Naked at the Mic /: The Survival of a Liberal in a Time of Peril

By L.A. Steel

NAKED AT THE MIC / The Survival of a Liberal in a Time of Peril,

is a book based upon10 years of exhaustive research and personal experiences , collected in an autobiographical and historical, account of the national and international politics, and the national , social upheaval during the Conservative Revolution. That political movement of Bush Fascism during the first decade of the 21st Century, as I witnessed and reported it on my television and radio programs, and my website www.lasteelshow.org during the years of 2000 to 2009.

Naked at the Mic is also a public compliment, to the many people who fought valiantly to print and broadcast truth, and liberal commentary, while the entire broadcast media was dominated and censored of Liberal Thought, by the Conservative right wing media, the G.W Bush administration, and the cabal of Muslim hating warmongers, famously known as the NeoCons.

Naked at the Mic also commemorates the many heroic members of activist and citizen action groups and organizations , that fight daily to protect themselves and their country from the insanity of G.W Bushs administration, and his minions, and their nightmare reality of war , genocide and slaughter in the Middle East, and the cruel, corrupt and oppressive, government they imposed on the American people during their reign of terror and torture from 2000 to 2008.

I speak honestly about the 2008 presidential candidates and the election of Barack Obama, and why I voted for him, and my great disappointment, after his horrific betrayal of all who elected him. The research for Naked at the Mic entailed over 5000 news articles that I have personally archived and preserved on paper, to verify every quote and reference I make, and over 100 books and over 500 recorded interviews with authors, activists and politicians on 550 archived radio shows, ten televised documentaries , and 400 television programs I had produced up to 2009, when I completed this book.

Naked at the Mic , is an honest look back through time at people and events, that have been at the forefront of national and world changing events. This book is a historical record of one of the most volatile decades in American and world history. It reports and comments on many of the most important national and international issues from 2000 to 2009. I discuss in detail the corrupt 2000 presidential election, 911, the Afghanistan and Iraq invasions, Katrina, and expose the massive corporate, financial and political corruption and mass media cover ups, until the end of 2009. I honestly expose left and right wing politics, and give a unique front line perspective of the massive sea change of American Society, that caused G.W Bushs 75 percent approval rating in 2001, to his final approval rating of 24% in 2008.

Naked at the Mic / The Survival of a Liberal in a Time of Peril, is honest, fast moving, highly informative and well researched, and is an accurate, historical account of the characters involved with one of the longest running liberal radio shows in America during one of the most politically conservative, and most destructive periods in American history, that has led to the current economic, military and moral demise of America.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once stated in his essay The Oversoul Oh, Believe that every word that was meant for thine ear to hear will come to thee.

I believe a lot of people are meant to hear what this book has to say.

L.A.Steel

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Mar 11, 2010
• ISBN: 9781440197635

L.A. Steel

Biography. L.A. Steel founded Steel Wood Media in 1999. He has produced and directed over 400 television programs for his weekly series on Connecticut cable television. He is the producer and host of the L.A.Steel Talk Radio Show on WQQQ 103.3fm and WQQQ.com since 2003. The L.A. Steel Talk Radio Show is one of the longest running, independently produced, commercially broadcasted, liberal talk radio shows in America. L.A. Steel is a lecturer and sponsors guest forums and panel discussions on controversial topics. He has produced and directed ten featured documentaries, which include The Connecticut Coalition against Millstone 2001, The 2002 Connecticut State Democratic Convention, The 1/18/03 Washington D.C Anti War Rally, The 9/24/05 Washington D.C Anti War Rally, A Teaching by Buddhist Patriarch Sakya Trizin, The Schaghticoke Tribal Nation Speaks Out, The World Peace Festival 2000 and 2001, The One World Fair, The 911 Omission Commission. Mr. Steel established the lasteelshow.org website in 2004 and the L.A. Steel weekly Internet talk show on the BlogTalkRadio.com network in 2006. Over 800 audio programs are available in on line archives at BlogTalkRadio.com/lasteelshoworg. To contact L.A. Steel for interviews or speaking engagements email [e-mail] or write to L.A. Steel P.O Box 127 Salisbury,Ct.06068.

Book preview

Naked at the Mic

The Survival of a Liberal in a Time of Peril

L.A. Steel

iUniverse, Inc.

New York Bloomington

Copyright © 2009 by L.A. Steel

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

The opinions and statements expressed by the author in this book do not necessarily reflect the political or personal views of those persons credited by name. Also any opinions or statements made in this book do not necessarily reflect the views of the owner, management, staff or sponsors of WQQQ 103.3fm.or the former Voice News.

