learn one of the 800 surviving native languages of this continent on which she now resides, such as Shawnee, Cheyenne, Apache, Navajo, Pawnee, or Susquehannock .

Maureen O’Brien Salz
Overland Park

Tornado warnings

Macaela Stephenson (5/4, Letters, “Extreme weather coverage”) apparently has never heard the phrase “It’s better to be safe than sorry.” The newscasters were doing what they did to keep us safe, and I appreciate that.

She said most of the city experienced little or no damage from the storm. Since she was so busy watching the news and criticizing the weather newscasters, she should have heard them say what damage was being done. She should have heard that roofs were coming off houses and lawn furniture and other things were being thrown around outside.

The newscasters deserve more credit than Ms. Stephenson is giving them. If she doesn’t think they are doing the right thing when it comes to severe weather, she should move to another place where she approves of it.

Carolyn Williams
Overland Park

If a straight-line wind is as strong as an F-1 tornado, the sirens should go off to warn people of the danger.

Betty Lusby
Village of Loch Lloyd

‘Extreme’ weather coverage

Thursday night’s severe weather report in Kansas City was yet another example of “extreme” weather forecasting. The weather forecasters in this city have taken it upon themselves to scare the living daylights out of our citizens every time a thunderstorm or dusting of snow comes through (and yet can never manage to get it right).

I do not want to minimize some of the damage around Kansas City, and I am glad there were no serious injuries, but let’s be honest: Most of the city experienced little or no damage as a result of the storm.

Folks, we live in the Midwest here. What do we expect? I believe that for the most part Kansas City residents are smart, well-educated people. If you cannot understand the signs of a green sky and a dangerous storm cloud heading your way, then you are living in the wrong part of the country. We do not need the weather forecasters scaring us into the basement with two hours of coverage saying, “Well, something could happen.”

Macaela Stephenson
Kansas City

Long-range weather forecasting

Thanks to J.D. Eggleston and his daughter for a great analysis of man’s inability to predict weather reliably (4/26, A-1, “Weather trackers put TV in KC to the test”). His analysis highlights the extreme difficulty and inherent uncertainty in making these predictions, which result in cascading errors beyond a couple of days. It’s no discredit to the meteorologists, as they are trained scientists using the most advanced tools available.

But Drew Lerner of World Weather Inc., says “we don’t have enough computing power and understanding of the atmosphere to be infallible.” And Andy Bailey of the National Weather Service states that for seven-day forecasts, “we’ll look at three to five or more different computer models,” which “have wildly different solutions (predictions) for what will happen on day seven.”

Yet the general public has swallowed detailed catastrophic global weather predictions for 10, 20 and 50 years into the future by Al Gore, a politician. All global warming predictions are mere speculations of extrapolated assumptions produced by computer models that contain as much certainty as Bryan Busby predicting the exact weather conditions for April 28, 2018.

Larry Seitter
Olathe

Get with it, TV station program directors. A butterfly flaps its wings in China and the weather in Kansas City is affected a couple of weeks later.

What is wrong with our forecasters? Nothing. Just don’t waste 10 or 15 minutes of TV time having them babble on about something they really can’t predict.

Steve Bailey
Fairway

Royals’ announcers

This is in response to Richard W. Dahms’ comment about Bob Davis and Denny Matthews’ announcing the Royals being “like watching ice melt” (Letters, 4/13). Obviously Mr. Dahms has quickly forgot that Denny Matthews was inducted into the Baseball Hall Of Fame, last summer. One day, I hope Mr. Davis will be inducted.

Evidently, these ice melters are extremely talented, since they’re respected & highly thought of by their fellow peers.

C.N. Howard
Overland Park

Gary Lezak’s weather predictions

Mike Arel (4/14, Letters) writes about Gary Lezak, in response to a previous letter by Jerry McDonald (4/9), “This guy is right almost all the time.” Arel apparently did not understand the last sentence by McDonald: “The accurate forecasters are in Southern California, where they are only wrong the four to six days a year when it rains.”

In other words, the weather in Southern California is constantly sunny and therefore the weather forecasting is not in doubt. Except, of course, for those four to six days. This is an example of subtle humor.

And I agree with Arel that, at least at the 10 o’clock broadcast, Lezak is right within his six degree spread of temperature predictions. And he does have good explanations as to why he was off the mark.

But then, that depends upon which weather model he chooses since he often mentions that the two give different predictions.

Kenneth S. Schmitz
Kansas City

Give it up for Gary Lezak

Jerry McDonald (4/9, Letters, “Weather forecasts”) obviously hasn’t watched Gary Lezak on “NBC Action News.” This guy is right almost all the time.

