*BUSTED* Rightwing radio contracted to have actors read scripted questions (Rush, Beck, Hannity)

[underpants]

Hmm. Prominent Conservative Radio Hosts Planted Scripted Actors Among Callers

If passed the audition, he would be invited periodically to call in to various talk shows and recite various scenarios that made for interesting radio. He would never be identified as an actor, and his scenarios would never be identified as fabricated—which they always were.

“I was surprised that it seemed so open,” the actor told me in an interview. “There was really no pretense of covering it up.”

Curious, the actor did some snooping and learned that Premiere On Call was a service offered by Premiere Radio Networks, the largest syndication company in the United States and a subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications, the entertainment and advertising giant. Premiere syndicates some of the more sterling names in radio, including Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Sean Hannity. But a great radio show depends as much on great callers as it does on great hosts: Enter Premiere On Call.

“Premiere On Call is our new custom caller service,” read the service’s website, which disappeared as this story was being reported (for a cached version of the site click here). “We supply voice talent to take/make your on-air calls, improvise your scenes or deliver your scripts. Using our simple online booking tool, specify the kind of voice you need, and we’ll get your the right person fast. Unless you request it, you won’t hear that same voice again for at least two months, ensuring the authenticity of your programming for avid listeners.”

http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/hmm-prominent-co...

Radio Daze
This week’s parasha introduces a medium for distinguishing truth from falsehood. On the radio, where actors are hired to read scripts and pretend to be real people, things aren’t so simple.

http://www.tabletmag.com/life-and-religion/58759/radio-...

[Hannah Bell]

1. right wing radio: all fake, all the time. same with right wing news shows.

it's all fake, from the blondes' boobs to the scripted talking points.

[underpants]

2. Yep. You pinpointed their corporate .... Model

to counter it CNN (still with the desk) has moved the chairs up for the female anchors to show a little knee.

[TheCowsCameHome]

15. Extra! Extra! - Dittoheads being outsourced! - Extra! Extra!

Read all about it!

[fayhunter]

142. It would be nice if they all wore a symbol so we know who they are...

... then again, it's not too hard to figure out.

[TheCowsCameHome]

16. Do shills have a union? Does anyone even care about them?

Bwahahahahahahaha.

[Maraya1969]

49. They can be members of The Screen actors guild. It really helps

actors by making their pay high since it is such a hit and miss business. I am mostly referring to actors in advertisements and little parts on shows.

[donquijoterocket]

130. SAG

or maybe AFTRA and I'd not be surprised to learn that the winger host their shamming for is a member of one of the two as well.
Propaganda operations, pure and simple.

[txlibdem]

139. Not SAG but SWAG

... also, I wonder who if they have a sister company that supplies "actors" to post on online forums like DU.

[TheEuclideanOne]

56. Now, that is funny.

The Shills Union.

Seriously, though, how do we know this is true? Personally, I doubt that it is. I don't doubt it because it is too unethical. I know that being unethical is their M.O. I simply believe that there are way too many stupid people out there and surprised they need to hire anybody.

[certainot]

97. "sean hannity, you're a great man!" "megadittoes rush!" said the paid caller.

don't doubt it. they use them to worship their talk radio gods and prompt and reinforce the daily talking points ("i don't doubt obama is a muslim, but....") ("those dirty hippies spit on me when i got back from vietnam/iraq" ) .

AND how else can they make sure their audiences don't sound like a bunch of idiots all day! ever hear one of the local blowhards doing a show on a friday night and get a string of very lucid and sober callers all reinforcing the GOP talking points for the topic?

thom hartmann and randi rhodes get them and use them, play with them, and point them out. we see them all the time trolling the blogs.

this is a huge story. the dems need to push for an investigation until they're blue in the face. they need to offer rewards to whistleblowers. who does the coordination and writing? it is not the individual stations.

do the callers use a certain area code that shows up for the screeners? a password? or "hi bill, it's me.... patch me through again. i forgot to add what a great patriot karl rove is and what a traitor kerry is. see you next week at the bondage symposium".

the talk radio monopoly is why we're in this disaster and it should be clear to all americans how and why.

