Mancow is conservative; in Chicago, we've known this for years

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS
by Chad Rubel

We finally got video proof from a conservative that waterboarding is torture. Erich "Mancow" Muller consented to being waterboarded in what can be described as ideal circumstances. And he lasted 6 seconds.

Now, the right-wing faction will come up with lame excuses as to why this didn't count. This site talks about how they don't think waterboarding is torture because torture is subjective.

The other fear is that Mancow will be somehow labeled as "not conservative." Yes, he's appeared on the Fox "News" Channel. But if you don't know that much about him, anyone can paint him as being whatever they want.

But in Chicago, we know better. Because Mancow has been spewing his conservative rhetoric in Chicago for years before he ever appeared on FNC.

Sometime in the mid 1990s, shortly after I had moved back to Chicago, a friend recommended that I try listening to Mancow's morning show on heavy rock station WWBZ-FM "The Blaze." I had not heard good things about his show, but my friend convinced me to try the program out.

I listened to about 15-20 minutes. It wasn't entertaining, but the last straw was when he compared to Bill Clinton to Adolf Hitler, and he wasn't joking. I didn't get the feeling that this was an isolated incident.

Mancow has claimed in the past to be a libertarian, but his schtick has always come across more like false populism. After all, if he was labeled as conservative, his alternative music fans (later when he moved to alternative WKQX-FM) might not embrace him that well.

But shortly before he lost that morning show gig, he branched out to the Fox News Channel, then went on to syndicated radio, and the 2-hour show he does on conservative talk radio station WLS in Chicago. (Full disclosure, I worked briefly part-time at WLS radio 16 years ago under previous management.)

There are many more examples of his "open mouth, insert foot" conservative moments, too many to be listed here, though the Howard Dean tirade and the local interview with the FOX-owned station in Chicago are particularly horrible. To quote from Wikipedia:

Howard Dean tirade

On December 6, 2005, Muller drew controversy when he vilified Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean on Fox News Channel's Fox & Friends, referring to Dean as "vile," "bloodthirsty" and "evil." Muller also commented on Dean's negative opinions on the War in Iraq, calling Dean a traitor that, "ought to be kicked out of America," and, "tried for treason."

local interview with the FOX-owned station in Chicago

On Monday June 2, 2008, Mancow made a special appearance on an early morning news program of WFLD the Chicago affiliate of FOX. Mancow was asked to give his opinions on the Democratic Primary, in particular on then-presidential candidate Barack Obama. Mancow claimed that Obama is a closet Muslim and Hillary Clinton had secret information about a video tape showing Michelle Obama in a racist tirade. Mancow insisted this was why Hillary Clinton was remaining in the race, as the alleged video tape would presumably harm Barack Obama's candidacy. Mancow went on to claim that he was going to meet the Pope, in November 2008, and that he was going to visit to Israel as an official guest of the Israeli government. According to him, his meeting with the Pope was arranged by Cardinal Joseph Bernardin (Cardinal Bernardin died in 1996). After this, the news anchors tried to end the interview.

And Mancow fully admits that he was biased going into the procedure. "I wanted to prove it wasn't torture," Mancow said in his explanation on Friday. "They cut off our heads, we put water on their face."

In a room where there was people he knew, and a comforting voice in his native language set him up, conservative tough guy Mancow Muller lasted 6 whole seconds.

What was the verdict? "It was instantaneous... and I don't want to say this: absolutely torture."

This doesn't mean the right-wing pro-torture element won't try to discredit Mancow's efforts. But given Mancow's conservative track record, this will be a Herculean task, even for them.

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS