To say i dislike David Cicilline is putting it mildly,but he had the balls to routinely go on the Helen Glover Show,not friendly territory,and engage with whoever called.I once had a 15 minute debate with him on the Marco Riz incident and it wasn't an angry exchange,but it was definitely adverserial.He also took on other callers on all kinds of subjects.
Don Carcieri was always on talk radio and fielded all kinds of questions from hosts and listeners.Linc Almond also,except he was about as controversial as Cheez Whiz-just a steady,honest public servant with little ideology.
Chafee is a gutless nincompoop.He might raise some eyebrows at a home for the feeble minded,but that's about it.
He has disdain for the public,and if the groups he panders to think he respects them in any way,they need to get alife.
His type think they're born to entitlement and we're nothing but gutter scum to be dictated to.
Of course he needs some people who can actually formulate an intelligible idea,so he throws in with Bob Walsh,Steve Costantino,and Richard Licht.I'm not extolling these people,but to call them idiots would be dumb in and of itself.
To say they are special interest oriented hacks is accurate.
Linc is scared of the people he purports to govern.Scared and sneeringly dismissive.
What a wasted human.
Dishonest too in the bargain.(TAX CHEAT)

The folks who get their news from talk radio, will still "know what the Governor is up to, and what he believes"

With or without Mr Chafee

The, more than fair and balanced, folks on talk radio will inform their listeners as to what the Governor is up to, and what he believes, and I am sure the good folks from Anchor Rising will correct any errors in their commentary, when they are on the radio, especially if Gov Chafee is treated unfairly

So WPRO has the only "ratings-driven, for-profit programming" in the state??? Wow!!! That would come as a real surprise to WJAR, WPRI, WHJJ, etc, etc.

On a more serious note, I cannot think of one instance - whether safety, convenience or public policy related - in the last eight years of the governor or a member of his administration appearing on radio that did not benefit the public via the information proffered.

And releasing such information only to the radio station's news department - the latest modification to the administration's radio policy - is not a feasible alternative.

Aw, Chafee's not doing anything different than any other politician in avoiding media types he feels aren't giving him a fair shake. And he will have emergency management spokesmen available during the predicted storm - if Chafee didn't, I'd be heaving brickbats at him too.
The day Sarah Palin agrees to an interview with the New York Times and Don Carcieri chats with Philippe and Jorge, Chafee ought to have a nice sitdown with John DePetro. Not until then.
Maybe kicking the dog every day is freedom of speech, as DePetro essentially argued this morning. But nothing in the Bill of Rights compels the dog to sit and heel when commanded by he who's put the foot to him, either.

What a shock! These wingnut talk stations spend the entire campaign season ridiculing the guy round the clock and continue unabated even after the election (I just this morning was listening to one of these blowhards going off about how Chafee supposedly never worked a day in his life). So Chafee decides he'd rather not have his adminstration support those types of partisan corporate interests, and you guys feign surprise. The horror! How about this, corporate radio: put a progressive on once in a while and at least make a peretense of being balanced.

This also in... did you know that Bush didn't grant a single interview to the ISR? Why does he hate free speech?!

Missing the point as usual guys. That's perfectly fine if Chafee doesn't want to go on WPRO, but why ban every state employee from doing so as well? Especially when they're not on there to talk about the Sox game last night, they're often on there to give information about what they're doing with taxpayer money, such as Gist with the teachers, Stokes with the Newport/America's Cup races and Lewis with the Iway changes.

I don't know that Carcieri forced those people on the air (or that he didn't). But if they want to go on and explain the same sorts of things, why can't they? That doesn't make sense to let them do that? I don't remember Carcieri banning all state employees from speaking with Phillippe & Jorge or Bush banning his administration from talking to MSNBC.

If that was the case, then your analogy would work. But it wasn't.

I would think that the tax payers would appreciate that the gov doesn't want people working on their dime making phone calls to a radio station.

The station you are all so worried about really has zero impact on reality anyway. All of the people they support end up loosing anyway.

swazool-are you serious?State officials aren't "screwing off" on our dime by being interviewed on talk radio.They are frequently being questioned what our dime is buying.
Sunlight is the best disinfectant,and that goes double for government.
Public officials also have a chance to go in depth in talk radio situations.Maybe you're satisfied with whatever the "official"version is,but many people are not.
Reacall of a Governor requires signatures of 15% of the total votes cast for the office collected within 90 days.If the Governor is recalled a special election is held to replace the former incumbent.
It worked in Arizona(Meacham)and California(Davis) so it's not some fringe notion.
That would go right up Chafee's a**,wouldn't it?
It would kind of shatter his "divine right of kings"attitude.
He almost ahd a meltdown over being primaried in 2006.Imagine how he'd self destruct in a recall vote.
Now,I'm suggesting a legal remedy for a situation which is bothering a lot of ppeople.So the left wing here that starts screaming "hate speech"can go to hell.
How many people think the pest sammy really lives in Arizona?