[TheEuclideanOne]

111. I agree with you on all points.

I guess that I am so desensitized by the people that I speak with, who are not paid by anybody, who buy into all of that bullshit. At the same time, that is probably just a symptom of the idiocy that we are discussing on this thread.

[lumberjack_jeff]

112. The problem with the stupid people is they're unpredictable.

They don't want their "nuke the gays" callers to go off on a paranoid tangent about alien probing. Bad for ratings. No risk of that from the actors.

[lumberjack_jeff]

110. +1 n/t

[BobbyBoring]

95. You mean it's like

Wrestling??

[xxqqqzme]

120. And let us not forget -

the paid/scripted posters on progressive/liberal websites! Ahh-huum

[RC]

129. Duh 9/11 dungeon comes to mind.

[stevedeshazer]

3. The whole thing is a freaking echo chamber, entirely made up.

They have to rent actors to call their own shows to get ones who agree with them?

Unbelievable. Well, okay, it's entirely believable.

Good find.

[tblue37]

9. Same with the Teabagger protests. They were always astroturf. nt

[Enthusiast]

68. Exactly the same.

Only some are stupid enough to work for free.

[SpiralHawk]

82. The Republicon moral corruption is so vast.

Paid liars (R) in an effort to undermine America.

[butterfly77]

84. Same with cspan callers,..

they have been doing this for years..

[Beartracks]

64. Unfortunately, there are plenty that agree with them...

... but maybe they have trouble finding people who can rub two words together?

Actually, they probably want to make sure someone will plug the talking-point-du-jour or at least provide a great set-up for the host to expound on it himself. Nothing like a great rant to reel in the listeners, especially if it seems sincere and off-the-cuff, and there are "real-life" examples out there calling into the show! Overall... that's really lame.

---------------------

[nxylas]

105. Or who can be counted on to maintain the fig leaf of respectability

Think about it. A paid shill can be relied upon to use the agreed code phrases like "I don't want my taxes going to support lazy people who won't pull themselves up by their bootstraps". Whereas a real Dittohead would just go on air and say "Y'know, Rush, ah shore do hate them niggers".

[Beartracks]

148. True, but don't screeners weed out the rednecky ones?

Wow, I wonder if the host and screeners are even aware who's a paid shill and who isn't. I mean, they have to know that shills call in on a regular basis -- since after all, it is a service that their show pays for -- but, as you said, this way they can be assured that the message and veneer of respectability get reinforced while still being natural (i.e. not complicit-sounding or awkward) on-air.

------------------------

[Kolesar]

113. The Teabaggers who marched in Madison had "suspiciously Southern accents"

...as reported by a labor activist guest on the Bill Press show. He also said that they bunch of them left town and were never seen after that day.

[calimary]

4. I'm shocked. Shocked, I tell you...

[SpiralHawk]

5. freaking republicon lies lies lies for profit and power

cesspool republicon family values -- what a disgrace they are

[tanyev]

6. The Ministry of Truth has been privatized.

[ReggieVeggie]

7. busted?

you think anyone will care?

[Rosco T.]

8. Someone send this to Rachel & Ed!

can't wait to hear what they do with it !

[underpants]

18. Submitted to Rachel, Lawrence, Joe, and Mathews

I will submit it to CNN and Fox news now

[underpants]

109. Also submitted to Anderson Cooper, Howard Kurtz, and Shep Smith

Kurtz does CNN's "Reliable Sources" supposedly a review of the media.

We'll see if anyone dares report on it.

[FeelingBlue]

126. NPR's On the Media

might be interested in commenting on this. I will write Brooke Gladstone.

[eleny]

10. Not too trusting of their followers to make sense on the air?

Well, I suppose "derp" wouldn't translate well.

[Sonoman]

11. "ensuring the authenticity of your programming for avid listeners.”

"Because we all know what dumbfucks your 'avid listeners' are."

Yeah, that's it.

Sonoman

[surrealAmerican]

34. That line really does stand out.

It's pure doublespeak. What they really mean is something like, "... causing an illusion of authenticity that your listeners will not be able to detect as a sham."

There's nothing "authentic" about paying actors to read a script and pretend they're your listeners.

