ESPN fires radio host who spoke favorably of seeing Sen. Ted Kennedy ‘assassinated.’
By on May 29th, 2008 at 4:38 pm
ESPN fires radio host who spoke favorably of seeing Sen. Ted Kennedy ‘assassinated.’
Last week, after Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) was diagnosed with a brain tumor, Pittsburgh-based sports shock jock Mark Madden said on his radio show that he was “disappointed to hear” that Kennedy was ill because he had “always hoped Senator Kennedy would be live long enough to be assassinated.” After waiting five days and considering the situation “more throroughly from all perspectives,” ESPN fired Madden yesterday.
Watch an MSNBC report on Madden’s firing:
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51 Responses to “ESPN fires radio host who spoke favorably of seeing Sen. Ted Kennedy ‘assassinated.’”
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Sure has been an uptick in assassination references lately.
May 29th, 2008 at 4:41 pmShould have fired this sick fcuk within the hour of saying that.
Republican suck.
May 29th, 2008 at 4:42 pmAnd FOX will soon be firing someone for wishing another Senator, Obama, would be assassinated..... when?
May 29th, 2008 at 4:42 pmSo, when can we fire Hilary?
May 29th, 2008 at 4:42 pmNot to worry, Madden. Faux NoNooz has just contacted your agent with a 7 figure offer to sit beside the rest of the BushCo paid hacks.
May 29th, 2008 at 4:42 pmNow I am totally without doubt that Freedom of speech is clearly a thing of the past. Welcome to the new Regime!
JJ
May 29th, 2008 at 4:43 pmOnline Privacy when it Counts
Really? I didn't realize that the gentleman had been arrested for his speech as well.
May 29th, 2008 at 4:45 pmJebus...that guy is one sick twisted barstid.
May 29th, 2008 at 4:45 pmGo back to callin' wrastlin', Mark.
Your love of controversy means shit. GFY.
May 29th, 2008 at 4:46 pmSoooo, it would be ok to shout 'FIRE' in a crowded movie theatre?
May 29th, 2008 at 4:46 pmProps to ESPN. When Fox fires an on-air personality for hate speech, we're all in trouble. It means hell just froze over.
May 29th, 2008 at 4:46 pmBoy, if Freedom of Speech covers a public figure wishing for the assassination of a political figure, I think our founding fathers were smoking too much hemp at the time.
May 29th, 2008 at 4:47 pmRight call by ESPN, but why did it have to take 5 days? It should have been 5 minutes.
May 29th, 2008 at 4:48 pmChuck Feney Says:
Right call by ESPN, but why did it have to take 5 days? It should have been 5 minutes.
Of course, but the authoritarians always wait until the public uproar is out of control, then they act. If the public (blogs) hadn't highlighted this issue, it just may have disappeared - like our freedoms.
May 29th, 2008 at 4:50 pmWe're fighting more than the usual battle in the run up to November. Obama and his supporters have their work cut out for them -- not in winning the election, but turning back the lunatics who want to kill off any human wanting to see him progress.
May 29th, 2008 at 4:50 pmJob security is not an issue for the rusher, as he owns his own syndicate, right?
May 29th, 2008 at 4:51 pmGood.
Now we can concentrate on the important thing -- Rachel Ray's scarf.
:-D
May 29th, 2008 at 4:52 pmOK, I admit I'm out of the loop on many things, but ---
1. Why is a SPORTS "shock jock" commenting on Kennedy? Has Kennedy been moonlighting with the Nationals or something?
2. Why would ANYBODY -- even the most rabid rightwinger -- find this funny?
3. Why would it take five days to "consider" this situation? Even looking at it "from all perspectives", it shouldn't take that long to determine whether Madden violated the rules set for him by his employers.
4. Why do these networks hire "shock jocks" and then get shocked at what they say?
May 29th, 2008 at 4:53 pmZoo,
good one! Even though I find her somewhat of a be-otch, that knee-jerk reaction was really over the top (of the pan).
May 29th, 2008 at 4:53 pmWhat the hell is a sports jock commenting on politics for?
My Son once said he could predict outcomes, so he must have ESPN!
Supid Jock. Stupid Comment. Good firing.
May 29th, 2008 at 4:54 pmMiss Hussein Molly,
MONEY.
May 29th, 2008 at 4:56 pmChuck Feney Says:
Right call by ESPN, but why did it have to take 5 days? It should have been 5 minutes.
