The Cousineau Report: One Man's Opinion

By Jason 'Cousi' Cousineau  - Sunday, May 03, 2009 - 

Arlen Spector changes parties - again. What does it mean? To most of us who watch and follow politics, a number of different things. The Democrats now have a 60-40 majority in the Senate. Sen Spector has gone back to his roots or shown his true colors depending on your opinion. To me, it means nothing more than exactly what Arlen Spector himself said - he cannot get re-elected as a Republican.

The Boston Globe is shutting down. It's only a matter of time, really. Some people think that time frame is weeks, others think months, but one thing's for sure - the Globe will be closing its doors. It's parent paper, the New York Times, is faring little better. They purchased the Globe in 1998 for $1.1 billion and 2008 weekday circulation fell 8.3% and Sunday circulation fell 6.5% in 2008. The Gray Lady herself has become a news item, under the heading "failing newspapers".

Just this week Jay Severin, a talk radio host in the Boston area, was indefinitely suspended from WTKK 96.9 FM. I spoke to the program director, Grace Blazer, and she had no further comment other than what has already been stated. According to the failing Globe, the suspension comes from derogatory comments he made on-air directed at illegal aliens from Mexico.

Boston Globe: "Severin suspended for comments
about Mexican immigrants"

By David Abel, Globe Staff  |  May 1, 2009

Jay Severin, the fiery right wing talk show host on Boston's WTKK-FM radio station, was suspended yesterday after calling Mexican immigrants "criminaliens," "primitives," "leeches," and exporters of "women with mustaches and VD," among other incendiary comments.

Heidi Raphael, a spokeswoman for the station, said Severin had been suspended indefinitely from his afternoon drive-time show. She declined to say which of his comments - made since an outbreak of swine flu was linked to Mexico in recent days - sparked the suspension.

"I can assure you that the station has not been using the remarks for which he has been suspended in on-air promos," she said, declining to comment further.

In an e-mail, Severin, a bombastic voice whose views often mirror those of fringe conservatives and who rarely lacks something to say, referred questions to his lawyer. "I am simply not at liberty to discuss it at this time," he wrote.

George Tobia, his lawyer, said it was not clear how long Severin will be on suspension. "All we know is it's indefinite," he said in a telephone interview. "We're just learning of it, and we're dealing with it."

Severin's comments sparked deep concern among Mexicans and other Latinos living in the Boston area, prompting what Tobia described as a flood of complaints to station management in recent days.

What does this mean?

I think this is the start of something huge and the people who think they're in power better be paying attention. The People Are Waking Up. No longer willing to blindingly accept a candidate based on the parenthetical letter after their name, the people are listening to policies, not parties.

This is a sword that cuts both ways. Severin, whose conservative radio show in liberal Boston pushed boundaries to draw attention, has reached the limit of what the audience is willing to hear. My conversation with Ms Blazer was brief but professional - she wanted to return my call but really had nothing to add. I like to "listen to the pauses" and it felt like there was more to the story but she was unable to say.

Is this the Obama administration trying out the "Fairness Doctrine" in the microcosm of the Boston area? Is this the people saying "enough is enough?" Time will tell.

I believe Rush is right - the majority of people in the US are conservative by nature but they just don't pay much attention. I also believe the latter half of that statement is coming to an end.

President Obama got elected on Hope and Change, much like Governor Deval Patrick did. Governor Patrick has done almost nothing while in office except spend money the state didn't have. Governor Patrick was elected following a Republican whose term in office was marked with bi-partisan bickering with the heavily Democrat-controlled Congress. President Obama was elected following a Republican whose term in office was marked with bi-partisan bickering and has a Democrat-controlled Congress but in his very brief term in office has spent more than any other President.

Could the Massachusetts Governor be trying out shutting down conservative talk radio hosts by political pressure as a test for the President? Or is it the masses of the United States paying attention to what the candidates are saying versus what platform they're using to say it?

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