I grew up in Denver, have lived in many states and a few countries around the world, and I have never seen anyone as accurate as Lezak. It’s a rite of passage for our family to watch this guy’s accuracy every night about 10:18. I have personally converted a minimum of 10 people to his weather forecasts. (NBC and its advertisers can thank me later.)

Best of all, Lezak is humble, doesn’t make excuses the rare times he is wrong, and doesn’t take a whole evening of programming from us when we have severe weather warnings, like some forecasters we know.

Mike Arel
Shawnee

A Royal bore

Listening to Denny Matthews and Bob Davis broadcast Royals baseball is like watching ice melt. It doesn’t get more boring that that.

Richard W. Dahms
St. Joseph

Weather forecasts

My wife and I moved here after 12 years of living in Denver (love Kansas City by the way). In Denver we used to laugh at the weathermen who always got the precipitation forecasts wrong — big time wrong. But we used to forgive them, thinking it must be hard to predict what will happen with those big ol’ mountains sitting right there.

After settling down here we thought at least we would get accurate weather forecasts now — no mountains, no oceans. It’s flat with a couple of rivers and trees. Wrong. The KC forecasters are just as bad as the Denver forecasters.

The accurate forecasters are in southern California, where they are only wrong the four to six days a year when it rains.

Jerry McDonald
Overland Park

TV news blues

Larry Kauffman’s letter (3/26, “Broken news”) did not go quite far enough.

I purchased a nice television set with a larger screen and lots of hype. It cost about $1,200. When I first turned it on there was a “crawler” across the bottom about an inch or so wide with all the news they had told us about earlier.

Second was a box with something like “happening now” or “breaking news” that took some 4 inches of the bottom above the crawler.

Then in one upper corner was a huge station logo. On the other side might be the words “earlier” or “live.”

By the time the squinting camera gets the story between all these boxes and fitted on the screen, we hear “more on this at 10.”

John N. Speake
Blue Springs

‘Broken news’

With increasing frequency, so it seems, our various television news outlets are opening their breathless broadcasts with “First to breaking news!”

We then cut away from the studio to a reporter standing somewhere — usually several hundred yards away from whatever is happening (or has happened).

During the day yellow police tape keeps the reporter well away from the incident. At night he or she is squinting into the camera-mounted spotlight, surrounded by darkness. We are then treated to that station’s version of 20 Questions, with the promise of more of the same later in the broadcast.

Somehow the who, what, why, when and often where have been lost to the antiquities of the print medium. I am assuming, but feel many readers will agree, that what we just witnessed, but did not see, is not “breaking news.” Rather it is “broken news.”

Indeed, if the incident is the least bit newsworthy, some real information will be in the next day’s paper.

Larry Kauffman
Kansas City

KXTR is great

Congratulations and a big thank you to Patrick Neas and colleagues at Entercom for the refreshing and wonderful changes in the programming format at KXTR classical music station (1660 AM)! What a boost to the arts in Kansas City.

And as for the discussion on this page about unusual sandwiches, try peanut butter and mayo with crisp bacon and lettuce on old fashioned white bread — the best!

Barbara Roberts
Mission

Radio station changes

Thanks to Max, Tanna, Slacker and Traci for years of entertainment (2/29, Local, “Ex-DJs at KY allege age bias; The four, fired in January, file complaints with the EEOC”).

I think the on-air staff of KYYS did a remarkable job of entertaining longtime listeners in spite of its limited playlist, but it still comes down to the music. KYYS built its reputation on edgier rock and alternative, but did not expand its playlist to include the better groups of the 90s through today because that would have competed with its popular sister station KQRC (98.9).

I wish that Entercom had kept the on-air personalities of KYYS and merely expanded the playlist to what it is today. I wish the former on-air staff of KYYS the best and thanks for all the years of entertaining me on my drive time.

Tom Fournier
Kansas City

Unnecessary pre-emption

In response to Mary Goodwin, who tells those writing about CBS “Sunday Morning” being pre-empted for weather coverage to “get a life” (2/26, Letters): You touched a nerve here.

I do have a rich and full life. After my work day, I take long walks with my dogs, visit with neighbors and friends, read, attend live theater and concerts. The only television program I watch is CBS “Sunday Morning” and some of the fine programming on KCPT. Therefore I could not help but be offended that the CBS affiliate in Kansas City decided that local sensationalized news was more important than quality programming.

I took the time to voice my opinion to their programmers; they took the time to respond to me. The good life goes on.

