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Tuesday, July 01, 2008
'Workers Voice' radio goes off the air at WIOU
Labor show disappears from local station’s line-up following host’s call for President Bush’s hanging
By Patrick Munsey
Perspective staff writer
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Organized labor in Howard County has a case of laryngitis. After three years at WIOU 1350 AM, the "Workers Voice" radio show apparently has been pulled from the airwaves. While those directly involved in the decision were less than willing to talk about it, the reason for the show's disappearance seems to be directly connected to the suggestion that President George W. Bush be hanged.
On the June 3 airing of the "Workers Voice," host Rick Ward -- UAW Local 685 CAP Council president -- was criticizing the president and the war in Iraq. And that criticism took a dangerous turn. Following is a partial transcript of that show in which the offending comment takes place. Ward is joined on the show by his co-host UAW Local 685's Richie Halfacre.
Ward: ... President in there and doesn't care. This is one time when being a lame duck you actually got some power because he doesn't care about this country. It came out just the other day about -- what's this guy in the White House, Scott McClelland?
Halfacre: Oh, yeah. We gotta talk about that.
Ward: We're gonna bring that up, but the truth's there. Now I'm gonna tell ya flat out this is the way it is. That man needs to be impeached and then hung where Saddam Hussein was ... (audio censored by delay button) ... man's killed 4,000. He needs to go. Richie, it's wrong. And this guy's pointed out what's gonna happen? Now you talk about an embarrassment to America. This is an embarrassment beyond belief.
Halfacre: And we've been saying this all along. I don't think we need to hang him, but I think they need to impeach him. But now we're so far gone, what difference does it make?
Ward: What difference does it make? There's 4,000 dead Americans, and millions and millions and millions of Americans without a job.
Halfacre: I agree it's just getting worse, and that's why we've gotta do something.
Halfacre declined to answer questions about the incident, but he indicated his belief that the program had not been taken off the air.
"The' Workers' Voice' show ... No, I don't think so. I don't know," said Halfacre. "You'll have to talk to Rick Ward about that."
The Perspective attempted several times to contact Ward without success until last Friday. But when the opportunity to ask questions finally presented itself, Ward wasn't interested in talking.
KP: Can you tell us what the status of the radio show is?
Ward: I don't know.
KP: Are you off the air?
Ward: I don't know.
KP: Have you talked to or been contacted by station management about the show?
Ward: Nope, not at all.
KP: Can you tell us ...
Ward: Hey, we're gonna have no comments on this.
That June 3 show was the last time the "Workers Voice" was heard on WIOU. According to sources close to the situation, the radio station received a phone call from the U.S. Secret Service soon after the program aired. Station manager and Mid-America Radio vice president Steve LaMar failed to return repeated calls for comment so that the existence of the phone call could be confirmed. But the end result of the show's apparent cancellation stands. It did not return to the airwaves for the rest of the month.
Lew Robinson, assistant special agent in charge with the Secret Service office in Indianapolis, said he was not aware of an investigation into the comments, but he did state that Ward's missive is something the Secret Service would investigate.
"That's not a good thing to be saying," said Robinson of Ward's comments. "If someone makes those comments, and it was reported to us, what we would do is make note of that. We do go out and interview that person to see what was behind their comment. Was it just in jest? Are they truly serious? You know, investigate the threat thoroughly.
"We make an assessment of the individual who made the comment as far as did they truly intend to say that and do they mean to carry out their words. After we're done with our assessment and investigation, then we would refer it to the U.S. Attorney's Office for prosecution if they deem that it's warranted. We also work with our headquarters that handles protective intelligence matters."
Robinson said that it is not unusual for perceived threats to go unreported until well after they are made, as the average person may initially dismiss the comments. But the Secret Service takes these things seriously.
"A lot of times we hear about it after the fact," said Robinson. "People think, 'Oh, that's just Joe Blow, blowing off steam or whatever.' Other times folks will call in after thinking about it a day or two or a couple weeks later, saying, 'You know, that just didn't sound right.' That happens quite a bit."
Robinson said similar incidents happen often on the Internet, particularly on blogs, and the Secret Service investigates those matters as well.
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