Cover Flag graphic and all photos by L.A. Steel

iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

iUniverse

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.iuniverse.com

1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any Web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

ISBN: 978-1-4401-9762-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4401-9763-5 (ebook)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2009913485

Printed in the United States of America

iUniverse rev. date: 03-03-10

Contents

Introduction 

Chapter One 

Chapter Two 

Chapter Three 

Chapter Four 

Chapter Five 

Chapter Six 

Chapter Seven 

Chapter Eight 

Chapter Nine 

Chapter Ten 

Chapter Eleven 

Chapter Twelve 

Chapter Thirteen  

Chapter Fourteen 

Chapter Fifteen 

Chapter Sixteen 

Essays and Insights

2004 to 2009 

NATIONAL POLITICS 

MAINSTREAM MEDIA  

PATRIOTISM 

METAPHYSICS 

This book is dedicated to

Leila.

Essays and Insights

2004 - 2009

This segment is a series of essays and insights listed with the day and year they were first published on the lasteelshow.org web site from November 2004 to August 2009. The presented works were selected from over five hundred published online works for their historical significance and focus on the most significant political issues and personalities in the headlines between 2004 and 2009. The topics of one hundred and sixty six essays and insights are listed into six categories, National Politics, International Politics, Satire, Mainstream Media, Patriotism and Metaphysics.

Naked at the Mic/The Survival of a Liberal in a Time of Peril

By L.A. Steel

Introduction 

O believe, as thou livest, that every sound that is spoken over the round world, which thou oughtest to hear will vibrate on thine ear. The Over-Soul, First Series, by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

It was nearly zero degrees in D.C on January 18th 2003, but Leila and I were warmed by our anger and the anger of five hundred thousand committed and courageous American patriots marching together in one remarkable display of democracy, and First Amendment rights. The invasion of Iraq was going to happen, we all knew it, but all we could do was be there to shout and march. Few if any of us realized what would become of the U.S Constitution and the nation in just a few short months. It was the day later on 1/19/03 when we arrived home, that we realized the American Free main stream media was completely controlled by the Bush Government. They totally ignored the largest gathering of anti war protesters in Washington D.C since the Vietnam War protests. Every media war monger was fully exposed to the world as they heralded the Iraq War from every radio and television studio in the country. Idiots, criminals, thieves and hypocrites of the worst kind were given the run of the media as pundits. The propaganda push was everywhere and any intelligent, liberty loving, liberal American was lashing obscenities at his television, radio and newspaper. Every patriotic, peace loving, American was horrified and stupefied by the pro war conservative insanity; they were hearing and seeing coming from the main stream media nonstop every hour of every day.

I had been on statewide television for four years and had a popular weekly series, but I was determined to be on radio to combat the right wing war insanity; that was taking over this country.Phil Donahue was cancelled by MSNBC. Ralph Nader was all but silenced and demonized by the Democratic Party for driving the stake in their heart during the 2000 campaign. He exposed their hypocrisy, incompetence and criminality, to the merciless effects of truth and the light of day. There was no one broadcasted nationally or locally who would stand up against the neo cons and the Conservative call for war. Every major commercial radio and television station was being ethnically cleansed of any liberal anti war commentary, and replaced by conservative radio contract killers, hired by the broadcast networks to destroy all common sense and liberal thought in America.

A study sponsored by the Democratic Party in 2003 stated that; of all commercial radio stations nationwide there were 3000 hours per week of conservative talk radio, and only 80 hours per week of liberal talk radio shows. I was determined that the L.A. Steel Show would be on a commercial station, and it could be a viable program worthy of commercial sponsorship. I was convinced that there were sponsors; who would stand up for free speech and liberal ideals.

Chapter One 

Chaos, Crisis, Content and Criticism

My first broadcast aired on Tuesday night from eight to ten pm. March 4, 2003. It was a two hour, in depth interview with international journalist and human rights watcher Keith Harmon Snow. I had a five minute break at the top of the hour and a few prerecorded advertisements and weather reports.Joe Loverro the station manager engineered the first show. I arrived at the station at 7:30pm expecting Joe to be there and expecting to meet Keith. At 7:30 Joe hadn’t arrived yet, and Keith hadn’t either. I was as nervous as a cat on a barbed wire fence as I waited outside the dark studio. By 7:45 Joe hadn’t arrived yet, and there was no sign of Keith anywhere.

Fifteen minutes before the first live broadcast of the L.A. Steel Show I was standing outside a dark radio station, without a guest and wondering if it was Tuesday night? Was it March 4, 2003? Was my watch wrong? Maybe it was running fast? Maybe I was dreaming the entire event? Maybe something happened to Joe? Maybe something happened to Keith? Maybe I was losing my mind?

Suddenly Joe drives into the driveway, parks his car five feet away from me, opens the car door, and says, Sorry I’m a little late.

