Well its about time…

Finally a source of mass media in the USA has stood up and taken a stance. Bill Handel of KFI-AM Los Angelis has grown a set. Or more specifically is using the set he has...

Drudge

Los Angeles's top talk radio station is under fire from a Muslim civil liberties group because of comments made earlier this month by morning man Bill Handel. The Council on American-Islamic Relations has demanded an apology from Handel for making fun of a stampede that killed hundreds of Muslims during an annual pilgrimage.

But the station and Handel are set to fire back, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

Handel will apologize IF the Council on American-Islamic Relations:

1) Decries all acts of terror (described specifically, not generally)

2) Agrees that Israel is a sovereign nation with the right to defensible borders

3) CAIR has no ties of any sort, financially or otherwise, to any terror orgs or individuals.

MANAGEMENT STATEMENT

KFI-AM does not condone making light of the deaths of people engaged in religious observances. We regret that listeners found the comments of one of our on-air hosts to be insensitive. KFI does not censor its hosts, nor does it tell them what to say or not to say. KFI is a strong and passionate believer in 1st amendment rights and that is at the very core of this radio station.

Developing...

I agree with this man 100%. I may not agree with what he may have said to upset this Muslim group in the first place regarding the stampede, but he is using this situation as a leverage point to get his message out. And I also commend the radio station, so many just bow down to special interest groups these days. KUDOS!!

I bet anything that this Muslim civil rights group does not comply with even one of Bill Handel’s conditions.

Brilliant!

Thank God someone is standing up to the CAIR thugs. WTG!

I see nothing here to make light of :shk: Why did he feel the need to make of of these deaths.
From the Drudge link:

Los Angeles's top talkradio station is under fire from a Muslim group because of comments made earlier this month by morning man Bill Handel. The Council on American-Islamic Relations has demanded an apology from Handel for making fun of a stampede that killed hundreds of Muslims during an annual pilgrimage.

This guy is living in the land of the PC, but his insenstivity

Over 350 pilgrims were killed and hundreds injured in a stampede Jan. 12 in Mecca, where thousands of people were rushing to carry out a symbolic ritual of stoning the devil, according to the Associated Press.

That same day, Handel reportedly imitated the people screaming and then joked that the Muslims at the pilgrimage should use a helicopter to monitor pilgrimage traffic.

The group quoted Handel as saying: "This is Mahmoud Nolan. Hajj in the Sky. There is an accident. … Ali lost his sandal on the on-ramp to the Martin Luther King Jr. freeway."

Two years ago, KFI issued an on-air apology after the group filed a complaint with the FCC following a skit that claimed Muslims have sex with animals, don't bathe and hate Jews.

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[edit on 30-1-2006 by DontTreadOnMe]

Free Speech and Political Correctness are not compatible. Take one or the other. If we demand to exercise our rights to free speech as we see fit, then we must support everyone else's right to it as well, even when they say something that we find offensive.

I respect this announcer's right to free speech and I sincerely hope he doesn't use the fact that some found his humor offensive to wage a war of words with this Muslim group. The last thing we need is another war.

Originally posted by DontTreadOnMe
I see nothing here to make light of :shk: Why did he feel the need to make of of these deaths.

I don’t agree with what he said about those deaths either, and I state that in my post.

What I am admiring here is, is his stance on a civil groups call for an apology. CAIR is a controversial group at the very least and this man is calling them on it. I admire that and you simply don’t see today's media standing up to CAIR, or any special interest group for that matter.

And like what he said or hate it, he does in fact have the right to say it. And so long as there is a radio station willing to broadcast it, groups like CAIR need to accept that type of free speech.

The very right that allows CAIR to say things like:

"Those who stay in America should be open to society without melting, keeping Mosques open so anyone can come and learn about Islam. If you choose to live here, you have a responsibility to deliver the message of Islam ... Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faiths, but to become dominant. The Koran, the Muslim book of scripture, should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on Earth." - Omar Ahmad, Co Founder of CAIR

That statement offends me, but Omar Ahmad has the right to say it.

