Supporters of Ron Paul like to say they support freedom and the Constitution. That is, unless someone disagrees with Ron Paul - then all bets are off.
Earlier in the week, conservative talk show host Mark Levin was removed from Toledo's WSPD for disagreeing with Ron Paul, after being part of that station's lineup for more than five years.
Levin addressed the situation by first acknowledging all the program directors, managers and executives of the more than 250 radio stations that carry his program.
He explains that one of the hosts at WSPD is Brian Wilson - a man who also happens to be the program director.
"He is also a contributor of articles to a website of a gentleman named Lew Rockwell, who is a former chief of staff and newsletter editor to Ron Paul," Levin said, adding that "this host slash PD is very close to the Paul people."
Levin said he has been extremely critical of Ron Paul and have "gotten into it with some of his folks."
Levin added that he was "particularly disgusted" with Paul's newsletters. He has also called Paul's foreign policy "unpatriotic" and "un-American."
But when it came time to renew his contract with the station, Wilson decided to cancel Levin because of his political views, a tactic similar to that used in the former Soviet Union.
Levin said that his team received a note from Wilson basically saying that unless Levin apologized for comments made about Paul and some of his supporters and changes his attitudes, he would not be renewed.
"It's one thing to drop a program and to add a program, and everything in between. It's quite another to try and censor a program," Levin said, in order to control what he says on the air. Levin said that rather than wait the 90 days, "we quit," and excoriated Wilson for using "Stalinist tactics."
Predictably, Ron Paul supporters gleefully heralded the news. Keep in mind these are the same people who scream 'Freedom' like William Wallace at the end of Braveheart, and to these people, any disagreement with the Texas Congressman is considered "lying."
According to them, Levin was taken off the air for "lying about Ron Paul."
As it turns out, Wilson was not waiting 90 days, either, and had already replaced Levin with a pro-Paul program called Free Talk Live. According to the Youtube description of the FTL program that replaced Levin:
One station, WSPD in Toledo Ohio canceled Mark Levin yesterday and was replaced with Free Talk Live. Station director Brian Wilson sent a notice starting with:
"In response to Mark Levin's outrageous diatribes, mis and disinformation slanderously leveled at Ron Paul, Tom Woods, Lew Rockwell (personal and professional friends of mine), I will be exploring other options effective immediately."
and ending with
"If Mark ever gets a grip on his rational self or develops the class and courtesy to appologize to the three gentleman mentioned above, I'll give him another listen."Mark Levin himself provided a response, which included:
"I've asked my affiliate relations director to write you a cancellation notice given what you have written."
Of course that comment was made after they were already airing Free Talk Live to replace their show, which basically means Levin was saying, "You can't fire me! I quit!"
Levin said he hoped the same thing was not happening to other talk show hosts, and said there are a lot of other ways people in Toledo can hear his program, including live on the Internet at his website or on satellite radio.
The incident is instructive for those considering voting or supporting Ron Paul. Despite all the rhetoric and hype, this is what "freedom" apparently means to those who support him.
More on Ron Paul at Examiner.com here.
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