[FarPoint]

12. I always strongly suspected

They even pay African American scripted callers. Just my opinion. Pure propaganda.

[quakerboy]

53. Naw. That would be Quota's and affirmitive action.

Oh.. wait.. did you mean they pay white actors to call in claiming to be African American? Now that is radio you can believe in.

[TheCowsCameHome]

13. *Gasp* You mean those aren't real dummies calling in?

I tell you, I AM STUNNED!!!!!!!

[FailureToCommunicate]

90. !!

[ladywnch]

14. and anybody is surprised by this? n/t

[ThomCat]

22. I'm sure we all suspected this for a long, long time.

Anyone who is surprised by this just didn't think about it.

[Grassy Knoll]

52. Limbaugh has done this for years.....

The shock is it took this long to expose.
everybody shrugged it off as par.

[robinlynne]

17. wow; "ensuring the authenticity of your radio".....

[fishwax]

122. yeah, no kidding

[blogslut]

19. And here's the actor application form

That page is still live for the time being:

http://b4.caspio.com/dp.asp?AppKey=1f602000b35609042341...

[PBS Poll-435]

23. 'How old do you SOUND?'

Gotta keep that concerned mid-30's father of 2 perception goin'.

[Liberal Veteran]

20. Hi. I am an independent who stumbled across your show™

That's probably where those come from as well.

Sometimes the scripted callers are the easiest to spot.

[PBS Poll-435]

21. Long-time listener, first time caller.

[Enthusiast]

70. "Mega dittoes, Rush!"

[guitar man]

81. "cut!"

That's good, but next time , just a little more pause between the phrases.

[blondeatlast]

24. UNION actors just like the hosts, no doubt. AFTRA doesn't mess around (and good for AFTRA!) nt

[somone]

25. Just as many had suspected

[underpants]

30. I can't find the link now but the GOP or RNC had a"get on the air"questions section on their website

with all of the radio shows call in numbers and questions to ask "to get on the air". This is from at least 6 years ago.

I will look some more.

[eleny]

26. On the Greatest Page with a bullet

[hunter]

27. No, no, no! Those wrestling shows on TV are real too!

wikipedia

[al_liberal]

28. Imagine that.

This is what we are up against, the right has integrated their message from top to bottom. Everything they do is in a controlled environment and it is orchestrated from up on high. Who here thinks that Muammar Walker and his cabinet came up with that budget? He hasn't had time to spread the right wing cancer so throughly through the existing laws. Someone else wrote all of that and handed it to him once he became dictator. We're dealing with a hydra that has so infiltrated our country that it will take nothing less than what is going on in the Middle-East to kill. We need to realize that poking the fire only makes it bigger and start to throw water on it instead.

[renate]

43. welcome to DU!

It's great to have you here!

[Enthusiast]

72. The right wing propaganda industry

is a multi billion dollar industry. I suspect.

[beac]

29. "ensuring the authenticity of your programming " -- They are missing an adjective in that phrase.

[ekelly]

31. Looks like they "miss-spoke"

"...ensuring the authenticity of your programming for avid listeners.”

Shouldn't that be: Ensuring the illusion of authenticity of your programming for avid listeners?

[Blue Owl]

32. it's the straight dope alright

and not the good kind of dope.

[BumRushDaShow]

33. Phil Hendrie does it as his true entertainment format

whereas the freak-show lunatic fringe gasbags do it to suck the low information voters in.

[kag]

58. Right! Phil Hendrie!

I couldn't remember his name, but I remember hearing him years ago, and figured it out pretty quick. I thought it was pretty stupid and didn't listen very much. Is he still around?

I guess the only thing that shocks me about this story is that they were so up-front about it. I would have thought they would try to hide it a little better. Guess I shouldn't underestimate the brazenness of the far right. Let no lie go untold!

[BumRushDaShow]

91. He's still around

his show is syndicated on widely scattered stations but the last time I had been near a station that had him on, it was down in the D.C. metro area sometime in 2009. He literally does nearly every single voice (callers, host, interviewee) as part of his schtick and naturally, his topics cover current events. He's often used as a voice actor for various animated features. In essence, he's like Colbert-gone-mad in terms of becoming a fictional commentary character (as "himself") who converses with a suite of fictional commentary characters ("callers" and "guests" all voiced by himself).