It took that long for the advertising execs to figure out if they stood to lose more revenue by keeping or by firing the a$$hole. It's always all about the money.
And LumpyDumpy, apparently the right to free speech right was nullified when the pentagon determined that our troops, who are in harm's way to "spread freedom in the middle east" (at least I think that's the this week's talking point) were denied the right to read and write on blogs.
PEACE
May 29th, 2008 at 4:57 pmupside99 Says:
May 29th, 2008 at 4:53 pm
I can only watch her show on "mute." :)
May 29th, 2008 at 4:57 pmLumpyDunky, so, as Stratrat asked in #10, is yelling "Fire!" in a theatre covered under your definition of free speech?
I worked until recently with a woman who just got fired for talking badly about the company to clients. Should I have her call you up?
May 29th, 2008 at 4:58 pmmary Says:
Sure has been an uptick in assassination references lately.
May 29th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
_______
It's 40 years after 1968, in which we had a prominent civil rights leader and a Presidential candidate assassinated. Back then, like today, the global economy was in a downturn, the country was in the midst of a very unpopular and bloody war, the Democratic party was mired in a highly-contested race, and the country was embroiled in a pretty strong culture war between liberals and conservatives.
There are just a few parallels.
May 29th, 2008 at 4:59 pmThe Republican party is full of folks like this. 2-bit cowards.
Yep. Big mouthed bullies. Bullies are always dependable. If you stand up to them, they either find a weaker advisary or they will turn and run. Limbaugh, oreilly, beck, coulter, hannity, etc...All useless bullies. History will spit on their memories.
May 29th, 2008 at 5:00 pmOr how about not allowed to show caskets coming back from Iraq or Afghanistan? They even allowed that during Vietnam!
May 29th, 2008 at 5:00 pmUpside, that too! After all, we wouldn't want to depress the American public with the realities of war - they're supposed to be out shopping!
PEACE
May 29th, 2008 at 5:02 pmWow, I didn't even know that Mighty Aphrodite had a job on ESPN! ;-D
May 29th, 2008 at 5:05 pmI guess if I ever get to have LumpyDunky's spawn in class, I will be free to call them stupid retarded inbred dipshits without any concern for my job security
May 29th, 2008 at 5:06 pmGeez, there are a lot of big mouths on the air who are so into themselves that they believe they can say whatever falls out of their mouths. Madden should have been fired immediately -- did ESPN have to take a poll first?
And I also agree that there is an awful lot of talk about killing, assassination, taking out of people on the air -- the hatemongers like Limbaugh, Savage, Coulter, OReilly, Beck et al share some responsibility, as they routinely get away with such talk with no repercussions.
May 29th, 2008 at 5:08 pm#30 Jane
May 29th, 2008 at 5:09 pmeewww! I forgot all about mighty aphrodite of the past! Good riddance to her/it.
dbadass Says:
I guess if I ever get to have LumpyDunky’s spawn in class, I will be free to call them stupid retarded inbred dipshits without any concern for my job security
May 29th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
Just get it on video....please!
May 29th, 2008 at 5:11 pmWhere they come from that's a compliment. Usually they're just called slugs.
May 29th, 2008 at 5:15 pmI'm glad that's working for you, bandwagon.
May 29th, 2008 at 5:46 pmor to cry like a Boehner
May 29th, 2008 at 5:50 pmbandwagon Might as Well Say:
When are these ex-BushCo flacks going to learn not to say anything about Bush. Its like picking on the cry baby-tattle tales in school. One lesson can be learned from this; it pays to cry like a baby.
May 29th, 2008 at 5:54 pmDo you see how the dismal right side frames this: Somebody is whining and crying like a baby over a simple assassination quote. Instead of being the loyal American who should disavow any talk of captial murder on an elected representative, the low information types call it whining. Is it any wonder the entire planet sees these administartion supporters as anything other than animals? Animals about to become extinct.
May 29th, 2008 at 5:55 pmIts like picking on the cry baby-tattle tales in school.
Spoken like the little bully you no-doubt were in school. I bet you liked to pick on the developmentally disabled as well.
Frikkin' retards.
May 29th, 2008 at 6:05 pmLumpyDumpy sucks at life and does not know how the First Amendment works -- did ESPN somehow become and instrumentality of the government and impeded this knuckldraggers "free speech"? I think not. ESPN, as a private employer, could fire the guy if he said "boo" on the air. Frankly, they should just for laughs have fired the guy for being a fat-bearded freak.