I was worried, and disheveled, but I could have kissed him, it was real, I was going to be on the air in 10 minutes; then Joe asks,

Where is your guest?

I paused a minute and realized I wasn’t home free yet.

Ah, I don’t know. I replied.

Do you have anything else you can do? Joe asked.

I replied, Ah, no- I -a - don’t.

Joe thought quickly then said,

Well we can always cut the show early. If he doesn’t show you can read the news, or do something, play music or something.

I knew Joe was nervous as he opened the station door. It was 7:55 pm. The show started at 8:00pm. Joe went to the control board, set up the mics, and checked the sound. He looked at me nervously and asked, without expecting an answer,

Are you ready? Sit down at the board. Your music opening has started. You start in 30 seconds. Don’t talk too close to the mic. You’re on in 15 seconds.

Keith still hadn’t arrived and it was now 8:00pm. My music intro had started For What It’s Worth by Buffalo Springfield. I was on live and said,

Good Evening and welcome to the L.A. Steel Show! This is the first show of what I hope will be many. I am L.A. Steel your host.

At that second Keith walked into the studio and whispers to me,

Sorry Leo I was at the restaurant next door eating supper, and lost track of the time.

I was so happy to see him I gave an audible sigh of relief; then stated with absolute confidence,

Please welcome my guest Keith Harmon Snow. Keith is an investigative journalist and human rights watcher recently back from the Congo, where he has been investigating the atrocities occurring in that region of Africa.

Keith was well prepared and kept on track, with the most fascinating accounts of his adventures for the two solid hours. I had filmed a television show with him earlier that afternoon and I was well prepared to discuss many aspects of Keith’s work and his extraordinary adventures in many parts of the world.

Keith Snow and I had two things in common. We liked each other and we had our articles edited by Gary Pontifiello, the Voice News editor. The Voice was the first sponsor of the L.A. Steel Show, and the first paper to publish my many rants. It also ran Keith’s hard hitting, investigative work. To date Keith is published regularly in national magazines, and journals. He has received four Project Censored Awards for writing some of the most censored investigative reporting in the U. S.

After the first show Joe Loverro was impressed enough that he paid for an engineer to run the board, to keep the two hour show running smoothly, the rest was up to me. After the first show, I felt secure enough to ask Leila Wood to join me. Leila-hosts and co hosts many of my television programs, and was waiting to see if it was safe for her to join me on the second show. Leila is far more liberal in her views than I am. She has many heartfelt beliefs and like myself was extremely opposed to the Bush Administration and the Afghan and Iraq Wars. Leila began working with me in 2000 on my weekly cable access program and enjoyed the opportunity to use her talent as a very good interviewer. She has the ability to disarm the most rigid guests, and diffuse the most heated arguments. She is the cooler head on the program; which many of our listeners and viewers have told me they appreciate.

The night of the second show 3/11/03 was the first night of the gathering of our group. I introduced Leila and together we introduced, Star Man Bill Marshall. Bill was a Cosmo Biologist. This may have been the first time anyone knew there was a Cosmo Biologist in the world, and I proudly flaunted it to anyone who was listening; that we had one of the few Cosmo Biologists in the world as a regular on the L.A. Steel Show. Bill had achieved local recognition as an astrologer in February 2001. The Litchfield County Times a regional upscale newspaper featured Bill and his prediction; that the United States would come under attack in the Fall of 2001. Bill made his prediction based upon the chart he did of G.W Bush’s inauguration. Bill had a long running show in Long Island during the late seventies and early eighties with acclaimed, Long Island talk show host Joel Martin. Bill correctly predicted Jimmy Carter’s election in 1976 on the Joel Martin Show, and was later hired as a regular guest. Bill died on Good Friday 2007. We greatly miss him. He was a good friend.

The evening of our second show our first guest was Catholic Worker Jackie Allen DuCot. Her husband Christopher was delayed on his mission in Iraq. She and her family lived in Hartford Connecticut and opened their home to the poor and homeless. Christopher is involved in the international outreach of the Catholic Workers and was to be on the radio show that night. He was detained in Jordan, while arranging for passports for several Iraqis who were seeking asylum to the U.S, to avoid the inevitable attack on Baghdad. Jackie was obviously worried and her concern brought great tension to the interview. I was grateful for her speaking to us. Several days later Christopher returned home safely. He was met at his front door by four FBI agents wanting to know why he was in Iraq. I booked him for the following week’s radio program and recorded a television program with him that same week of his arrival.

