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(Seems to have a very long history)

The name C.W.Burpo rings no bells to speak of - other than the fact that he was a "radio minister" who was virulently anti-communist and died in 1982. One of the things I've noticed, in researching a lot of these "radio ministers" who preached a steady stream of right-wing extremist diatribe during their "messages to the children of God" is that not many of the recordings seem to exist. Certainly, the Library of Congress has a policy not to accept recordings of any of those broadcasts, with the possible exception of Father Coughlin, who was something of a pioneer of the form.

But C.W. Burpo hosted a daily program, heard over a large number of radio stations in middle and Southern America for a number of years, beginning in the late 1950's and going to the late 1960's. After the first few minutes of citing scripture and praying for God's guidance, he launched into a tirade over the perilous nature of our lives here in America.

As sampled by this 1965 broadcast dealing with the Civil Rights Movement.

C.W. Burpo: “I’m talking about real, red-blooded patriotic Americans, and I say there’s no doubt in the minds of those Americans that Nazism and Fascism are evil, and that we want no part of it. And yet with increasing intensity, we observe references in the press to Nazis and Fascist activities in our country. Now there’ve been no exposures of such activity, just references veiled insular references, as far as we’ve been able to learn there is no real Nazi or Fascist threat within America, but we have during the course of investigation learned something very revealing. And that is, that there is a Communist conspiracy against this nation, against the churches, against the homes, against the schools and against your very life. And as a major tactic of this conspiracy – well AS a major tactic of this conspiracy is to smear the opposition with a Nazi or Fascist label. But let’s look at the real trouble that we’re facing today. Communist infiltration into the Race Revolution is becoming evident as investigation exposes leaders and organizations. A partial list of organizations involved in the Civil Rights Movement, which reportedly has Communist or Communist fronters in its leadership are . . .now I have a copy of this so I’m going to give it and I want every station to hold steady because we’re not going to incriminate you.

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It was somewhat gratifying to see Chris Matthews' right-leaning panel on his Sunday show -- which was, as expected, eager to deny the role of racism in the ugly animus that's been directed at Barack Obama -- at least admit the truth:

David Brooks: What Rush and Glenn Beck are doing is race-baiting. 100 percent. That's race-baiting.

...

Kathleen Parker: What Rush Limbaugh and Beck did in those two clips is to empower racists.

But it was even more interesting to watch Brooks in particular somehow manage to stumble upon the core of the problem:

Matthews: Would the White House like the leaders of both parties to say, 'Cool it'?

Brooks: Well, I think they would. First, I think Father Coughlin was objecting to FDR, and he -- that's what we're seeing, Father Coughlin, that's what these guys are --

Matthews: And he was far right.

Brooks: He was far right. The White House understands, you've got 10 percent of the country over here on the wacky right, 10 percent on the wacky left, that's not what they can pay attention to. And they're not going to pay attention to it. They're sticking with the independents -- that's what the health care, why it's tending toward the center.

The one danger -- the main danger of all this, the Glenn and the Rush and all that -- they're not going to take over the country. But they are taking over the Republican Party.

And so if the Republican Party is sane, they will say no to these people. But every single elected leader in the Republican Party is afraid to take on Rush and Glenn Beck.

Brooks' percentages are off -- it's more like about 5 percent on the left and 30 percent on the right side, and this latter fact is actually what he identifies as the problem; the right has been so overwhelmed by its wingnutty elements that they have largely taken over the GOP at this juncture in time. And there's no prospect of the David Brookses ever getting it back -- in no small part because they refuse to acknowledge the magnitude of what they're up against.

But at least they recognize the problem. That's a start.

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Rachel reminds us that all that's old is new again.

But we begin tonight with a dramatic day in D.C. Republican Congressman Joe Wilson of South Carolina officially reprimanded by the House of Representatives today for screaming, “You lie!” at President Obama as the president addressed a joint session of Congress nearly a week ago. By a vote of 240 to 179, the House passed a formal resolution of disapproval for Congressman Wilson‘s breach of decorum. Now, that‘s the mildest form of punishment the House can administer, and they did it not for what Congressman Wilson said to the president but for when and where he said it.

