Think Tank Express: Time to fire radio host Joe Walsh

WIND should fire controversial former politician for a tweet featuring racist comments and threatening the President. If not, yank the damn license.

Enough is enough.

Former politician-turned-talk show host Joe Walsh (not to be confused with the Eagles guitarist) should be terminated for his comments he posted on Twitter calling for President Obama and police brutality protesters to be attacked.

As you know by now, five Dallas police officers were shot to death Thursday night by a gunman at a peaceful rally against the shooting deaths this week of two black individuals by police officers – one in Baton Rouge, La., the other in Falcon Heights, Minn. The former Illinois Republican used the opportunity to tweet racist remarks.

Though the tweet was deleted (by Twitter), Walsh stated at 11:56 CT: “3 Dallas Cops killed, 7 wounded. This is now war. Watch out Obama. Watch out black lives matter punks. Real America is coming after you.”

Other tweets Walsh sent throughout the evening slammed African-Americans, liberals, and the LGBT community. His actions drew the ire of many, including musician John Legend and even Walsh’s own (but small) fanbase.

In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Walsh backpedaled on the comments in his own pathetic way and did “apologize” – but still stood by the tweet, even referring to Facebook and Twitter as “liberal”. He claims Twitter suspended his account because the tweet he sent out might incite violence. He said he would never encourage violence against anyone, which we all know is bullshit.

So the question to WIND and owner Salem Communications is: do you really want a racist nutjob like this representing your station to the public and the ad buying community? The list of advertisers and agencies who have Walsh on a “do not buy” list must stretch from here to Arkansas.

The sad part about this is, despite next-to-nothing ratings and little ad support, Walsh continues to be employed by Salem and WIND. Dating back to 2013 when he was hired, Walsh has made numerous racist slurs on-air, and has not been disciplined. He even called for CNN and MSNBC employees to be “beheaded” last year.

Look, whether Salem likes it or not, Walsh is an employee of the station and he is representative of it 24/7, no matter what he does off the air. It’s the same as an athlete – major sports leagues have a right to discipline players who engage in questionable off-field activities. And it’s the same in broadcasting.

If WIND and Salem doesn’t see a problem here, then perhaps the company should not be in the business of broadcasting as the FCC should revoke the license of WIND and other stations who carry Walsh’s show. There is precedent: the FCC yanked the license of NBC affiliate WLBT in Jackson, Miss. in 1969 after decades of discrimination at the station amid detrimental treatment of the market’s black population. At one time, WLBT’s station manager editorialized against the admission of James Meredith into the University of Mississippi because he was black and censored a Today Show interview with then-lawyer and future U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.

By keeping Walsh, WIND and Salem are not serving the public interest – only their own racist egos, believing this garbage would attract an audience (and it’s not.)

While yours truly believes there should be a place for conservative talk radio, it should be presented without racial slurs, over-the-top antics, and offending people for the sake of offending people.

Radio is already suffering from a bad image among buyers over perception issues and from everyone else due to the financial failure and odious management at chains like iHeart Media and Cumulus. The last thing the industry needs is a moron representing them making headlines for himself and only himself.