One would think that for a second show this would have been enough to adequately fill a two hour program, but not the L.A. Steel Show. My third guest for that evening was a phone interview with my good friend and anti nuclear activist Joe Besade, who had just finished filming a DPUC meeting in New Britain, Connecticut; where he and several other activists went to speak before the commission to prevent the enacting of the plan for the nuclear waste disposal of the decommissioned Connecticut Yankee Nuclear Plant in Haddam, Connecticut. Joe Besade was the most remarkable man I have ever known. Joe Besade was a blacklisted, former union foreman and steamfitter at the Millstone Nuclear Power Plant in Waterford Connecticut. He was one of the original whistle blowers that forced the closing of the Millstone Plant in 1996. Joe testified about the corporate and political corruption surrounding the building of the Plant and its continued operation.

In 2001 I had completed a five part television series on the Connecticut Coalition against Millstone and the remarkable people who fought so hard for five years, to close the plant and continue to fight to this day to keep the plant closed. Joe was the spirit behind the movement. His courage and tenacity kept the movement together. He gave other whistle blowers the help and courage they needed to finally expose the horrid dangers, massive corruption and incompetence of the politicians, the Department of Public Utility Control, The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the corporate criminals, and incompetents that built the plant and operated the Waterford Facility. Joe Besade filmed over 10,000 hours of public meetings, and helped produce a weekly television series on the New London cable access system; that exposed the findings and aired the public meetings Joe had filmed. His program interviewed numerous politicians, nuclear and medical experts, all relating to the dangers of the Millstone Power Plant. Joe Besade and Sal Mangelli Co-founder of CAN, Coalition Against Nuclear Energy representing the Connecticut anti nuclear activists, had just completed a tour across the U.S in a Winnebago, filming the route chosen by the NRC for the transport of the nuclear waste from the Connecticut Yankee Plant and the Millstone Plant destined for Yucca Mountain in Nevada. This insane plan was coined by anti nuclear activists as the Mobile Chernobyl. The plan called for hundreds of long flat bed trucks to carry concrete encased, high radiation, spent nuclear fuel rods through major cities and highways from the coast of Connecticut to the final destination of Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Joe and Sal’s Winnebago had a sign on its sides that said We are following the route of the Mobile Chernobyl. They stopped in every town on the route to inform the residents their town was on the direct route for the trucks that would be carrying highly radioactive nuclear waste. Neither I, nor anyone else knew that Joe had been recently diagnosed with cancer and six months after this phone interview and our second show, Joe Besade would be dead. Joe was a great man and I am very proud to have known him and call him my friend. I miss him greatly.

Shortly after my interview with Catholic Worker Jackie Allen DuCot, the phone started to ring persistently in the outer office. While Leila was reading a news item I went out of the studio to answer the phone. I answered saying,

WQQQ

The male caller said

Is this L.A. Steel?

Yes. I replied

He then said, You and your group should go to Iraq and have your tongues cut out and bleed in the streets. You’re full of shit and don’t have the balls to fight for your country.

I was taken back a second, and then yelled at him over the phone saying,

You asshole, is this a threat?!

He replied, Yeah and I’m going to cut your fucking tongues out you bastards!

I saw red and railed into him with full voice; that carried into the studio and over the microphone.

If you or any of your fucking redneck friends harm any member of my staff or try to harm me I swear to God I will hunt you down , find you , reach into your throat, pull out your heart and feed it to the nearest dog!

I then slammed down the telephone and went into the studio, got on the microphone and said,

We just got a threat. Some bastard wants to cut out our tongues. I’m going to say on the air what I said to him on the phone, except clean it up a little for the FCC. If anyone has any ideas I’m giving them fair warning! If any bastard dares to threaten or harm a member of my staff or me I swear to God before all who are listening, that I will hunt them down, find them , reach down their throats, pull out their hearts and feed it to the nearest dog!.

As of this writing, which is more than six years since that incident occurred, I nor any member of the show has had another threat. For some reason we no longer get many angry callers either. On occasion someone will take offense to what I say on the air, but they call the station in the morning, rather than risk being mistaken by me as a threatening caller. This was only the second show on 3/11/03, Operation Enduring Freedom hadn’t started yet and there were still a few of us anti war holdouts who thought we might still have a chance to stop the madness. All we did it seems was sing to the choir, and make our listeners note that our groups of liberals were committed activists, and that L.A. Steel wasn’t a pacifist or a pushover. I believe in peace and that war is wrong. I believe that death and destruction is the most insane method of solving any dispute. But if I or those I love are threatened I will fight back. I can never back away from that stance.

The final crisis of the evening of 3/11/03 was, I had just been notified before the show that The Voice News was publishing its final printing. The Voice, my only sponsor was going out of business. This came as a shock not only to me, but to everyone in Connecticut, 40,000 readers and the entire Voice staff; except for the publisher and founder. Three weeks before that night, Jedd Gould had signed a 13 week contract with the radio station to sponsor my show and now the Voice was closing its doors. Jedd told me he would honor the contract with the station and he made public statements in the news and local papers; that he was closing the paper he started ten years prior. He gave all of his employees a generous severance, and paid all of his suppliers on time, and notified all of his regular contributors. I asked him why he was closing the doors, to which he said that it was time and he had other business plans to pursue.