Yet the likes of Rash Limpballs and Glen BlecKKK provide nauseating drivel that they pass off as "real" and not manufactured despite the fact that their shows are fiction. When pushed, they have and will gladly admit it, AND say they are laughing all the way to the bank. The more outrageous they get, the more money they are paid.

Believe it or not, I recall actually hearing Rash's very first show out of WABC in NY back in 1988 (where he unceremoniously replaced Lynn Samuels at the noon hour) and his early years, when accused of his continual crossing the line with denigration of various oppressed groups, he would simply toss it off as "entertainment". Even when it was finally revealed that he supposedly had rheumatoid arthritis (that impacted his aural bone joints causing 80 - 100% hearing loss in his ears requiring multiple surgeries), it was noted that he couldn't hear callers and relied on someone in the studio to "closed-caption" the comments from supposed "callers" (which would appear on his computer screen), thus forcing even more staged callers so he could read his scripted answer (anyone listening can hear obvious delays in answering certain calls if they were unscripted).

Yup, P.T. Barnum would be proud of these RW radio hucksters.

[txlibdem]

155. Love Phil Hendrie

It took me about two seconds to realize that he is his own guests on the show. He's brilliantly funny much of the time!

[surrealAmerican]

35. Could these shows be kicked off the public airwaves ...

... for this type of fraud? I guess that would require the FCC were willing to do something about it.

[certainot]

103. the push for an investigation should be non-stop and is needed before

the election get real close.

[no_hypocrisy]

36. I always suspected that "Marty" on Hannity's show was a plant.

[DeSwiss]

37. The utter stupidity.....

...and total moral bankruptcy of these people never ceases to amaze me. There appears to be no depth to their perfidy and rank hypocrisy. Their incessant acts of ignorance and the complete retardation of their humanity is sickening to me. {Hey Jon, here's another one that the Left doesn't do.}

I'm sure that most would prefer to not even bother acknowledging their existence.

- Except in doing so, we run the risk of having some of these human-like mutations getting themselves elected to political office.......

K&R

"Do not waste your time on Social Questions. What is the matter with the poor is Poverty; what is the matter with the rich is Uselessness." ~George Bernard Shaw, Maxims for Revolutionists

[underpants]

45. They are something to watch aren't they

problem is that is the only thing you can watch.

They can take anything and make it true in 48 hours.

[Drix]

38. Fairness Doctrine

If this isn't reason enough to bring back the Fairness Doctrine I don't know what is. Important issues of public policy broadcast over the public airwaves supposedly to serve the public interest and this is what we get? This kind of activity borders on criminality as far as I'm concerned.

[Enthusiast]

74. It isn't criminal if Republicans do it.

Don't you understand?

[sakabatou]

39. Not surprised whatsoever

[cui bono]

40. How is it always worse than I imagine it to be?

I really thought I had quite an imagination!

[cui bono]

41. No doubt these are the same callers who harass the liberal, I mean sane, radio shows. n/t

[Drix]

42. The FCC needs to investigate this type of activity.

Public airwaves are to serve the interests of the public. Especially on public policy issues. Not private corporate interests.

[Populist_Prole]

44. Rush always dismissed anyone who disagreed as a "seminar caller"

I guess it stood out from the obvious planted atta boy calls from people that always kissed his ass, and there were lots. The perfect composite megadittos caller would go something like this. ( obnoxious type "A" business/fratboy type ) "RAAASH! Long time listener, 1st time caller! I make big bucks but produce nothing! I trade stocks! How 'bout those Steelers!" ( cell phone rings ) Rush: Boy that's just gurreat!!

Used to hear that shit all the time.

[certainot]

47. much of his material is based on that concept of accusing the enemy

of what you do.

[Tsiyu]

46. This made me laugh

I wish i'd known i could still get paid.

When we had a big parody show, a lot of the calls were fake. Good actors can be convincing and it drives the plot of the show. Of course, we weren't pretending to be serious.

One prominent host I won't name fakes 95% of his own calls. He has an open landline in the studio for that authentic graininess. It's his schtick.


