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Tuesday, April 27, 2004

Bigotry on the Radio **UPDATE** 


Those who talk for a living really ought to learn how to not make douche bags of themselves:
Severin's employer, WTKK-FM, declined to offer a tape or transcript of last Thursday's show, but the Globe obtained a copy from a radio monitoring service yesterday. Severin's comment, "You think we should befriend them; I think we should kill them," came at the end of a conversation with a caller named Chris from Rhode Island who suggested that the United States befriend Muslims in this country "to help us root out their leaders who aren't really Muslims."

As part of his response, Severin said, "I believe that Muslims in this country are a fifth column. . . . The vast majority of Muslims in this country are very obviously loyal, not to the United States, but to their religion. And I'm worried that when the time comes for them to stand up and be counted, the reason they are here is to take over our culture and eventually take over our country."

He said: "My suspicion is that the majority of Muslims in the United States, who regard themselves as Muslims first and not as Americans really at all, see an American map one day where this is the United States of Islam, not the United States of America. I think it pays to harbor those suspicions."

Toward the end of the conversation, Severin asked, "Do you think we should befriend them?"

The caller said, "Well, I see Muslims in this country, they seem to like freedom."

"Would you answer my question?" Severin said. "Do you think we should befriend them?"

"I think we should . . ." the caller said before being interrupted.

"I'm going to try one more time," Severin said. "The host takes pains to phrase questions sometimes and in a fashion such, the appropriate reply is a yes or a no. This is a three-strike state; you're about to get your third strike. Do you believe we should befriend them?"

"Yes," the caller said.

"I've got good news for you: We have," Severin replied. "Thanks for the call and that's what I'm worried about."

Then, introducing another caller, Severin said: "I have an alternative viewpoint. It's slightly different than yours. You think we should befriend them; I think we should kill them."
UPDATE Arthur from Tripias e-mailed me to add to this story:
The Globe article fails to mention that prior to issuing the statement they quoted (and also at several times afterwards), Severin seemed to
have an on-air aneurism denying that he ever said he wanted to kill all Muslims, and refusing to talk to anyone that accused him of doing so (despite caller after caller bringing it up). It was all quite entertaining.

Incidentally, this shouldn't come as news to anyone; Severin's oft-repeated stance on Iraq is that we should pull troops and "nuke them".
Talk radio, folks, be sure to tune in!
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