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Sen. Ken Salazar has sent a letter to Clear Channel Radio (Rocky Mountain Region), owner of the KOA 850 radio station, requesting it reprimand Rush Limbaugh for his “riot” comments about Denver and the DNC. (Background here.)
“As I read Mr. Limbaugh’s comments about riots at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, they appear to me to be a clear exhortation that those riots are exactly what he wants to happen,” said Salazar. “For that kind of incendiary comment, I ask Clear Channel to to reprimand Mr. Limbaugh.”
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Clear Channel has passed the request on to Premiere Radio Network which syndicates Limbaugh’s show. The likely action: zero. Kris Olinger, director of AM programming for Clear Channel Denver, told the Denver Post,
“… from a local Clear Channel viewpoint, “we believe Rush is not calling for riots in Denver.”
Olinger also said Limbaugh “explained” his comments on the air today:
Limbaugh reiterated he is not calling for riots, she said. Rather, he said that if the extreme left of the Democratic party creates riots and unrest in Denver during the convention, it will be bad for the Democrats and good for the Republicans.
In a sidebar to the article, the Post notes that Rush Limbaugh’s website touted the Denver broadcast with a headline that said “Screw the world! Riot in Denver!”
Maybe it’s KOA that needs to be reprimanded along with Limbaugh. Colorado Media Matters has compiled this list of over-the-top broadcasts.