The Voice had become a hotbed of dissent since January, 2003 and articles about anti war rallies and radical antiwar, anti Bush articles filled The Voice pages, shouting down, insulting, and virtually muting any conservative opinions by Veterans writing and howling for war. Mothers were telling the radicals to honor their soldier sons, idiots were telling everyone to believe in Bush and the Government right or wrong. The Voice News was a reader contributing newspaper and one of only a few in the country. Its’ subscribers and contributors were local, statewide and national. The Voice sponsoring the L.A. Steel Liberal Talk Radio Show must have been just too much for the ultra conservative demographic to handle. Advertisers were threatening not to advertise, the reader’s articles were becoming angry and more vitriolic, and I am sure that if I received threats Jedd might have as well, but he never mentioned it. Jedd closed the paper the following week and took his family on an extended vacation. I can’t express greater appreciation to Jedd Gould for his courage, compassion and commitment to his staff and to the ideal of freedom of speech as the publisher of a great paper and the first sponsor of The L.A. Steel Show.

All of this happened in just one week between two shows. One week later came SHOCK AND AWE. The Bush administration said the war would be over in a month and G.W flew in a fighter jet onto the deck of an aircraft carrier, dressed in a fighter pilot’s uniform to declare Victory in May 2003. Six years later America is still fighting in Iraq and has lost over forty two hundred American soldiers and thirty thousand are seriously wounded. An estimated one million Iraqis have lost their lives and three million are refugees. The cost of the Iraq War as of 2009 has been estimated by the Government Accounting Office at a price of three trillion dollars. Donald Rumsfeld then Secretary of Defense gave Congress an estimate of sixty billion dollars for the entire conflict and victory in one month. Rumsfeld resigned in disgrace at the demand of Congress in November, 2006.

Chapter Two 

The Stupidity Surrounding the Iraq War

Our third show was on 3/18/03 two days before the U.S invasion of Iraq. G.W had given Saddam Hussein 48 hours to give up his WMDs or the U.S would invade his country. I believed Bush was bluffing, as did most of the world. The 48 hours was up the next day. The Iraq invasion began on 3/20/2003 I didn’t take Bush seriously; that was the last time I misunderestimated G.W Bush. That evening as Leila and I drove up to the radio station before the show, we were met with a sobering, though extremely silly symbol of pro war sentiment, parked in front of the station’s door. It was apparent the message was meant for us. A half ton pickup truck had in its back a large cardboard bomb, erected on a carpenter’s saw horse, high enough to be seen over the cab. The cardboard bomb had NUKE IRAQ written in large letters on each side. We didn’t know whose truck it was and we didn’t care. We felt if the guy was stupid enough to drive around with a cardboard bomb taped in his truck he wasn’t anyone who could carry on a civil discussion about the war. The truck stayed in front of the station door for over an hour until the owner drove off. I locked the door after Leila and I entered. When Bill Marshall arrived at the studio that night, I unlocked the door and let him in, then locked it behind him. He was laughing at the cardboard, Nuke Iraq bomb and said,

You think he’s talking to us?

Shortly later the engineer arrived and knocked on the glass door window, I unlocked the door for him. He was obviously nervous when he walked in, but laughed and said,

I guess someone is listening to the show. I’ve heard a lot of people are talking about you.

That evening was tense, but we knew what we were doing was critical in getting the word out; that the preemptive war was wrong and G.W was a idiot. Under no circumstances would I back down or be intimidated as I called for Bush’s impeachment for high crimes and treason, and called him and every member of his administration every name allowable by the FCC. The third and fourth radio shows were at the beginning of the Iraq War. The country was in a state of shock. I found it hard to believe that millions of Americans supported the war. The Afghan invasion wasn’t enough for the Neo cons. They and their red state supporters couldn’t satisfy their bloodlust. The conflagration, and insane fire work display of the bombing of Baghdad, was the most unbelievable and unnecessary display of overkill ever inflicted on any city or country by non nuclear weapons, since the bombing of Dresden in WWII. As I watched the horror of the Shock and Awe on television that evening I imagined myself being in Baghdad and shuddered at the thought. I wondered what any Iraqis citizen or government official could have possibly done to warrant such destruction of their capital city. They had done absolutely nothing to warrant a pre-emptive attack by the United States. To witness their obliteration by U.S. bombs was incomprehensible to me. It was like watching a video game, or war movie. I thought, how could America as a nation advocating freedom, democracy and human rights allow our leader, and our military to obliterate another nation in our name, without just cause, or provocation? It is one of the greatest shames this country will ever bear. The abuses in Iraq began with two years of deplorable sanctions that devastated Iraq. The greatest abuse was that first night of bombing. The madness that has prevailed since has convinced the world of the insanity of our leaders. The support of the war by the U.S population since then reveals the true hypocrisy and barbarism of the majority of people in American society.

I read on air for the fourth show, the first Iraqis Body Count 209 known dead Iraqis. These were the first casualties reported by Iraq body Count.org a website dedicated to reporting the number of deaths of Iraqis. These accounts were gathered from news men and women and some major news organizations to counter with accuracy the government counts of civilian casualties. The first five Iraqis civilians killed in the war, were from a U.S missile striking a bus carrying 5 innocent civilians. The 209 civilian deaths total was the unofficial report by Iraq Body Count.org. NBC reporter David Bloom was to die the following week from an unexplained blood clot. The clot was suspected to have developed from the mandatory injection of an experimental anthrax vaccine; that killed or disabled numerous soldiers, and was later found to affect the mental stability of 25% of all who received the vaccine. This program is recorded and all reports can be verified by audio and written documents.

David Bloom was a sad casualty. However, I always felt his Bloom Mobile was the most moronic, dangerous, and demonic idea ever spawned by a television network for the promotion of a war. We cannot forget that GE is the parent company of NBC and one of the largest defense contractor in the world. Watching David Bloom ride in an open flat bed across the barren desert, with attached cameras recording every minute of his eating sand, and spitting out dirt with a smile on his face, and eating his dehydrated K Rations with the troops, as though they were on a Boy Scout hike, was the most insensitive, and dangerous recruiting technique ever undertaken by any government. David Bloom made war look like a fun ride in a dune buggy. Just a few guys in an armored vehicle geared up and ready to fight a wicked dictator, and bring to Iraq the Neo con, American dream of death, devastation and their theft of the Iraqis oil fields. Why not join up; it was only supposed to last a month? Alas, the propaganda mobile crashed and burned with David Bloom’s untimely death. It couldn’t have been more ironic, or symbolic. A foolhardy, ambitious reporter on his idiot mobile, died promoting the most fraudulent war ever begun by the United States.

There was no more grand standing and glory boy reporting after his death. Then the casualties began to mount up and the war turned into a blood bath for millions of Iraqis. The rest is history and the death of U.S soldiers and civilians in Iraq still dominates the headlines. David Bloom’s name is seldom mentioned anymore; unless it is to be added to hundreds of others in his profession who accidentally died in Iraq, or were deliberately targeted, and killed by insurgents and the U.S. military. I spoke about this on the air when it happened, and stated that Bloom was a poster boy for Army recruitment who died a fool’s death. He may have possibly caused the death, or decision to join the military of thousands of patriotic, naive, young men; who thought fighting in Iraq might be a fun adventure.

The mainstream media and press have always aggravated me. The vast majority of Americans depend upon the mainstream media, to present a fair and accurate accounting of current events. Well informed Americans and people around the world, once had faith in the American media, (though an extremely misplaced faith). As I began to thoroughly research the output of the many mainstream news outlets on a daily basis to find items to talk about, or read on the radio show, I realized what I had suspected all my life; that the news we take seriously in America is a mixture of fact, fiction, outright lies, government and corporate propaganda, woven together by an insider editor like the present and former voices of American news, Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings, Brian Williams, Wolfe Blitzer, and countless other associate writers, producers, editors and reporters. Anyone who tries to determine real news, from unreal news, knows what a tedious and torturous effort it is.

The proof of my statement came on June 5th 2003 when New York Times Executive Editor Howell Raines, and Managing Editor Gerald Boyed, resigned after several scandals destroyed the New York Times credibility. The Jason Blair scandal, of his fabrication of over thirty articles, was suspected, and allowed by these editors. Star reporter Rick Bragg resigned after stating; that he used the work of inexperienced, young reporters, and gave them no credit in the bylines, then came the Judith Miller scandal. Her false statements were fed to her by Karl Rove and others in the Bush administration, and known embezzler Ahmad Chalabi. Chalabi was pre- positioned by the Bush Boys to be the new President of Iraq. Miller’s articles in the New York Times paved the way for the Bush team to invade Iraq. Her eighty five days in jail for not revealing her source weren’t enough. Eighty five years would be more in line with treason. I would have accepted an even division of an 85 year sentence; between her editors, publisher, and herself.

