Ron Kuby is a lawyer whose name I'd heard years ago, in association with Bill Kunstler. Didn't realize they picked him to replace Randi Rhodes.
It also turns out that my appearance on his show today was an attempted sandbagging, where the host doesn't tell you he's going to attack you beforehand but tries to surprise you instead. A couple folks from Air America contacted me afterwards to apologize for his behavior, but no problem - it worked out fine.
At least as far as I'm concerned.
Kuby pulled some quotes of mine and tried a lawyerly defense of right-wing extremists and their rhetoric. For some reason he focused on Sean Hannity and not anyone else I'd named in my first post. That was a poor choice tactically, since it turns out that one of Hannity's books was in the killer's house when police searched it. He could've picked someone else and had a slightly stronger argument - although it still would've been a weak one from my point of view.
Kuby seemed to be arguing for the man he kept referring to as "Sean" on free speech grounds. This, despite the fact I had specifically written that nobody's freedom of speech should be abridged.
One of many ways Kuby goes wrong, in my opinion, is in claiming that on the Right don't bear moral responsibility for a consistent pattern of violent rhetoric - even if someone reacts to that violent rhetoric with actual violence. Nope. No responsibility of any kind, says Kuby.
Ironic. Kuby defends Hannity et al. and their violent language. Yet if Randi hadn't been fired for using harsh language Kuby wouldn't even have the gig. (They don't carry his show on Air America here. They carries Randi's from Nova M.)
Air America posted a version of our discussion on their website, but it's been cut by three or four minutes. I was on the phone and Kuby interrupted/spoke over me a lot - so their version, which also deletes my closing statement, doesn't fully get my points across. I've posted an unedited version of the exchange below.
You can evaluate it for yourself without the suppression of anyone's speech - his or mine:
I listened to that interview and I was surprised by the way that Kuby treated you. I read your article at HuffPost and agree with you 100%. The extreme right wing nuts do have a MORAL responsibility for the shooting. They create a toxic mindset in their listeners and make lots of money off their venom. I thought Kuby's arguments (Catholics say abortion is murder!) very weak and made no sense.
Craig Detweiler and John Marks posted about the shooting on their blog Purple State of Mind and Detweiler cross posted on God's Politics and got some interesting feedback in the comments. They essentially agree with you.
You also make a good point that if Rhodes hadn't been fired for her hateful rhetoric, Kuby wouldn't have a job.
Posted by: Allison | August 02, 2008 at 07:39 AM