Nancy Marcy
Kansas City

Weather interruption

Well, once again, KCTV-5 demonstrates why people dislike the news department. Not sure who made the wonderful decision to pre-empt CBS “Sunday Morning” on Feb.17 to report on a 4-inch snow as if it were the storm of the century. And what amazed me was that, from the 20 minutes I watched, most of the time was spent with non-weather-related news.

It would be interesting to see if they have a consistent standard for these weather events. I’d be willing to bet, if we have a similar snowstorm during March Madness, that KCTV will not pre-empt any basketball, and would use a screen scroll to pass information to the viewers.

Mike Haynes
Lenexa

Weather interruption

Well, once again, KCTV-5 demonstrates why people dislike the news department. Not sure who made the wonderful decision to pre-empt CBS “Sunday Morning” on Feb.17 to report on a 4-inch snow as if it were the storm of the century. And what amazed me was that, from the 20 minutes I watched, most of the time was spent with non-weather-related news.

It would be interesting to see if they have a consistent standard for these weather events. I’d be willing to bet, if we have a similar snowstorm during March Madness, that KCTV will not pre-empt any basketball, and would use a screen scroll to pass information to the viewers.

Mike Haynes
Lenexa

Weather coverage

I called the KCTV news desk to ask them why they pre-empted the “Sunday Morning” program which airs at 8 a.m. They said the weather was “pretty serious and they might close the airport because of it.” I told them that their listeners aren’t two years old. They could actually look outside and see that it is snowing, and then they could call the airport to determine if it was closed.

What percentage of their viewers is even concerned about the airport? There are other weather sources than Katie Horner on KCTV. It wasn’t a weekday with school and work traffic, so I can’t believe they think that it is necessary to pre-empt anything that is of interest to their viewers. They could also stream the weather conditions across the bottom of the screen if they feel the information is that important.

Judy Beyer
Lee’s Summit

To KCTV’s station manager: I would like to express my extreme displeasure at your pre-emption of CBS “Sunday Morning” on Feb. 17. You said you did this for a weather emergency, but it was obviously not a severe emergency based on your own broadcast. You were broadcasting more general news and advertising than weather. You also did not feel the need to pre-empt the paid programming on your other channel KSMO.

I make an effort to watch “Sunday Morning” each week, and almost always watch the KCTV weekend news after “Sunday Morning.” In my opinion, Sunday Morning is one of the finest news shows on television, closely following “60 Minutes.” I will now be changing the channel as soon as “Sunday Morning” is over and will not be watching any KCTV news broadcast.

In general, I would like to say that I find your news department overly sensational and alarmist. You pre-empt far too readily and your teasers for your “investigations” make every “investigation” sound like it is a matter of life and death.

Donn Breshears
Kansas City

Weather coverage

How stupid do the local television stations think we are?

Once again they pre-empted the network shows Sunday morning to tell us it was snowing!

Anyone with a window would know it is snowing. If you try to call to complain, all the lines are busy, no doubt clogged with people calling to tell them to stop insulting our intelligence.

Aaron Barnhart’s column Sunday said it best: “What if the government allowed local broadcasters to launch 24-hour weather channels only if they agreed to stop interrupting their main channels for wall to wall storm coverage every time a thunderstorm grazed the viewing area?”

The perfect punishment would be for Katie Horner to have to sit in a room and watch a tape of her endless hours of drivel.

Don’t the stations have anyone with common sense?

Jack Dillon
Leawood

This is news?

I don’t normally watch the television news, but Tuesday afternoon I had a doctor’s appointment which landed me in a waiting room with a television set to Katie Horner’s weather forecast. As I watched one of her associates interview a St. Joseph motorist who was apparently amazed that it would snow in February, then conduct a detailed examination of the consistency (“crusty”) of snow on a parked car, I couldn’t help but wonder what the troops in Iraq would think if they knew that this is what passes for news back home while they are risking their lives in our names.

Elaine Hines
Kansas City, Kan.

Weather forecasts

Seems to me this winter, the weather folks are having as much trouble predicting the weather as the pollsters did with the New Hampshire primaries.

I think they should learn their lesson about how difficult it is to predict storms and stop scaring everyone with dire predictions of many inches of snow that don’t materialize.

Their prognostications cause stress, and more important, wreak havoc on business as people seem to believe them and begin canceling events, doctor’s appointments, shopping and dining plans before anything happens.

The only people who seem to win are the sellers of the bread, snow shovels and salt.

I urge the weather people to be less concerned with keeping everyone glued to their stations and more concerned with accuracy.

I would also urge my fellow citizens to take these predictions with the dubiousness they deserve and get on with their plans till they actually see the snow — plenty of time to cancel then.

