Canned Graham

In a surprising display of good taste, WMAL (above) fired Michael Graham yesterday because he refused to concede that his statement that the entire religion of Islam was a "terrorist organization" may have been a tad sweeping. In fact, all he had to do to keep his job was read a statement saying that his characterization was "too broad," and that he employs "hyperbole" from time to time.

Which of course would be the truth. Instead, Graham dug in his heels (I guess all those afternoons spent watching daytime TV and eating oven fries stiffened his indignity bone). On his website today, Graham issues a long statement that starts "Well, they got me," and goes on to blame station management for caving to extremists. Oddly, at one point, he calls moderate Muslims "good people," which I think was actually more than what his bosses were asking for.

The winner in this? Well, probably no one. It's not like WMAL is gonna fill the spot with someone reasonable--considered, thoughtful dialogue doesn't really play with talk-radio fans of either political stripe (people in the middle are listening to Jack if they're listening at all). The station more or less has to find another rule-breaking conservative who can keep an audience of dyspeptic middle-aged white men angry enough to keep listening but not enough to go pee on a mosque.

Graham will find another gig somewhere, perhaps in a city where statements like his won't generate a whiff of outrage--hey, maybe even here!--and the net change will be zero. He'll be able to serve a new band of anger junkies, WMAL's ratings will go back up (the dirty secret is that Graham's were way down before this flap), and the rest of us will just give up a little bit more on the idea of dialogue.