In my daily search for news and facts I search at least two to three liberal and conservative news outlets on the net, my favorite liberal news blogs are legitgov.org and Davidicke.com, both of whose founders and editors I’ve had on my radio show. My right wing reports are from NewsMax.com, Limbaugh and Fox News. These seem to create a fair view of the news from both sides of the left and right brain.I review the WashingtonPost.com, Raw Story.com and Bradblog.com and several international news outlets for breaking news. The Corner Report .com, published by Gale Toensing is a news site for Palestinian issues and news releases, as well as Connecticut and international indigenous news. Over the past many years I’ve learned not to trust the major news outlets. The NY Times and Washington Post are two major players. The Wall St. Journal can be interesting, if you like the stock quotes and right wing editorial writers. Now that Rupert Murdock owns it, it’s just another New York Post or Daily News.

Any talk show host who prides themselves on being real with their listeners, and having accurate and insightful news and commentary, has to believe that anything else, but being real just isn’t worth the effort. Being real to your audience, may cost you sponsors, or may make people angry at you, but I can’t think of doing the show any differently. In 2003 the world needed a free voice to escape from the right wing squeal we were forced to listen to. Political correctness and godless evangelism was all that was heard on radio and television. The neocon, Bush belching, idiots were everywhere. WAR! WE LOVE WAR! SUPPORT OUR TROOPS! LIBERALS ARE TRAITORS! LIBERALISM IS COMMUNISM! NUKE IRAQ!I give the devil his due when I admit Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity are inspirations to me. When I listen to them I realize that I am dead right in my suspicions, about the conservative con game media. Their outrageous statements and right wing, Republican rhetoric attacking the Peace Movement and Liberalism, gives me the right to lash out at the Republican and Conservative propaganda push.

By May of 2003 I was starting to make head way in the market area. People were starting to realize; that the North West Corner of Connecticut, Southern Massachusetts and upstate New York had real freedom of speech on the radio, at least on WQQQ 103.3fm. That someone could say what I was saying about Bush and his minions by bashing the war and all of its sponsors, and supporters, with aggressive, liberal, accurate, verbal attacks was amazing at that time. To shout out against the lies and deceit leading up to the war, and denouncing G.W Bush and company as conspirators and traitors, for their organizing the event of 911 was unheard of yet, on commercial radio in America; especially in an area of staunch Bush Republicans and mild mannered Democrats. The local Republican establishment tried to ignore the show early on. Local pseudo liberal artists and intellectuals shunned the show and stood me up on several occasions, without apology or cancellation. I mocked them on the program when I heard some had cancelled because they were afraid to be associated with a radical show. The L.A. Steel Show was gaining popularity and many locals were too afraid to discuss their views on radio for fear of a local backlash.

By the summer of 2003 one outspoken Republican in the area couldn’t stand me anymore, and decided to write a letter to the local newspaper denouncing the L.A. Steel Show and its irreverent, liberal outbursts. Shortly after the letter was published he was hired as an editor of the paper. Letters to the editor in this local paper are well read .The opinion section often had a full page letter by William Buckley Jr. and another full page editorial by the former publisher. Other non political , local letters were squeezed in between the two; until the full page article bashing the L.A. Steel Show was printed, and squeezed against Bill Buckley’s rambling letter in support of Bush and the Iraq War.( A view of which Buckley did an about face from in the same paper in 2005.) The Bush loving Republican wrote a comparison of the L.A. Steel Show to the Rush Limbaugh show comparing how Limbaugh’s used satire and humor, when he bashed anyone he disliked; where I on the other hand was too serious and angry and not at all funny, as were my co-host Leila, and show astrologer Bill Marshall and my outspoken guests. He disliked our pointed sarcasm and the seriousness of our discussions and the disrespect of conservative and established opinions on the Iraq and Afghan wars. He went on and on for five columns; until he finally droned out. I didn’t respond to the letter in writing or verbally, I ignored it. Actually I admit I was impressed; that I raised enough controversy to be libeled in the local paper. It was very good PR and great for our local ratings. If people in the area didn’t know about the show by then, they did after reading the article. This same Bush lover wrote another article several months later attacking the show again. I again ignored it, hoping it would raise my ratings further. This was the kind of publicity I couldn’t pay for. My station manager told me after he read the letter in the paper; I guess any publicity is good publicity.

By the sixth week of the radio show I was faced with a major dilemma. At five o’clock on the evening of the show, three hours before air time, I got a call from the station’s secretary. She told me that my engineer cancelled at the last minute, and there wasn’t anyone to cover for him. The show would have to be taken off the air for the night. I had already scheduled author Greg Palast for the show for a live phone interview. This was to be one of his first radio interviews scheduled by his publicist for his first book and best seller, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy. I didn’t want to cancel him or tell him the show was cancelled that night because my engineer didn’t show up, and I didn’t know how to operate the studio phones, or the control board. I needed to talk to Joe the station manager and he had gone home for the day, before the engineer cancelled. The office secretary gave me his home phone number to call him, but said he might not be home until six o’clock. I was starting to panic a little. I called Joe, and left a message for him to call me back as soon as possible. Twenty minutes later he called me and said I would have to cancel the show; unless I could learn to engineer the show myself. He had a meeting to go to that night. I told him I would, if he told me how. He gave me explicit instructions on how to operate the board but, I was still confused about how to use the studio phone to conduct the interview. I had no choice but to go through with it, or cancel the show for the night. I knew from my television experience, an audience needs to have confidence, that when they tune in to a new program it will be on the air and at the time they expect it to be. Whether the show is good, bad, or a repeat, the new audience expects it, and I couldn’t afford to disappoint them; it would be extremely difficult to regain their confidence.