May 29th, 2008 at 6:11 pmBandwagon needs a new talking point -- and exactly who was whining and crying like mouth-frothing freaks about a scarf in a Dunkin Donuts ad???????? Scarf = bad; assassination of a public figure whose two brothers were assassinated = perfectly acceptable discourse. Spoken by the true whiners who scream and cry with feigned outrage about anything and everthing.
May 29th, 2008 at 6:16 pmWhat took ESPN so long?
May 29th, 2008 at 6:19 pmbandwagon Says very stupid shit -
You are what is called a little NAZI PUNK, bandwagon, calling for assassination of a public offical is not the American way, it is the Repukian Christofascist way, but not the American way. Your mind has been rotted by Reichwing Hate Radio. I do hope you get Brain Cancer and then you can do you whining here about it, and I will have about this much sympathy for you...None.
May 29th, 2008 at 6:25 pmbandwagon,
Whining about thinking everyone hates you is really boring. Got anything else?
May 29th, 2008 at 6:53 pmbandwagon Says:
Doesn’t it feel good to hate somebody by assuming they think a certain way? Progressives are the epitome of everything they stand against. the word Hypocrite comes to mind!!
Nice try, but no. I was waiting for you to add "I know you are, but what am I?". Home schooled, juveniles like yourself should really stand back and learn from the adults before mouthing off. Being a low information person makes it possible for you to educate yourself. You should please try and do that. Projecting your own issues (hate) onto progressives is a very transparent ploy. I don't think anyone here advocated 'hating' anyone. We don't like jokes of killing an elected member of Congress. Doesn't that make sense to you?
Your little world is crumbling around you; we get it. You don't feel very good about your support of a criminal enterprise; we get it. All of your heroes are not so much anymore; we get it. The few bits of confidence and self-esteem you had are gone; we get that too. Dude: WE GET IT!
Now if you are a good American and STFU, you might get invited to Obama's acceptance speech.
May 29th, 2008 at 6:55 pm#26 hussein toasterhead
May 29th, 2008 at 6:58 pmYour comparison of the two eras is quite on point.
The turmoil in the nation today is certainly comparable to that of the 60's. After all these years, I am amazed to find myself still so affected by that horrific decade.
This supposition implies that we believe you are capable of thinking. You see the problem here, dittohead?
May 29th, 2008 at 7:25 pmY'know how, in September, big league ball clubs expand their rosters and bring up minor leaguers for a cup of coffee in the bigs? And some of them do well enough to earn a shot the following spring, and some of them strike out seven out of eight times at bat, get picked off of first their only time on base and commit four errors in the outfield and are never heard from again?
bandwagon reminds me of the ones who are never heard from again.
May 29th, 2008 at 7:29 pmAh!!! It's YASIR ARAFAT...he's back, protect the donuts!
May 29th, 2008 at 7:44 pmNow I am totally without doubt that Freedom of speech is clearly a thing of the past. Welcome to the new Regime!
JJ
Online Privacy when it Counts
--LumpyDunky
***************************************************
That's funny...folks like you didn't seem to have any problem when Linda Ronstadt was let go from her casino singing gig a number of years ago because she spoke out against the war! If you think that the casino had every right to fire Ronstadt for speaking her mind -- despite the fact that she wasn't speaking in favor of violence towards someone else, but rather the reverse -- then in the interest of fairness, you have to accept that ESPN has every right to fire Madden. What's good for the goose is damn well good for the gander! If you won't accept that, then you're nothing but a baldfaced hypocrite with a double standard and that's all there is to it.
Madden has every right to his opinion, and even to voice it informally -- but if he chooses to do so on the record in a public medium where his comments could potentially result in negative consequences for his employers such as a fall in ratings or loss of advertising revenues, then his decision to speak his mind represents a potential conflict of interest and they have every right to fire him.
May 30th, 2008 at 9:39 amYou liberals really hate republicans, don't you? FYI, Madden is not a conservative or a republican. Just because that day he decided to pick on your boy doesn't make him a republican hack. Madden should not have been fired; for goodness sakes ESPN just lost a TON of money by firing him. Their station will now return to the mediocrity it was before Madden came on board with them. But please, continue to delude yourselves into thinking this was some political commentary and not Mark just entertaining us like he has for years during rush hour traffic....
June 7th, 2008 at 11:15 am