Comedy it's cool. Malloy doesn't do it because he's a different type of show, but other political hosts are famous for it.

[quabbin]

55. Scripted callers

That one is easy, Phil Hendrie.

[certainot]

48. this is extremely important and needs to pounded...

the right wing talk radio monopoly is their most important tool and until these liars and blowhards are exposed they will continue to make democracy practically impossible.

i have heard on several occasion over the years what sounded like a series of paid callers, actors (perfectly lucid on a late friday night), selling war, it's beauty and necessity, the excuses and rationalizations, the need to join up etc., all packaged neatly in the calls of half a dozen callers.

it needs serious exposure.

[luv_mykatz]

50. Score!

Fabulous that this is exposed for all the world to see!

I HATE that this kind of fakery and manipulation goes on, but I LOVE that it has been exposed!

[RainDog]

51. Paging Jeff Gannon! Jeff Gannon, please come to the Pee-Wee Herman booth n/t

[kestrel91316]

54. MiniTruth at work here. No great surprise.

[guruoo]

57. k&r nt

[guruoo]

59. Still up: Premere's page list talk radio shows that use their services...

For those that might want to nab a screenshot before they scrub it...

http://www.premiereradio.com/category/view/talk.html

[hughee99]

60. All I'm seeing is a list of their talk programs,

not necessarily a list of who uses THIS services. Did they scrub it already?

[snagglepuss]

61. FAUX realized their real listeners were too dumb to construct coherent sentences.

:scary:

[SlimJimmy]

144. Not :scary: but it's the closest one I could find. (nt)

[alfredo]

62. Damn

[Beartracks]

63. OMG WTF LOL - Could they BE more lame?? n/t

[JohnnyRingo]

65. Further into the realm of propaganda.

Completely staged radio broadcasts that deliver a scripted message to the masses.
Sadly, I bet listenership doesn't wane a bit.

[MJJP21]

69. It Would

It would if more people were informed of the bogus callers. I was devastated to find out "Pawn Stars" wasn't real.

[pacalo]

66. Hahahahahaaaaaa!

[Enthusiast]

67. There is a huge misinformation industry.

On the right wing side, that is.

[Paradoxical]

71. This shit is getting ridiculous.

[B Calm]

73. Makes me wonder why anyone would listen to right-wing propaganda radio. .

[stlsaxman]

75. I guess Washington Journal is the only place left to take calls from authentic teabaggers

watch c-span for "the Real McCoy", folks!

[madrchsod]

76. so this is what has the democratic politicians so scared....

paid actors to fire up the rubes...

[myrna minx]

77. K&R n/t

[vicarofrevelwood]

78. It may not help,

I dropped a line along with the link to Congressman Rush Holt.

[dotymed]

79. "Great Hosts?" everything else was, IMO,

very informative.
Hopefully, most Americans already knew this, but realistically, I doubt it. RW radio is as "real" as "pro-wrestling."

[hootinholler]

80. Persona management n/t

[Hubert Flottz]

83. SEEEEEEEEEEEEEE I knew they had bought them so democrats...

because who ever heard of a damned republican, who was smart enough to read a damned question?

[malaise]

85. Who here doesn't believe that similar dirty tricks

are part of M$Greedia's cable programming.

[Ozymanithrax]

86. Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda or Propagandaministerium

That mouthful was the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. Not surprising we would have the free enterprise version since the religon of he right places that fantasy economic system on the false alter of free enterprise.

[southernyankeebelle]

87. In the short run these fools are winning the Media war but in the long run they will lose the

battle. Karma is a bitch. I hope their listners leave them.

[certainot]

101. global warming means our kids pay for their karma- we don't have time

to wait to expose this shit.

[annabanana]

88. I wonder if those actors have their union card?

Probably

[FailureToCommunicate]

89. Could this happen HERE at DU?

Are they called trolls when they're on radio?

[lonestarnot]

93. Ugh no. And yes I call them trolls on the radio or any place in general.

[reformist2]

92. Someone needs to post this over on that freeper site.

[ReggieVeggie]

94. it won't matter

You could tell them rain is wet but if Hannity nor Limbaugh confirm it, you might as well be Osama bin Laden.

