If You Said That In Pakistan, Somebody Might Take You Up On It

San Francisco radio talker John London gets fired for offering an "obviously sarcastic" $5,000 reward to have Penn Jillette murdered. Jillette, who has been known to catch bullets in his teeth and whose own show is also carried on KIFR (106.9 FM), made some unkind comments about the late Mother Teresa. Informed that Jillette has received other, non-sarcastic death threats as a result, London says that is to be expected.

"What I said may have been in bad taste," London tells the San Jose Mercury News. "But it wasn't illegal, as they are claiming." Neither is firing a dumbass radio host.

Thanks to reader/commenter uncle sam.

Comments

[jf]

Link to the article.

I found this quote above the "may have been in bad taste" snippet to be interesting:

London and Cruz said that the station's managers had a ``dump button'' and could have stopped the program if they thought they were broadcasting something offensive or illegal.

I guess Pig Vomit was slow on the hotline that day.

[lunchstealer]

You know, I think Penn would be the first guy to say it was stupid to fire him. Not that I've asked him, but he's certainly come out for a liberal interpretation of free speech in the past.

[Jim Walsh]

This coming just a few days after Hugh Hewitt went on TV to tell us that rightie talk shows were always practicing "responsible radio"...

[Garth]

For naming his daughter "Moxie CrimeFighter Jillette" he remains in the plus category in my book. Better, I heard him in an interview say that he hoped one day his daughter would be pulled over, show her id to the cop and say:

"See, we're on the same side"

[Ron Hardin]

Texas governor candidate Kinky Friedman also had unkind things to say about Mother Teresa, who paled in his opinon next to Princess Di.

http://rhhardin.home.mindspring.com/transcription.kinky.txt

[Ammonium]

This coming just a few days after Hugh Hewitt went on TV to tell us that rightie talk shows were always practicing "responsible radio"...

So you think this guy is a plant by rightie talk show hosts to prove Hewitt right?

[tomWright]

Considering how well armed P.G. is, I think he has little to worry about.

[plunge]

OMG FREE SPEECH!!!!!

oh wait, no, private corporation, paid airwaves, shut up noob.

Christopher Hitchens was right anyway. Mother Teresa has no right to be called a saint. Shge lined her pockets with donations (some of which came from stolen money or money from brutal dictators that she publically praised, all of which that she refused to give back) and used it to build lavish nunneries in her name. Meanwhile, her "care" for the poor consisted not of building hospitals or improving medical care much, which she more than enough money to fund many times over. It was washing and praying over them while they died (instead of trying to help end medical problems). Instead of trying to help end it, she lionized poverty, calling a great thing so that the rest of us could have something to reflect upon. And instead of trying to get people to engage in smart family planning, she declared abortion and birth control the greatest threats to world peace. This is a woman we are supposed to regard as the best example of hummanity?

No thanks. I don't like Bill Gates's much as a person, but he does more for people in a week than Mother Teresa did in her entire lifetime.

[Warren]

Penn Jillette is a great hero of our time. I'm sure he wants me thrown in jail for downloading Bullshit torrents instead of paying my cable co. for showtime, but tough titties.

I'm fine living in a society where radio jocks can make "obviously sarcastic" threats on people without fearing legal reprisals. I'm also fine with said dumbass getting fired. Good call Tim.

[Jim Walsh]

dumbass radio host

Is that redundant?

[Rex Rhino]

Why doesn't Penn Jillette run for president? He is the only remotely charasmatic libertarian now that Harry Browne passed away.

[Douglas Fletcher]

You're forgetting Jean Bart, another charismatic libertarian dynamo.

[Pro Libertate]

Rex Rhino,

If Penn ran for president, who would his vice president be? Who? I'm drawing a complete blank.

Who?

[Pro Libertate]

Huh. It appears that I have endorsed Penn & Teller before (please forgive my self-citing):

Incidentally, let me take this moment to once again endorse Penn & Teller for president and vice president respectively in 2008. Or maybe Teller should be president. Hmmm. In any case, they should run and make a movie out of their campaign.

Fast forward to 2010. Days after President Jillete does a card trick for all of the leaders of the Middle East, they submit totally to U.S. domination when they see their card (the 3 of clubs) emblazoned on the face of the Moon.