There aren’t that many talk show hosts out there that I really respect.

I have a huge amount of respect for Joe Madison (The Black Eagle) for both is talent as a talker and his humanitarianism (such as taking the lead on calling on action in Darfur, Sudan).

I respect Mark Thompson (Matsimela Mapfumo) for his activism and his uncompromising love for black people.

And, I respect Randi Rhodes for her passion and willingness to put her heart out their for the things she believes.

Over the last 4 years, I became a real fan of hers because she was willing to not only talk politics but, also, issues of race. She was the first white talk show host I heard really talk about racism and not sugar-coat it. I still remember how she talked about the killing of Sean Bell in New York and didn’t flinch when talking about the clear double-standard for justice in this country. She was all over the issues like voter-caging in Florida and was one of the first people that spoke to how black soldiers serving in Iraq were being disenfranchised by this Republican tactic.

The bottom line is, even though I didn’t agree with everything she said, she clearly was no phony and spoke with passion and conviction.

Now, she has decided to quit Air America.

This all stems from her suspension over some comments she made at a private event for an Air America affiliate in San Francisco. In her comedy routine, she referred to Hillary Clinton and Geraldine Ferraro as “f**king whores”, alluding to their willingness to sell out to attain their political goals.

Video of these statements got out and managment of the station suspended her for an undefined period of time.

Now, after nearly two weeks of this fiasco, Rhodes decided to part company with Air America.

At first, I thought Air America was clearly justified in its suspension of her because I thought they might have been co-sponsoring an event with the affiliate but, that affiliate came to Rhodes’ defense and explained that the real details surrounding this event were:

The Facts.

Comments made by Randi Rhodes were made during a Green 960 Event on March 22nd. Those in attendance were required to sign up through Green960.com and paid $5 to attend. Money raised went to Green960.

This event took place at Broadway Studios in San Francisco on Saturday, March 22nd.

Green960’s event was posted on My.BarackObama.com’s event listings by a listener of the station as a social meetup & is no way affiliated with Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. The $5 collected was for Green960.

The entire video of the event was made available through Green960 to our listeners and Randi Rhodes fans on March 26th.

So, from what I gather here, this was not an event affiliated with Air America. It was stand-up comedy routine. I think the statements she made were in poor taste but, in the context of what she was talking about, were not referring to Sen. Clinton’s or Ms. Ferraro’s sexual habits but, instead, to their political tendencies. However, her word choice was, indeed, very poor.

The problem, as I see it, was that this was not an Air America event. From what I can fathom, this suspension might have violated her contract.

Now, Rhodes will be doing her show for the station that sponsored this event, Green960 AM.

I hope they have a web stream because Air America has screwed up again, in my eyes.

UPDATE: the Randi Rhodes show will actually be carried on Nova M Radio, the network founded by the founder of Air America.

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