[BobbyBoring]

96. Now I'm wondering

I do listen to Rush from time to time JUST to remind myself of how disturbed these people are. On occasion, a "Liberal" gets through and just babbles, stammers, fails to make points, etc. Could these be plants?

OH! And the very intelligent sounding "Home Schooled" kids! Got to be!

[Kingofalldems]

98. They come here also, posing as Democrats

Most are caught though, but that's a guess.

[certainot]

99. this is what got karl rove and newt gingrich where they are today. and america.

this is major. dems should demand an investigation until they're blue.

the radio monopoly does the groundwork for everything the right does. it is the single most important tool they have, the mechanism for creating the alternate reality this whole disaster is based on. what enables their politicians and fox. what allows them to keep their politicians in line and intimidate blue dogs. it is what feeds and coordinates and motivates the dittoheaded teabagger.

who writes their stuff, who coordinates it, how do they get it through the call screeners.

the talk radio monopoly is the samson's hair of the GOP and anyone saying ho hum, nothing to see here, might be getting a check from the heritage foundation.

[underpants]

107. Example- Sandy Berger

You are right. There are all kinds of talking points that either start on the radio or just get hammered home there - like the hiring of 16,000 IRS agents to enforce Obamacare.

Sandy Berger
I don't remember why I was able to pick up on this string of events one afternoon, it may have been that someone on DU posted what Fox News was saying
I caught a few minutes of Rush going to get lunch (like most of this listeners do) and he jokingly said that Sandy Berger had stuffed the "classified documents" into his socks...... by about 3 pm Major Garrett was on Fox News reporting that "some people" were mentioning Berger and his socks....but 5 it was part of the story on Fox .... and by that evening O'Reilly and Hannity were using the socks story as the basis of their whole point....the next day it was hammered home to the point pretending that it was established fact.


They move quick and they are coordinated no doubt about it.

[certainot]

143. limbaugh and sons have a long trophy wall nt

[spanone]

100. 'sterling names' bwahahahahahahaaa my ass

[SmileyRose]

102. Well Duh.

How is this news to anyone??

[liberal N proud]

104. How long have we here at DU known this

I know we had no proof but facts and the lies they repeated 24/7. But we all knew they did this.

Thanks for reaffirming our suspicions.

[paparush]

106. We've secretly replaced the GOP with the Russian mafia. Let's see if any notices...

[reformist2]

108. We need to get some of these people on MSNBC.

It would be very informative to hear what kind of scripts they were given and what kind of characters they portrayed...

[fascisthunter]

114. hahahaha.... and the idiots believe it all

[Joey Liberal]

115. Ditto Morons don't care

They still love their Pigboy.

[Kurovski]

116. I'm glad this is finally out.

[OmahaBlueDog]

117. I'm shocked to learn talk radio uses shills

Next you'll tell me Dancing With The Stars is fixed. Thank God for the WWE -- something real to cling to in this fake world.

[reformist2]

127. It's not news to us, but finding proof is a pretty big deal.

[OmahaBlueDog]

141. I'm glad to find the proof, but the wingers will shrug it off

"The liberal media is so biased that we have to take steps like this to get our story out." That's how they always justify FAUX Noise to me, anyway.

[FormerDittoHead]

118. Here's another revelation: IT'S TAX DEDUCTABLE! It's a BUSINESS EXPENSE!

I hate having to explain this over and over, but consider that political speech is not tax deductible like a charity.

If you give money to MoveOn, for example, you're told that, even though you're trying to save the country, because it's a political donation, it's not deductible and must be paid out of AFTER TAX income.

But of course the billionaires who started the political propaganda machines in the 70's called "think tanks" like the Heritage Foundation and Cato Institute figured out a way to lower their taxes even while spending their pocket change to finance the long-term mind-fucking of the country. They did this by calling the 100% political propaganda machines "educational institutions".

Let's keep in mind that while 99.9% of talk radio is one-sided, straight-up, no apologies, right wing propaganda, this "service" would be considered a business expense, and therefore reduces the taxes of those poor billionaires who own/control our airwaves.

[RoccoR5955]

119. I often wondered about this!

I KNEW that people aren't that stupid!

