To those who employ Neal Boortz
Here’s a copy of an email I sent to Neal Boortz, his employers, and advertisers:
To those who employ Neal Boortz:
In Thursday’s (10.20.2005) “Neals Nuze” Neal Boortz had this comment:
“So now the same thing is happening. This time the controversy is
over a news report in Australia that says American soldiers burned the
bodies of two Taliban Islamic terrorists. Those poor Taliban fighters…
just makes your heart ache that their corpses were mishandled, doesn’t it?”
By employing Boortz, you are saying that such statements- statements
that would disgust any rational human being- are fine. More to the
point, you are saying that the desecration of human beings is ok as
long as you earn good ratings, or in the case of your advertisers,
return on your ad dollars. His attempts to rationalize this due to the past
actions of our foes is beside the point. What is wrong for one
party is wrong for all.
If Neal is so ignorant that he doesn’t see that such actions as those performed by our troops increases the risk that such will be done to our servicemen, then he needs a bit of world education. If, as I suspect, he simply doesn’t care,
then he needs to be fired.
I will be voicing my concerns to any and all advertisers of your
station, asking them if they too support the desecration performed
by our troops, and the cheering of such by their paid spokesman, Neal
Boortz. Do you wish your products to be associated with a man who
feels that burning human remains as a propaganda tool is a “basic tactic
of war”? If so, then be prepared to lose at least one possible source
of revenue- mine.
These are tense, dangerous times in which we live. By continuing to
allow Boortz a forum from which to spew hatred of anyone different
than himself, not to mention his seemingly total ignorance (or
indifference to) the Geneva Convention and our own Army’s rules of war, only
makes it worse. I wish his behavior did not enrage me so, so that I could
frame a more coherent statement to you that expresses my shame and disgust
at his- and your- actions. Perhaps if I stated the scenario another way.
If your child laid dead on the field of battle, and our enemies did
to him what our troops did to these people, would you want to hear of
a broadcaster applauding such brutality? I hope for all our sakes the
answer is no. Because we live in such a wonderful country that holds dear
our freedom of speech, Neal Boortz has every right to babble whatever nonsense he thinks will entice listeners, and you are free to hire him to do so.
And it is my right to work to make sure that for both Neal Boortz – and those
who profit from his vile and un-American statements- find it increasingly less profitable to do so.
James Mann