Maybe if CAIR had its way we wouldn’t have the right to say such things...And that’s a terrifying prospect...And this is exactly why its so important what Bill is doing here.

Originally posted by skippytjc
I don’t agree with what he said about those deaths either, and I state that in my post.

For the record, although I don't agree with what he said, I believe he has a right to say it. I am not a fan of muzzling free speech or of PCness.
Freedom of speech needs to be tempered with respect.


[edit on 30-1-2006 by DontTreadOnMe]

I forget who said it, or where... Probably on ATS here, somewhere ... But, the right to free speech means nothing if the guy who says stuff you hate doesn't have the right to say it.

Originally posted by skippytjc
What I am admiring here is, is his stance on a civil groups call for an apology. CAIR is a controversial group at the very least and this man is calling them on it. I admire that and you simply don’t see today's media standing up to CAIR, or any special interest group for that matter.

But what good will it do for this radio personality to demand that the Muslim group say 'some words' that he wants to hear? They don't have to mean the words (and probably wouldn't). What good does it do for him to apologize for what he said (even though he won't really mean it) in exchange for this group to say some words that they don't really mean either? Would you believe them? Would they be lying?

WHAT GOOD WOULD IT DO? It would only cause more division and feelings of resentment.

In my opinion, he would be better making a statement to CAIR about free speech and point out that they are permitted to say things like that which you quoted because of the free speech they exercise.

Originally posted by skippytjc

"Those who stay in America should be open to society without melting, keeping Mosques open so anyone can come and learn about Islam. If you choose to live here, you have a responsibility to deliver the message of Islam ... Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faiths, but to become dominant. The Koran, the Muslim book of scripture, should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on Earth." - Omar Ahmad, Co Founder of CAIR

I don't agree with Omar Ahmad's statement either, I do agree that he has the right to say it. What I have a problem with is that if I made a statement saying what I thought of Ahmad's statement, I could be ridiculed by the press, vilified by CAIR, lose my job or be arrested for a hate crime. What about my rights? Oh that's right they don't count because I might offend someone. It doesn't matter that I am offended by Ahmed's statement.

Originally posted by JIMC5499
What I have a problem with is that if I made a statement saying what I thought of Ahmad's statement, I could be ridiculed by the press, vilified by CAIR, lose my job or be arrested for a hate crime.

Really? I don't think I believe that. There have been plenty of statements made against CAIR, verbally and in writing, and I have yet to hear about someone losing their job or being arrested for what they said. Why would you be singled out?

As far as the press ridiculing you, don't forget that as you have the right to free speech, the press also has that right. Can't you take ridicule? The right to your free speech does not limit others' right to use their free speech to challenge or even vilify you.

Some of the many Anti-CAIR sites:

Anti-CAIR
Friends of Terror
CAIR's Axis of Evil

It doesn't matter that I am offended by Ahmed's statement.

No it really doesn't. Words cannot hurt you. But by the same token, it doesn't matter that CAIR is offended at this 'humorous' radio spot, either.

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic

Really? I don't think I believe that. There have been plenty of statements made against CAIR, verbally and in writing, and I have yet to hear about someone losing their job or being arrested for what they said. Why would you be singled out?

As far as the press ridiculing you, don't forget that as you have the right to free speech, the press also has that right. Can't you take ridicule? The right to your free speech does not limit others' right to use their free speech to challenge or even vilify you.

Notice I used the word "could" in my statement. I am not really worried about myself as at the present time I am not important enough to be bothered with. How ever if at sometime in the future I were to become inportant enough to be bothered with I am quite sure that my views would come back to haunt me. This very post may be used against me. Look at the things being dragged out about Judge Alito. He belonged to a group when he was in college, who's views didn't agree with the current viewpoint, and an issue was made about it. I am 40 years old and currently attend college, not a week goes by that I don't have some group or another trying to get me to support their cause. The majority of these causes are ones that I don't agree with. When I first started there I made the mistake of telling one of these groups representatives what I actually thought of their cause. I used plain polite language, didn't swear or yell, I just expressed my views on that particular subject. Two days later I get a message to report to the Dean of Students office where I was put on probation for a year. Now I just walk away. So much for free speech.