Salem Radio Network president responds to Conyers, who then fires back
Greg R. Anderson, president of Salem Radio Network, which distributes former Reagan secretary of education Bill Bennett's radio program, has responded to a September 30 letter in which Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-MI) and several other members of Congress demanded the suspension of Bennett's radio show following controversial statements Bennett made on his September 28 program.
As Media Matters for America detailed, in addressing a caller's suggestion that the "lost revenue from the people who have been aborted in the last 30 years" would be enough to preserve Social Security's solvency, Bennett dismissed such "far-reaching, extensive extrapolations" by declaring that if "you wanted to reduce crime ... if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down." He added that aborting all African-American babies "would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do," then said again, "but the crime rate would go down."
In an October 4 letter to Conyers, Anderson defended Bennett's remarks, stating, "We [at Salem Radio Networks] desire to encourage a robust exchange of ideas, but we would never condone racial bigotry, or ethnic discrimination. When taken out of context, we understand these comments were controversial for some and offensive to others; that was not our intent, and I am certain it was not Dr. Bennett's intent." Anderson wrote further:
In the strongest terms [Bennett] said, "[aborting every black baby in this country] would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do..." The broader context and backdrop of [Bennett's] discussion were the positions on crime and abortion which were discussed in the New York Times bestseller, Freakonomics [by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner (William Morrow, May 2005)]. By lifting that one sentence out of context, it would appear to suggest that Dr. Bennett is advocating a position that is the exact opposite of what he actually said."
Conyers responded to Anderson's letter on October 6, stating: "Frankly speaking, I believe your letter completely misses the point of why I and many others ... found these remarks so offensive." Conyers noted that "Mr. Bennett gratuitously injected racial stereotyping into a conversation with a caller about social security and abortion," adding, "to date, neither you nor Mr. Bennett have explained why such stereotyping was needed or even bothered to apologize for linking race with crime in such a discriminatory fashion." Conyers also noted (as Media Matters did here) that "Freakonomics, the book that Bennett cited to advance his argument, does not address race at all -- that was solely Bennett's contribution."
I find it interesting that when you send your email to Bennett's show, they let you know they have your IP Address. Wonder what they are fearful of?
It just seems somewhat hypocritcal when a rethug says something that blatanly racist there is no apology forthcoming, yet if a democrat ever said the same thing the repugs would be all over it for weeks. All you would see on Fakenews it constant and non stop repeats of the words for a good 9 years.
Such a shame we have come to this as a country. Thank you Ronnie Raygun for being the first on the road to destruction in America when you got rid of the Fairness Doctrine. I hope you rot in the darkest deepest part of hell for all eternity.
My sentiments exactly.
David Duke is smiling somewhere I am sure!
This is disgusting!!!!
someone needs bottle up what Conyers has and give it to all our timid members of congress.
You all should be outraged that a congressman would call for the suspension of any show. Just because you all don't like the topics doesn't mean we need to start censoring any shows. Disgusting.
Come on, libby!
Conyers' objection is not an ideological one. Bennett's suggestion that race is linked to crime is racist. While you may not believe a suspension is justified, it's not unprecedented.
Furthermore, Conyers' request is not censorship. It's a suggestion that Salem Radio and Bill Bennett show some humility by demonstrating an understanding of the incident and assuming responsibility for his mistake. The problem is that their arrogance prevents them from making this right. Obviously, Bennett's statement is more important to him than the people he hurt. It's that's not racist, I'm not sure what is.
"Bennett's suggestion that race is linked to crime is racist" Kenny. Here we go again. He never made that suggestion. It was the idiots on the left spinning. Take his comment out of context and spin it all you want it still does not make it true. Now to try and censor him for something he did not say is even more warped. We all know the rules that "black" cannot be brought up by someone from the right but this is getting out of hand. The real intersting thing about this issue has been how all of the pro-choice pundits have made Bennett out to be a baby killer when abortions in any other context for them fetuses are not babies.
Bennett's suggestion that race is linked to crime is racist" Kenny. Here we go again. He never made that suggestion. It was the idiots on the left spinning. Take his comment out of context and spin it all you want it still does not make it true.-by libby
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Your right Libby he didn’t suggest race was linked to crime he stated that he emphatically knew it—no implying or suggesting involved.
And the argument has never been then he was advocating abortions—that is just a deflection that his apologists are making because they can obviously refute THAT charge. Neat trick huh—ignore the real accusation, and make up your own so that you can defend yourself against the indefensible.