"I would think that the tax payers would appreciate that the gov doesn't want people working on their dime making phone calls to a radio station."

By that logic, he shouldn't have a press secretary either, because I don't want someone just standing around talking all day on my dime either.

I also don't want him to have a driver because I don't want someone driving all over the state on my dime either.

These dept heads that call the radio aren't just jabbering about the Sox game last night, they're giving good information.

Or if you're opposed to that, then they shouldn't speak to the TV or print media either.

Will this guy ever stop providing his critics with ammunition. (Sorry,is that the new vitriol everyone is talking about.) For you Chafee defenders, no other official has banned him and his cabinet from 'ALL' talk radio. This is a result of having an indefensible agenda. Are you telling us that there are no sympathetic or at least apathetic hosts? The man is a coward plain and simple.

"a potentially unfriendly interviewer."

That's Justin writing about what the Governor could expect from talk radio. Either that or it's some of his material for a stand up comedy routine. Russ and bella and swazool have it right. After all it is the marketplace and there's competition right? They lost.

"On a more serious note, I cannot think of one instance - whether safety, convenience or public policy related - in the last eight years of the governor or a member of his administration appearing on radio that did not benefit the public via the information proffered."

That's Monique, a frequent "guest" on talk radio, who used to call in as...( the winner gets 1 doz. Hope Island Oysters) Monique , Are you working on your comedy act too? I used to call the Governor's appearances on WPRO Ass Kiss the Governor instead of ask the Governor. The softballs lobbed to Carcieri , who WPRO's news reader liked to call "the Big Guy", were like the ones you underhand toss to a child with an oversized batters helmet on their head and a baseball bat resting across their little shoulders. The Big Guy. Now that's the kind of journalistic integrity we all count on.

Anchor Rising of course has a relationship with WPRO so the contributors cannot be objective on this subject with that obvious conflict of interest.

Access: DENIED. Poor Buddy. Poor Depetro aka The weasel. Poor Dan and poor Matt. What is the market share that WPRO has in the Providence area? Kinda small I think. So a small group of listeners, too inept to keep themselves informed beyond the blatherings of talk radio, are being dissed by the new governor. I can live with that.

Phil- I believe the answer is "Susan from Providence"

Lincoln Chafee is so mentally unstable and I've got to say it is hilarious to watch. This is going to be a highly entertaining 4 years...if he lasts that long. Men dressed in white and carrying big butterfly nets just might scoop him up and return him home to the locked unit one of these days.
BTW Linky has already backtracked in a huge way and lied through his crooked teeth doing it.
One more thing. Chafee not going on talk radio is irrelevant to talk radio or its' audience. He's a dink who's incapable of talking policy. The boy is dumb. It's Chafee's ban on state employees speaking that is the real issue here. I agree with Dan Yorke. It'll never fly because those dept heads etc won't stand for it. Public servants are there to serve the public and timely information to that public is a vital part of what they do and talk radio is a vital cog in that info machine.

The third of the electorate that voted for this fool doesn't listen to English language talk radio. They are either wealthy NPR marxists, public union featherbedders or welfare parasites looking at Jerry Springer, Oprah and Dr. Phil.
That's the Chaffee Coalition.

Russ-there WAS an all-progressive talk radio network-Air America.It failed,they had such luminaries as Randy Rhodes who suggested assassinating a sitting president;Mike Malloy,whose poison was about the worst stuff I've heard on talk radio,Al Franken,not quite as bad,but when he got elected to the Senate,he forgot to drop his "shtick" and is a recurring embarrassment to Minnesota in committee hearings.
You boys and girls had your chance Russ and blew it.Tough sh*t.
Someone above made the best point-people don't want to hear from the nincompoop;they want to hear from the people who actually have functioning brains explain what's going on in their spheres of operation.Is it asking too much?State operations are being carried out with taxpayer money.
Remember-recall is always an available option.I hope people start calling in to talk radio mentioning it.

Both right-wing-Hate radio stations from Rhode Island, have lousy computer feeds, so I don't tune in every day.

