During the August 12 broadcast of Milwaukee radio station WISN's The Mark Belling Late Afternoon Show, host Mark Belling repeatedly disparaged schoolteachers who talk to their students about global warming, referring to them as “idiot union teacher[s],” “liberal unionized hack[s],” “greedy, overpaid unionized schoolteacher[s],” and “fruitcake[s].”

While discussing global warming, Belling stated that “school kids” are “victims”: “They go into these classrooms, and they have their idiot union teacher standing up in front of them giving them all this crapola about global warming.”

Belling went on to say that students “are presuming that they don't have an ideological kook in front of them. They presume that they have a committed educator who is presenting facts, rather than some liberal unionized hack that's presenting a pile of garbage that's being tossed out there by a failed politician.” Belling continued: “So, these kids are going to end up -- when they realize that global warming was all a scam, and they learned it -- you know, they learned it in school, they so deeply believed -- they're gonna end up with an incredible distrust of everything. That's not all bad. Any time we can break someone's trust in a greedy, overpaid unionized schoolteacher, that's a good thing rather than a bad thing.”

Belling further stated: “You know what a fruitcake your teacher is? Your teacher's been voting for one left-wing hack after another after another after another. The only thing that your teacher does his entire summer is take a look at his pension statement to watch -- to figure out how much money he's gonna make when he gets to retire when he's 55 years old.”

Belling is the “afternoon drive time host on News/Talk 1130 WISN-AM" in Milwaukee, owned by Clear Channel Communications, and is listed as one of Talkers Magazine's "Heavy Hundred 2008." According to his website, Belling “is a frequent guest host" for nationally syndicated radio host Rush Limbaugh.

From the August 12 edition of News/Talk 1130 WISN-AM's The Mark Belling Late Afternoon Show:

BELLING: So the people who want to believe so badly that somehow we're burning the planet up, and we're clearly -- “See, look at this. Twenty-two -- we've never had anything like this. Twenty-two days of -- ” Do you think that they even are aware that up here in the upper Midwest, we've been freezing our butts off all summer? No. They don't know that.

Now, I do believe that the abs-- that the leaders of the global warming movement have figured out that there's something wrong with their thesis. That's why they've changed -- and I was one of the first to pick up on this -- that's why they've changed the language to “climate change.” Now, anything that changes -- if we -- you know, if it -- sunny one day and rains the next, somehow it's man's fault. Planet cools off, man is doing it; planet warms up, man is doing it; planet does nothing, man is doing it. Everything is going to be because of human activity, so they're gradually repositioning themselves away from this global warming as every successive year goes by that shows no increase in warming whatsoever.

Here are the people that are the victims of this. Do you know who the victims are? You don't. Yes, school kids. The absolute most adamant people on global warming are kids. They go into these classrooms, and they have their idiot union teacher standing up in front of them giving them all this crapola about global warming. They show them the stupid Al Gore movie that shows the oceans overrunning the beach in Miami, which -- they see all of this stuff, and they therefore presume that their teacher's telling them the truth.

They've learned things in school. Now, go back to when you were in school. “George Washington was the president. The North beat the South in the Civil War.” You learn certain things. You just presume that what they're telling you is true, and by and large, it was true. You didn't see any particular reason why the teacher would lie to you. Nine times seven equals seven-- 63. Well, they turned out that they were right about that. So these kids are presuming that what they're getting is gospel. They are presuming that they don't have an ideological kook in front of them. They presume that they have a committed educator who is presenting facts, rather than some liberal unionized hack that's presenting a pile of garbage that's being tossed out there by a failed politician.

So, these kids are going to end up -- when they realize that global warming was all a scam, and they learned it -- you know, they learned it in school, they so deeply believed -- they're gonna end up with an incredible distrust of everything. That's not all bad. Any time we can break someone's trust in a greedy, overpaid unionized schoolteacher, that's a good thing rather than a bad thing.

Nonetheless, it's going to make people question everything that they learned in the world. Talk to some of these kids about global warming, and you try to give them the other side, and they just can't -- they -- you know, they can't process it. “Well, but my teacher said.” Yeah, your teacher. You know what a fruitcake your teacher is? Your teacher's been voting for one left-wing hack after another after another after another. The only thing that your teacher does his entire summer is take a look at his pension statement to watch -- to figure out how much money he's gonna make when he gets to retire when he's 55 years old. You're listening to this guy and telling you what's happening to the planet?

Asli Bashir is an intern with Media Matters for America