Judy Sherry
Kansas City

‘Lynch’ comment

Not being a golf fan, I was unfamiliar the incident regarding the Golf Channel broadcaster that Leonard Pitts’ wrote about (1/22, Opinion, Sharpton and Woods both whiffed this one”). I want to accept the argument that Kelly Tilghman simply made a mistake or put her foot in her mouth, and I welcome the interpretation that such blunders are not always racially motivated. People who say foolish things are not always fools.

But how does “lynch him in a back alley” fly out of a person’s mouth if the person isn’t racist? “Club him on the back nine” seems more like a golf gaffe that a broadcaster would be thinking, though still a bit bellicose in my view.

Finally, about the use of the word “denigrate,” whose Latin root means “to blacken”: By using it, Mr. Pitts perpetuates the association of negative terms related to blackness. By using it in a column in which he reminds readers that “all of us who communicate for a living … walk a tightrope,” he risks losing his balance.

For the record, I enjoy Mr. Pitts’ column and appreciate the issues he encourages me to think about.

Kathleen Tacelosky
Liberty

KU-MU game on ESPNU

To  (1/22, Voices) and those who accused KU Athletic Director Lew Perkins of making the decision to broadcast the KU-MU game on ESPNU, I would suggest fact checking before complaining.

The Lawrence Journal World states that the Kansas University Athletic Corporation was not responsible for the decision to broadcast the Kansas-Missouri game on ESPNU. According to KU Associate Athletic Director Jim Marchiony, the Big 12 Conference negotiates television rights with ESPN, which then has the right to broadcast Big 12 games on whatever “member of the ESPN family” it chooses. ESPN has chosen to feature several “marquee teams” on ESPNU, he said, to try to build interest in that channel.

Place the blame where it is due and direct your complaints to ESPN.

Vicky Howard
Lawrence

Weather forecasts

The local weather forecasters are crafty. They claim great accuracy, but it’s a sham.

Days before an anticipated weather event, their forecasts change almost hourly. Eventually the storm hits. They go back to find which one of their varied forecasts matches what actually happened and declare their precision.

When the storm is nearly upon us, and “new data” are available, they proudly provide minute-by-minute updates. Then we are told what to expect in the next few minutes, and we are supposed to be in awe.

Well, duh! Anyone can do that. If you’re in a thunderstorm, call someone a few miles east of you and say it’s going to rain there in five minutes. You’ll be right.

The day before our recent ice storm, one of them predicted the severity of the storm would (and I quote) “depend upon the amount of precipitation we receive, and if it freezes or not.” Am I the only one who sees the absurdity in that?

I swear, one of these days they are going to give their forecast and end it with, “…but it all depends on the weather.”

Robert Barber
Spring Hill

Hateful talk solves nothing

Unfortunately, it appears that Michael Thacker (11/28, Letters) totally missed the point of Jim Everett’s As I See It article about radio talk show host Michael Savage, which is that to be silent and unresponsive to such hateful and vile presentations is to give assent to them.

Such language and behavior just encourage more violence. This is not the answer. To castigate an entire religious movement because of the actions of a minority is not the answer.

Most of the violent actions described in Mr. Thacker’s letter are more politically motivated than religious, and unfortunately some have used religion as a justification for their actions.

Knowledge and understanding conquer fear, and the great need and challenge of our day is to elevate reason and hope as avenues to respect and reconciliation among peoples and religions.

Responsible use of the radio airwaves is what is needed and what I believe Mr. Everett was advocating.

Rev. Harold Johnson
Lee’s Summit

Savage comments on Islam

This letter is in response to James Everett’s hateful anti-Michael Savage comments (11/25, As I See It, “Hateful words beget hateful deeds”).

Mr. Everett, continue sticking your head in the sand all you want, but Dr. Savage is 100 percent correct. There is no peace with a religion that wants to destroy our Western way of life. Fundamentalist Islam has no business in the 21st century.

Your comparison of Michael Savage and Joseph Goebbels has no basis in reality. You see, the Jews weren’t blowing up busy marketplaces, beheading innocent kidnap victims and plotting to fly planes into Berlin buildings.

I say “bravo” to KCMO 710 AM for having the courage in these dark times to get the truth out there. Just keep listening to public radio, James. The rest of us will be listening to “The Savage Nation.”

Michael Thacker
Independence

James Everett’s article focused on some reported outlandish statements by talk show host Michael Savage and suggested that, at least as regards “the public airwaves,” there might be some restrictions on “freedom of speech.”

While I am a fairly conservative Republican, I never listen to Savage, mainly for the reasons mentioned, and I naively assumed that everyone had that same choice.