The show went well with a few minor problems. Leila my level headed, liberal co host said, to me before we went on the air after I did a sound check,

Don’t touch anything else and we will just keep talking.

The interview with Greg Palast was a little shaky at first; then I accidently hung up on him and called him back immediately. I apologized and thanked him for his patience. That night I learned about his famous sense of humor.

I discovered that my listeners were far more loyal, or at least more curious, than I had ever expected. As a new talk show host everyone waits for you to fail, thinking you won’t last long, or they ask how I can get away with talking like I do, saying such things about the President, or senators, congressmen, or the Governor? How dare I have the audacity to call Republicans corrupt, perverted and incompetent? How dare I say those things? They all knew that I said them loud and clear, and made no apology for stating them. I attacked Republicans and Democrats alike. Shortly after the 2004 election I interviewed Gene Stone, author of The Bush Survival Guide. In the interview he became frustrated with me and said, he was noted as a fierce liberal, but I was more liberal than he was. I had attacked his support for Progressive Democrats and said the movement was a waste of time, and a Progressive Democrat was an oxymoron. I had been shouting curses at the entire corrupt system, on commercial radio since 3/04/03, one year before Air America and during the height of the conservative control of all media. I guess I made a few people nervous. I know I made my station manager nervous.

For the first seven or eight weeks of the program my station manager would call me an hour before show time and ask who I had on as a guest and request that I tone my rants down a little. He was getting a few complaints. I would tell him who my guests were and assure him I wouldn’t swear, or say anything obscene. He would criticize my statements and my interviews if he didn’t agree with them, but after we received a few complimentary emails from our listeners and a few local compliments were given to him personally for keeping the show on, he became more confident in what I was doing and said that he was beginning to enjoy fielding complaints about me and defending freedom of speech. There aren’t too many Joe Loverros in the business. If there were the world of radio would be a better place.I have to commend Dennis Jackson the owner of WQQQ 103.3fm. And give Dennis and Joe all due respect for their great courage, support and friendship over these last six years.

Chapter Three 

Ronald Reagan the President of the Cult of Conservatives

On June 5th 2004 Ronald Reagan took his last breath on earth. According to all conservatives, fundamentalists, and Republicans, his soul ascended into heaven; where he sits with the former chairmen of General Electric and speaks directly to G.W Bush. After the unendurable public homage, that blessed his soul before God, and man, Ronald Reagan was finally laid to rest. He had a long and interesting life; that few except for Nancy, and his kids will ever know. His public life was loved by many; until his Hollywood make up wore off, and the movie script speeches ended. Then the world saw him for what he was, just a power crazed reactionary in a plaid suit. The media as usual, managed to cover up his mental collapses, and Alzheimer episodes, witnessed by many close to him. I always wondered if it was just part of the role he played so well. The role of the old, always smiling, always laughing, and forgetful grandfather dressed in plaid suits and died brown hair. I must admit I actually voted for him in 1980.

Yes I’m admitting it. I actually voted for Ronald Reagan in 1980, and again in 1984. The reason for my decision was, I absolutely, positively couldn’t stand Jimmy Carter, and could not trust Walter Mondale and Geraldine Ferrarro. What the hell were the Democrats thinking about? 1980 was the year the Democratic Party died, but they weren’t officially buried until November 3rd 2004. I wrote their obituary on my website, which appears in the Satire segment of Essays and Insights in this book. Like all vampires the Democrats went into a long sleep, regaining their strength in darkness, to eventually rise again and victimize the American public.

I don’t wish to go into my own checkered past of how I whole heartedly fell for the American Dream, and worked hard at developing a successful business, only to see it destroyed by the stupid economic policies of Jimmy Carter, and watch the United States sink into a massive recession; where 18% and 21%, 30 year adjustable rate mortgages were all that were available to an average homeowner, or home buyer. In 1980 and 1981, large and small businesses failed by the hundreds of thousands around the country. In the late seventies Americans waited hours in gas lines on odd and even days to fill their tanks. Gas prices were rising daily; because of the OPEC boycott, and the deliberate rigging of oil prices by the big oil companies to raise oil prices to thirty five and forty dollars a barrel, equating then to slightly over $1.00 per gallon at the