It was not a party line vote against Mr. Wilson. Five Republicans voted for the resolution. A dozen Democrats voted against it. And another five Democrats just voted present, including Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank, who said in advance of today‘s vote that, quote, “I think it is bad precedent to put us in charge of deciding whether people act like jerks.”

Beyond the disapproval vote against Congressman Wilson vote today in Congress, the political importance of this “You lie!” incident is probably more evident in the reaction to it outside the House chamber, where Joe Wilson is being hailed as a hero by a lot of the conservative movement right now. Congresswoman Michele Bachmann of Minnesota repeatedly telling a tea party crowd in Minnesota this past weekend, and I quote, “Thank God for Joe Wilson.”

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(Father Charles Coughlin - one of the originators of "you're either for us or against us")

When I first began Newstalgia, I ran an entry called "Father Coughlin - the Grandfather of Hate Radio". At the time, I was only able to run a 10 minute clip from one of his talks. It gave a glimpse, but not a complete idea of just what all the controversy surrounding Father Coughlin was all about.

Charles Coughlin was no doubt the first, at least on a national scale, to use radio as an instrument of extremist ideology. Much of what is going on now in reference to the current state of Hate Radio can be attributed almost directly to the weekly tirades and rants of Father Coughlin over 70 years ago.

But in readying this entry, and playing back this broadcast of August 27, 1939, I noticed Coughlin wasn't alone in his shrillness - he had a warm up act.

Dr. Edward Lodge Curran - or Father Curran often used the first half hour of the one hour broadcast to showcase his particular rants, as is evidenced by this harangue of the Cincinnati School Board.

Father Curran: “Every effort was made by the leftist forces, who claimed the right to Freedom of Speech for themselves, but who deny it to others. Seventy-two hours before the meeting, all the efforts of the splendid Cincinnati committee and sponsors had almost dwindled to idle gestures. A Mr. Von Schlichten, a teacher in one of the Cincinnati schools had accepted the invitation to act as Chairman. Mr. Henry Siegal, editor of The American Israelite, promptly complained to the school board. The school board held a secret meeting. And at that meeting, the pedagogical wisdom of withdrawing as Chairman was impressed quite contritely upon Mr. Von Schlichten. And Mr. Von Schlichten, in free, democratic 20th Century America, was forced to withdraw. This is the same Cincinnati School Board, which has permitted the Communists to make use of Woodward High School. This is the same Cincinnati School Board which has never presumed to reprimand any of its other employees who have participated in the activities of the Communistically mind and Communistically controlled American League For Peace and Democracy.”

Curran, it should be noted, ran somewhat afoul of the America First Committee and appears to have dropped out of the history books of extremism. He does, however pop up as the author of "Great Moments Of Catholic History". The wonders never cease.

As for Coughlin - well, his rants are legendary.

Father Coughlin: “I believe that I am on safe ground in affirming that the World War was fought for commercial domination and not for the preservation of Democracy. I believe that I am on the side of truth when I say that the Peace Treaty of Versailles was nothing more than a document of hatred. Defies in a mad attempt to resolve the evils of International Capitalism. And I believe that, although Communism of Russia was in part a rebellion against the system of International Capitalism. Nevertheless it was an insane rebellion, because it fought not only the persecutors of the poor, but the principles of right-reason and the outraged Christ who loves the poor.”

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(H.L. Hunt - Richest Man in America . .and the furthest right - Booga-Booga!)

For people who think the wave of extreme right wing media is a new phenomenon, it's been with us forever. Going back to the 1930's with the likes of Father Coughlin, there have been a steady stream of pundits, alarmists, hate advocates and wingnuts ever since.

During the 1950's and 1960's one of the biggest practitioners of right wing alarmist radio and TV came in the person of H.L. Hunt.

Rings no bells? Probably not. H.L. Hunt maintained a very low profile in his funding of weekly radio and TV broadcasts that fed a steady stream of fear, hate and paranoia for many years. So low in fact, that funding for his programs came out of his advertising Agency.

It also didn't hurt that he was the richest man in America, with a vast fortune starting with oil. By all accounts, he was eccentric at best. Leading a somewhat monastic life (except for the mass of illegitimate children he was reported to have fathered), even to the point of carrying his own brown-bag lunch to work every day.