Your right Libby he didn’t suggest race was linked to crime he stated that he emphatically knew it—no implying or suggesting involved. Logic
You know that is false. No matter how many times you repeat it to yourself it will still be false. Why is it the far left and far right continue to extract meaning from a statement that is false, believe it as fact and defend it rigorously. It defies Logic(pun intended)
You know that is false. No matter how many times you repeat it to yourself it will still be false. Why is it the far left and far right continue to extract meaning from a statement that is false, believe it as fact and defend it rigorously. It defies Logic(pun intended) by libby
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Yeah you’re right, I make a habit of lying. Silly me; claiming it was true when I knew it was false. Get a grip Libby. When you can show me that Bennett didn’t say “But I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down. So these far-out, these far-reaching, extensive extrapolations are, I think, tricky.”, then you can tell me I am wrong.
And why is it that the ignorant blind ideologues on the right can’t read? Oh and why do those same ideologues claim anyone who disagrees with them must be on the far left…I challenge you to find anything that would label me a far leftist
"But I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down." That statement would be true for any ethnicity or race. Why he chose black, I do not know but you cannot say he linked race to crime. Attempting to do so is assuming to know what he was thinking and why he specifically chose black vs. any other qualifier. I know I cannot read minds and I am pretty sure you can't. Taken out of the context of the entire conversation it is still a stretch to make the assumption you are making, but considering the whole conversation you are flat out wrong.
"But I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down." That statement would be true for any ethnicity or race. Why he chose black, I do not know but you cannot say he linked race to crime. Attempting to do so is assuming to know what he was thinking and why he specifically chose black vs. any other qualifier. I know I cannot read minds and I am pretty sure you can't. Taken out of the context of the entire conversation it is still a stretch to make the assumption you are making, but considering the whole conversation you are flat out wrong. by libby
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Would you please stop with the out of context deflection--or if you insist on persisting with this talking point show me where I am out of context.
If you were to eliminate an entire ethnicity or race of unborn it would not mean your crime rate would go down. The number you are dividing by goes down also so you would not necessarily see a decrease in the rate.The only way you could KNOW that there would be a decrease was if the unborn group you were eliminating committed all the crimes and the ones remaining committed none or due to the elimination of the other group they stopped committing crimes.
Benett was discussing people that have not been born yet and assuming they would “come out” a certain way. On what was he basing that knowledge and truth? Please refer back to what he said-he KNEW this would be the result. By bringing up a specific race of unborn Bennett indisputably made a link between crime and race.
I do not need to read anyone’s mind…I simply use logic to reason out his conclusions…try it and stop listening to other people telling you what he said…analyze it yourself.
Hey genius, it is also true that the crime rate would be reduced if every white baby were aborted. Why single out black babies, bennett, except to promote a racial stereotype?
I am not sure who your post is for but thanks for pointing out the obvious. Do you also know that it gets dark at night?
Libby's muddled thinking - "Bennett's suggestion that race is linked to crime is racist" Kenny. Here we go again. He never made that suggestion. It was the idiots on the left spinning."
"Why he chose black, I do not know but you cannot say he linked race to crime."
"I am not sure who your post is for but thanks for pointing out the obvious. Do you also know that it gets dark at night?" Libby, in response to:
"Hey genius, it is also true that the crime rate would be reduced if every white baby were aborted. Why single out black babies, bennett, except to promote a racial stereotype?"
Libby- You must be joking or completely immune to logic.
Can you not see that by choosing "black", he was reverting to steroetype? Of course you can, as evidenced by your sarcastic response to Heru.
Go back to your right wing, braind-dead bretheren, if you cannot engage your brain when posting.
Libby- You must be joking or completely immune to logic. Can you not see that by choosing "black", he was reverting to steroetype? Of course you can, as evidenced by your sarcastic response to Heru. Go back to your right wing, braind-dead bretheren, if you cannot engage your brain when posting.
by davero -----------------------------
I vote for completely immune to logic. That is a usual symptom of white racism.
"Hey genius, it is also true that the crime rate would be reduced if every white baby were aborted."
Gah! I'm so tired of this! The Freakanomics research indicated that the availability of legal abortions was a factor in lowering the crime rate. That's abortions available to those who choose to have them. It has nothing to do with the idea of coerced abortions!
Now imagine what would happen if the authorities started hauling all pregnant women of any race, creed, whatever off to the nearest compulsary abortion facility. The backlash would involve civil unrest like our country has never seen. Riots and civil war aren't exactly condusive to low crime rates.
Seems like poor Bill Bennett has fired up a whirlwind of controversy. Maybe he should relax with a trip to the gambling casino, first stopping off at Rush's house for some nice Oxycontin to calm his nerves - ERR I forgot; Bill was the drug czar.
Bennett said what he said. Why don't we ALL talk in "double speak". This should absolve us all of any present or future statements we might make about ANY thing. He said,"If all black babies were aborted, the crime rate would drop". Now, spin that anyway you wish - that's what came out of the man's mouth. He may HAVE been making some etherial, deep, meaningful analogy - the man SAID THOSE WORDS!!