[CoffinEd]

121. No surprise here

If more people had been paying attention they would have come to the realization a long time ago that the entire conservative movement is nothing more than one big stinking, morally corrupt, pus-filled illusion. They "win" elections through deception, lies, and division.

Still, it's good to know that this information is finding its way to people who heretofore were unaware of the depth and pervasiveness of conservative trickery.

[julian09]

123. I only trust HOWARD STERN

to have honest callers.

[fishwax]

124. k, r, and lol

[creeksneakers2]

125. I've always suspected

something was up with Limbaugh because often callers, most often the first caller of the day, ask questions that Limbaugh is instantly incredibly prepared for. Limbaugh has articles, stats and explanations right at his fingertips to answer the questions.

I've always suspected that when they have a topic they want to introduce like that, they just use the call screening operation to choose a caller who wants to ask that particular question. Perhaps there is more to it. Unfortunately, the article doesn't provide any direct links to any specific shows.

I've often heard fake callers trying to pretend they were black. Its hard to tell though whether these are individuals acting on their own or planted calls.

[stubtoe]

128. So RW radio is about as authentic as Championship Wrestling?

I mean, gee, who knew?

[gtar100]

131. Same playbook. Conservatives can't win simply on the integrity of their principles.

They have to lie, cheat and steal to stay in power. They don't care about truth, only validation of their beliefs. Until the negative effects of their own charade hit them personally, conservatives will continue to bury themselves in their hate-filled rhetoric. Glad this got some attention but like the cockroaches they are, they will try to hide this...not fix it.

[DonCoquixote]

132. This will help shed some light

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGp043tHAc8

In this series, Jim, a former wrestler, shows how these talking heads outright use many of the tricks pro wrestlers used to forth up a crowd. Consider how many of these pro wrestlers turned polticians are right wing, it shows the truth.

[underpants]

135. Will watch later

thanks for the link

[orbitalman]

133. Could this be defined, in a sense, as trolling?? n/t

[mzteris]

134. "ensuring the authenticity of your programming"

do they mean "ensuring the illusion of authenticity" ?

They should have to be identified as "actors" - just like any television commercial.

[Frisbee]

136. "I'm not a complete moran in real life,...

...but I play one on radio"

[Boudica the Lyoness]

137. Liberal and environmentalists on Rush

Back in 1992/3, Rush would have these regular callers that pretended to be Liberals and environmentalists. They would be embarrassingly silly and painful for me to listen to. Rush used them to drive home to his listeners the negative points that he was making about liberals and environmentalists. It worked and the words 'liberal' and 'environmentalist' became bad words for not only people on the right, but the people in the middle as well.

Back in those days his shows contained a lot of humour, were a new form of entertainment on the radio, and therefore attracted a more diverse audience than he has now.

[Populist_Prole]

140. I recall that as well

He'd also have people "whining" about their deteriorating economic situation due to increased globalization, which prompted him to get so fed up, he said he was only going to take calls from those who triumphed from their own entrepreneurship. It was a most vapid circle-jerk hearing toadies extol race to the bottom capitalism.

I also agree he used more humor then, even though I disagreed with his economic views. I stopped listening in the early 2000's, he became increasingly nasty and spiteful.

[Jokinomx]

138. They are all Dirtbags.....n/t

[girl_interrupted]

145. K&R

[Major Hogwash]

146. So, Ben Dover didn't actually call Rush that one day when they were talking on the radio!

Well, this means that a lot of the other ones who called in to Rush's program could be "actors" too.

[julian09]

149. Wasn't Ben Dover it was Mike Hunt

[stubtoe]

150. Naw, it was I.P. Freely

[underpants]

152. Hey! don't mess with the Sheriff

Message from Sheriff Michael Hunt



http://www.aikencountysheriff.org/

[underpants]

151. No but Jack Mehoffer got an email on O'Reilly

http://www.democraticunderground.com/top10/04/170.html

18 seconds
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsNqugzaiXA

[BrklynLiberal]

147. Not the least bit surprised....

[Quantess]

153. Busted!

time for a kick.

[Aerows]

154. K&R

this is an important story - nothing surprising, but it is good for people to keep in mind that these people are liars