We do have restrictions on what can be said on the public airwaves. Of course, with today’s technology, there is no such thing as total censorship of language. Satellite radio is very “free” and affordable, and the Internet only gets more user-friendly.

Mr. Everett makes two mistakes. The first is thinking that listeners to talk radio are essentially “mindless robots” (to use another talk show host’s phrase), waiting to hear their marching orders. The second is that outlawing “hateful” speech will diminish hate, when very possibly it will have the opposite effect.

Freedom of speech is a founding principle of our United States. It’s what sets us apart from many other nations, and yes, sometimes, it’s mindless and hateful. There are a worrisome number of people in our country who seem to be willing to give up that right, at least in part.

Steve Parks
St. Joseph, Mo.

Not crying over strike

At last! A crisis I don’t have to worry about: the Hollywood writers’ strike.

I am sorry for all the non-celebrities who are affected, but I won’t be shedding any tears for those top stars (not all of them, just a lot of them) who use their celebrity to bash America at every opportunity. America — the country where they are free to spit in its face while becoming rich and famous. Maybe the people who mindlessly worship them are even worse.

Shirley Cornelius
Kansas City

Radio event overlooked

I was surprised that there was no mention in The Star of a major event in Kansas City on Tuesday night.

Three of the nation’s top radio talk show hosts were here in town — Dave Ramsey, Laura Ingraham and Rusty Humphries — at an event sponsored by one of the top AM stations in the city. Yet there was no story in The Star in advance of this event, and only a very short one the next day about Frances Semler’s appearance earlier in the day on Ingraham’s show.

The “Behind the Mic ’07” event (advertised by KCMO radio strenuously for a solid month before the event) was still never mentioned in The Star, even two days after the famous talk-show hosts left town.

Semler won an award on national radio and appeared at the sold-out event to the huge cheers of 2,000 Kansas Citians. This is barely acknowledged, even though you never fail to bring up her name when there are political points to be scored for the left.

The coverage of this event, or lack thereof, is disgraceful.

Bob Hazlett
Smithville

Talk radio

Recently I closed my bank account. I had kept it with this bank for 13 years and I liked some of its features. But I found another bank, just as nice.

My previous bank has forever been a sponsor on an AM talk radio that carries Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, and I have always been embarrassed by its participation in that stridently political environment. No more.

Limbaugh spends 75 percent of his three-hour program hammering American journalism (“the drive-by media”). The other’s shtick is a love of all things Dick Cheney.

Ten years ago, their pursuit of the Clinton/Lewinsky affair was sleazy entertainment. It’s serious now.

I fear the talkers could bring America to the brink of bankruptcy and a broken military. They are the leading spokesmen for the occupation, and to even consider getting America out of the Middle East is called “surrender.”

At least the talkers have quit promoting Jeb Bush in 2008.

Ed Gentry
St. Joseph

The public interest

The July 9 story in The Star about the former Fairness Doctrine (A-1, "Debating what's fair to air on talk radio") left out a couple of important points.

It was created in 1949 to ensure controversial issues were treated fairly and because the airwaves belong to the people. Broadcasting, a very profitable business, was required to present all sides of issues in return for the free (for the most part) use of broadcast frequencies.

The doctrine was eliminated in 1987 because the FCC and the courts thought it limited free speech and that new media provided alternatives for public affairs topics to be heard. Broadcasters were let off the hook, so to speak.

I do not think arguments should be quickly dismissed for or against the return of the Fairness Doctrine. It was not the same as equal time -- a phrase that is applied to airtime given to candidates running for office.

Radio and TV stations have a responsibility to cover topics of public interest in the fulfillment of their required responsibility to serve in the public interest. Given the continued influence of the broadcasting media in this country, a debate on the re-establishment of the Fairness Doctrine would not be out of place.

David Welsh
Lake Lotawana

Editor's note: Welsh is retired from KCPT, Channel 19, after working in broadcasting for more than 40 years.

The so-called "Fairness Doctrine" has found its way onto the front page of The Star. I find this astounding.

In my youth, in high school in the late '60s, the paranoia-producing bogeyman was the right wing, conservatives and the Nixon-controlled FBI. We all "knew" the FBI kept secret files on everyone who marched against the war or for civil rights. The Nixon administration and conservative supporters tried to intimidate, censor and shut us up. They failed, of course.

Fast forward to 2007. The silencers are now some on the left who can't tolerate the voices on the right.

Those who want to restrict speech have a big hurdle. It's called the First Amendment. It worked to protect speech in the '60s and '70s, and it will work to protect speech in this new century.

Any po