According To Michael Graham

Michael Graham now has a job. That didn't take long, did it?

Nevertheless, a few aspects of Graham's firing from WMAL still need exploring. A few days ago, Michael Graham wrote on the matter of his dismissal from WMAL in an article which I found buried in my inbox.

Some excerpts from "How To Get Fired" by Michael Graham:

"If I had called the Catholic Church a haven for pedophiles because I believed their doctrine of priestly celibacy caused pedophilia, I would still have my talk-radio job today.

"If I had called the Christian faith a terror-sponsoring organization because of abortion-clinic and Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph, I would still be an employee of the ABC Radio Company. I know, because I hear these arguments made in the media nearly every day....

"When I was suspended without pay a month ago, my smartest and closest friends told me, 'Graham, relax. This is all going to blow over. They are never going to fire you over this. C'mon-this is CAIR we're talking about!'

"And it's true that few public advocacy groups have as little legitimacy or credibility as the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Some of their members have been jailed for terrorism. Others have been deported. They are still reluctant to criticize Hamas and Hezbollah, and it took them three weeks after 9/11 to condemn Al Qaeda!"

Graham is correct about CAIR's connections to Hamas . In the exact words from an article in WorldNetDaily,

"CAIR is a spin-off of the Islamic Association For Palestine, identified as a 'front group' for Hamas by two ex-FBI counterterrorism chiefs."

For additional information as to why CAIR may be reluctant to condemn two organizations which have been designated as terrorist in orientation, see Matthew Epstein's testimony before the United States Senate Judiciary Committe Subcommitte, Saudi Support for Islamic Extremism in the United States.

Continuing now with Graham's commentary:

"Here's the bizarre part: I started my on-air conversation about the unique, tragic relationship between Islam and terrorism on the day of the second London subway bombing. No one at ABC Radio objected to my comments.

"I repeated the comments on Friday. Again, no problem. Same thing on Monday. Tuesday, I spent my entire three-hour show – at the request of ABC management – talking about modern Islam as a terrorist organization.

"And for that, I was suspended and fired. What happened? How did the words that were insignificant one Thursday suddenly become unforgivable the next?

"It was all about CAIR. Late that Monday they sent out press releases, called advertisers, complained of my 'hate radio' to ABC. By Thursday, ABC had capitulated and suspended me, and CAIR immediately sent out a press release insisting ABC hadn't gone far enough and I had to be fired. Eventually, I was.

"Meanwhile, more listeners stood by me, not a single advertiser pulled their ads..."

What's that? Not a single advertiser pulled ads? ABC must have had an attack of conscience, then. I thought that talk radio usually based their hire-and-fire decisions on the ratings factor and on the financial support of the sponsors. Wasn't Graham hired by WMAL in the first place because he already had a reputation for outspoken controversy? I believe that WMAL enjoyed the ratings which Graham delivered--until he "crossed a line," apparently. Who drew that line? CAIR?

Later in his article, Graham continues:

"Think about this: Dan Rather went on the air with a story based on a fake Air National Guard memo, lied about the steps taken at CBS to 'authenticate' it, and after he was caught dead in a lie, still maintained that the bogus story was true…and he kept his job!

"I gave an honest, reason-based opinion about the challenges facing Islam, quoted facts, polls and public comments accurately – and I was fired...."

Michael Graham is already employed elsewhere, and his dismissal from WMAL has received some attention from the mainstream media.

I'm guessing that the Michael Graham story will soon fade away. Americans' memories are notoriously short.

What has CAIR learned from the Michael Graham story?

Will the power of CAIR soon fade away? Not without a push.

Now, before you go thinking, "There goes AOW again! She a real Janie-One-Note. She's repeating herself and writing another blog article about Michael Graham," read the following August 24, 2005 information from Michael Graham's web site:

"I almost choked on my Irish Breakfast tea this morning while being interviewed by Jimmy Barrett at WRVA in Richmond, VA. He told me that CAIR is now saying they never demanded I be fired and that they had nothing to do with ABC's decision. Well, that's interesting. Let's rewind the tape to Friday, July 29th, the day after I was suspended:

"DC Radio Host Suspended Over Anti-Islam Remarks; CAIR Applauds WMAL's Move, Says Graham Should Be Fired

"7/29/2005 10:40:00 AM

"To: National Desk

"Contact: Ibrahim Hooper, 202-488-8787 or 202-744-7726 or ihooper@cair-net.org, Rabiah Ahmed, 202-488-8787 or 202-439-1441 or rahmed@cair-net.org, both of the Council on American-Islamic Relations

"WASHINGTON, July 29 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) today applauded a Washington, D.C., radio station's decision to suspend without pay a talk show host who stated repeatedly that 'Islam is a terrorist organization.'

"CAIR said WMAL-AM morning host Michael Graham should be fired for his Islamophobic remarks, for other statements made before and after the most recent controversy and for his refusal to apologize for those comments.

"OK.....what am I missing here?

"...Apparently CAIR believes that the mainstream media are so in the bag that CAIR can deny the existence of their own press releases and get away with it...."

Readers, you will have to chose whom to believe--Michael Graham or CAIR, an organization with ties to Hamas. Your call.