[Crossed the line with the subsequent text. --- JK]

"Both right-wing-Hate radio stations"

Whoa whoa whoa. Right there is the vitriol that the left wants tamed. That's the type of talk that is getting attributed solely to the right.

As for Joe, the different between Joe Bernstein and Joe the Barber is night and day.

Sammy-Joe the Barber usually calls about party politics-not my thing at all.
I call in about immigration matters(since I was an INS agent for 21 years)and some criminal justice stuff and general issues.
I must be the one you refer to as an idiot-if so,I must be doing something right if it pisses you off.
I thankfully have never had mental health problems-other stuff I've had in spades-cancer ,CAD ,diabetes,hyperkalemia,ulcers,uncisional hernia,polio-I can go on here.I never had any PTSD from serving in Vietnam and never had a single disciplinary action taken against me in 27 years of state and federal law enforcement,nor have I ever been arrested or cited for anything other than illegal parking.Been married 40 years to an Hispanic lady,so there goes the racist allegation lurking in your diseased little brain.
You know what you remind me of when you comment here?A turd in the punchbowl at the family reunion.
Thanks for letting me comment.

Phil- I believe the answer is "Susan from Providence"
Posted by David S at January 11, 2011 7:14 PM

WE HAVE A WINNER

Thank you DavidS

You can collect your prize on the day after tomorrow at Allens Harbor. Ask anyone there for Phil. I'll be in at noon.

Amazing how the liberal critics of talk radio seem to know so much about the hosts and callers. It's pretty much the same with Fox News. You libs know all the characters. I'm not a watcher or a listener but is it any wonder that they do so well in the ratings? You libs are like a captive audience.

Max-it always amazes me that while I frequently call in to talk radio,the left wingers here who profess to so abhor it,seem to listen more than I do.Hell,I'm retired-they supposedly are busy making a living and saving the world.
Talk radio isn't much different than blogging or tweeting(never will I try that)if you come right down to it.
I never listen to Depetro,yet get harangued about what's on there by some of the peabrains who don't like him.Why do they listen to him?I don't like his style so I don't.
Waht they call "hate"radio doesn't hold a candle to pure venom like the Daily Kos or Huffington.
Last night I watched leno("Headlines"is funny)and then Bill maher came on,He spewed nonstop unjustified hatred for the nRA and gun owners,blaming them for the Tucson shootings and generally running down conserbatives,Leno seemed dumbstruck,and,strange for him,at a loss for words.
Is it me,or does Maher look like Julian Assange?

Sadly Joe I think a recall can only take place if a governor is indicted or found guilty by the Ethics Commission. There is no straight recall like California.

I read it to allow for recall in the event of malfeasance,which isn't necessarily an ethics issue per se.
Then there's his tax dodge also.

Tommy-you're right- a probable cause finding by the Ethics Commission is needed-is tax dodging grounds?Actually tax dodging is grounds for charging perjury.And tax evasion.Has Kilmartin got the spine for it?It's not a Fed issue and anyway Linc's brother is an Assistant US Attorney.

Recall fans, be careful what you wish for.
Lpok what happened on California when people recalled Davis not because he was corrupt, but just because they could (with the help of Enron's manipulation that created the energy crisis there). They got a RINO with much more charisma and popularity than Davis ever happened.
But if you want to plunge this state into a constitutional crisis, well, be my guest.

What's wrong with a constitutional crisis?That's why we have a constitution.
We check our smoke alarms,right?
It would be interesting to see if the state constitution works or not.

The fans of the recall option are the ones that listen to wpro. Wpro couldn't even support a winning candidate, does anyone actually think they have enough political pull to get a recall? Never happen.

By the end of the month, the vast majority of Rhode Islanders probably won't even give a damn whether or not Chafee talks to the Axis of Asinine on WPRO, anyway.
In the larger scheme of things, It. Just. Doesn't. Matter.

swazool and bella-realistically this state probably would never recall a Chafee-names mean more than substance here.
Both of you demonstrate that RI predilection to support putrid backwater politics.The rest of the country except NY and California has rejected the Reid/Pelosi/Obama Axis while in RI people like you two still want to redistribuye taxpayer's money to anyone who floats in here.It doesn't matter if they're citizens or not,or if they're scamming-you just are happy to enable social engineers to turn this state into a compleat disaster zone.
What does Gump care?He's worth $47 million-he's on another planet.You two probably aren't millionaires-I surely am not.
But you are self-deluding fools.Falling for an empty-headed grin.
Just remember-talk radio defeated the horrendous immigration bill under Bush.