Something about extreme wealth fostering extreme strange. J. Paul Getty had his phone booth - H.L. Hunt had his brown bag lunch.

Question: "You run a pretty large network of communications that carry forward your own political ideas, starting way back with programs such as “Facts Forum” and “Answers For Americans” I believe was another. Why did you turn to radio and television with your great wealth to put across these ideas? What made you do that?"

Hunt: “Well that was a means of communication. Now . . .public opinion is a powerful factor and public opinion could save our nation if our nation is in danger. But the communication media is owned and controlled by 80 or 85% of the opposition to the constructive philosophy."

Hunt: "I think the line should be drawn between people that love liberty and are for the freedom system. And the society that has made America great. And the newspapers, radio, TV stations and networks are in the hands of, we shall say, the enemy of that system."

Hunt was a huge supporter and board member of the John Birch Society and was convinced Washington was a cesspool of communism. He pops up in all sorts of conspiracy theories. And even though he's been dead since 1974 and there has been ongoing legal battles regarding family members, the Hunt legacy is still shrouded in mystery.

And so it was quite unusual that in 1970, a documentary on Hunt would surface. The recordings I have give no trace as to who did it, who conducted the interviews (there is a lengthy one with Hunt) and how they gained such access.

One suspects, since this was done in 1970 and Nixon was President, a lot of former closeted extreme right wingers came out of the closet and made their presences known.

In any case, it's interesting listening and further evidence the roots of the extreme right wing are many and deep and go back a long way.

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Robert Ebert nails Bill O'Reilly for his off-the-wall and venomous tactics.

It's a long read and worth it. He compares him to Father Coughlin and points out his nativism:

He has been an influence on the most worrying trend in the field of news: The polarization of opinion, the elevation of emotional temperature, the predictability of two of the leading cable news channels. A majority of cable news viewers now get their news slanted one way or the other by angry men. O'Reilly is not the worst offender. That would be Glenn Beck. Keith Olbermann is gaining ground. Rachel Maddow provides an admirable example for the boys of firm, passionate outrage, and is more effective for nogt shouting. Much has been said recently about the possible influence of O'Reilly on the murder of Dr. George Tiller by Scott Roeder. Such a connection is impossible to prove. Yet studies of bullies and their victims suggest a general way such an influence might take place. Bullies like to force others to do their will, while they can stand back and protest their innocence: "I was nowhere near the gymnasium, Sister!" A recent study of school shootings found that two-thirds of all the shooters were victims of bullying, and perceived themselves as members of persecuted minorities.
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Sometimes O'Reilly is compared with Father Coughlin, a popular far-right radio commentator in the 1930s who fanned the flames against Roosevelt and warned about immigration and "foreigners," by which it was understood he meant primarily Jews. O'Reilly objects to such a comparison, and certainly there is no reason to consider him anti-Semitic.

But a team of media researchers at Indiana University studied every editorial broadcast by O'Reilly during a six-month period and found a similar nativist cast. Among the findings of their paper published in the Journal Journalism Studies was this one:...read on

A lot has been said lately about the state of talkradio - the overwhelming presence of hate, lies, threats and hysteria. Everyone thinks its a phenomenon of the past twenty years. Sadly, no.

Hate radio has its roots back to the beginnings of radio. Although not the only one who used the airwaves to preach hate, fear and prejudice, Father Charles Coughlin was probably the most famous practitioner of extreme right wing sentiment. At his peak, his one hour "sermons" had an audience of several million and were a Sunday night staple on CBS Radio at first, and later NBC before his decline and eventual demise.

Coughlin established the template for what is the basis of Hate radio today. Although to be fair,Coughlin was articulate and had style - something todays practitioners have no clue how to use.

The excerpt here is from a broadcast of July 30, 1939 in a talk called "The Christian Front versus the Popular Front".

I

"In the meantime, if you care to carry on, you have the discomfort of knowing of your past failures. In the meantime if you do not emulate the traditions of your European comrades, who ran like rats for safety, leaving behind their disillusioned followers to bear the brunt of defeat, you will be responsible for building up such a defense mechanism as this world never witnessed. A defense mechanism which will either isolate you or obliterate you if you persist in pursuing your attacks against religion and constitutional Americanism."