Local talk-radio jock Davis tells Newtown families, ‘Go to hell’

What some people will say to feed “the base” … At The National Memo, there’s a piece on a Twin Cities’ talk jock: “Radio host Bob Davis (left) of Minneapolis’ KTCN-AM [last] week unleashed a barrage of jaw-dropping abuse on the Newtown families, as well as the victims of any other shooting, because his right to brandish a deadly weapon is far more precious than their children’s right to live past kindergarten. We’ll let him speak for himself:

I have something I want to say to the victims of Newtown or any other shooting, I don’t care if it’s here in Minneapolis or any place else. Just because a bad thing happened to you doesn’t mean that you get to put a king in charge of my life. I’m sorry that you suffered a tragedy, but you know what? Deal with it, and don’t force me to lose my liberty, which is a greater tragedy than your loss. I’m sick and tired of seeing these victims trotted out, given rides on Air Force One, hauled into the Senate well, and everyone is…terrified of these victims. I would stand in front of them and tell them, ‘Go to hell.’ ”

Since he works for Clear Channel, I’m guessing he got a bonus for that one.

Update: Here’s how you apologize in TalkRadioBubbleLand … Via Aaron Rupar at City Pages: “Davis didn’t exactly apologize today. Instead, he characterized his comment as ‘an emotional predecessor to a thought which can and will find a more refined expression by me and others in the future, I guarantee you.’ Here’s a transcript …

[DAVIS] Yes, we’re getting some email regarding comments I made Friday on the victims of the Sandy Hook shooting tragedy, and ah, here’s what you need to know and what some of you already know about me is that, ah, this is not a contrived show, I do not hide behind flowery language I do not pull my punches ah, when I’m passionate about something it comes out on the air, it’s real and it will always be that way. Ah, you may not agree with what it is, but you know what I say to you is what I’m thinking, and I’m telling you that’s how it is. It might provoke some thought for you, ah, it might not, but ah, I’m gonna say what I think and I’m going to say what I feel.

…  But this isn’t a newspaper or a magazine and we don’t filter our views or commentary before we say it, it is radio, it’s immediate, it can be emotional both in its immediate expression as well as its response. It’s unrealistic, I think, to expect a complete filter for anybody doing live media. … And here’s the point in this: What’s really at stake is the insecurity because of the loss of natural rights to defend ourselves from criminals as well as the encroaching power of the state. And it’s important to look at the broad ramifications that this legislation might have on liberty and security and refrain from pushing it through by parading around victims or overestimating their credibility in policy preferences just because they’re victims.”

You can add Bob’s audience to the list of victims …

Speaking of sanity issues … from the Schaffhausen trial … Pam Louwagie of the Strib writes: “An expert hired by prosecutors to examine Aaron Schaffhausen testified Monday that he believes Schaffhausen was sane when he killed his three daughters in July. Dr. Erik Knudson testified that his medical opinion is ‘very strong ‘that Schaffhausen understood that what he was doing was wrong and was in control of his actions, which is part of the test for legal sanity in Wisconsin. Schaffhausen’s deceiving of his ex-wife and others to get access to the girls while he was visiting from North Dakota, as well as him acting appropriately in public in the days and hours leading up to the crimes, then trying to destroy evidence led to Knudson’s opinion, Knudson testified.”

It’s over. Dan Gunderson at MPR reports: “Locked-out American Crystal Sugar union members are headed back to work after the union voted over the weekend to accept the company’s contract offer. Union members, who have been locked out at five factories in the Red River Valley since Aug. 1, 2011, expect a bumpy return to their old jobs. Just enough union members changed their vote to ratify the same contract they had rejected four times. Employees last voted on it in December, when 55 percent voted to reject the offer. The new contract means more money for workers, but they will pay more for health insurance and union officials say they will lose some job security.”

It’s more criminal charges in the state’s biggest fish-poaching operation. In the Duluth News Tribune, the story says: “Authorities in Minnesota are bringing criminal charges against 21 people in the largest case of commercialized poaching of fish in the state in at least 22 years. The charges follow a three-year special investigation into the illegal sale and dumping of thousands of game fish in north-central and northwestern Minnesota. The investigation, known as Operation Squarehook, involved about 60 officers from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and tribal authorities from the Red Lake Band of Chippewa and Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. The suspects are facing up to 35 misdemeanor and six gross misdemeanor state charges in six counties in northern Minnesota. Total state fines are expected in the tens of thousands of dollars.”

There’s a bill in the House to goose university funding another $150 million … with conditions. Doug Belden of the PiPress says: “The plan freezes in-state resident tuition at the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system for the next two years and gives the state a greater watchdog role. ‘The work in our committee showed a clear need for the Legislature to have a greater role in the oversight of how the U of M and MnSCU are spending public and tuition-raised dollars,’ said committee chair Gene Pelowski, DFL-Winona, in a statement. ‘We found that administrative costs and salaries are growing at an unsustainable rate and students are paying the price with higher tuition and debt. That is unacceptable.’ ”

The conservative Washington Times thinks it’s on to a hot one. Cheryl Chumley writes: “Republicans looking at the background of Labor secretary nominee Thomas Perez say he ‘manipulated’ federal law while in service as assistant attorney general and is guilty of cutting a ‘quid pro quo’ deal. Fox News reported that Mr. Perez talked Minnesota officials into dropping a lawsuit that was headed to the Supreme Court by promising, in return, that the Justice Department wouldn’t involve itself in any whistleblower cases brought against the city. ‘In early February 2012, Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez made a secret deal behind closed doors with St. Paul, Minnesota, Mayor Christopher Coleman and St. Paul’s outside counsel David Lillehaug,’ the 67-page reported concluded, as Fox News reported. In so doing, Mr. Perez ‘manipulated the rule of law and pushed the limits of justice to make this deal happen.’ ” Ooo, “behind closed doors”!

She feels a kinship, obviously. Corey Mitchell of the Strib says: “Rep. Michele Bachmann will attend the funeral of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on Wednesday as part of a congressional delegation. In the waning days of 2012 presidential campaign, Bachmann often compared herself to Thatcher, the prime minister known as the ‘Iron Lady’ because she stuck to strict conservative economic and political positions despite public opposition. Days before the Iowa Republican caucuses in January 2012, Bachmann told crowds that: ‘We need another Margaret Thatcher, another Iron Lady.’ Bachmann also ran campaign ads in Iowa calling herself ‘America’s Iron Lady.’ ” … Albeit with some stress cracks and heavy oxidation.

So give it a prize for “The Worst Spring Ever” and tell it to hit the road. At MPR, Paul Huttner writes: “This spring is seriously turning into a mental health challenge for most Minnesotans. ‘Reluctant’ doesn’t even begin to describe this “spring” in Minnesota anymore. Missing, tardy or AWOL is more like it? The latest barrage of heavy wet snow up north virtually assures (potentially major) flooding on the Red River Valley this spring. And Duluth reports a new all time snowfall record for February through April. …
10.8″ snowfall report in Fargo this morning
I-94 closed from Fargo the the Montana state line!
68.8″ Duluth snowfall since February — snowiest Feb-Apr on record
6.8″ snowiest April in 11 years at MSP Airport (since 20.2″ in 2001-’02)
10 days in a row with rain and or snow at MSP Airport
-7.3F temps vs. average at MSP Airport so far in April.”