SHOCKED JOCK

     By now, I'm sure we've all heard the story about how Anthony Cumia of the popular SiriusXM show "Opie and Anthony" was fired from the show right before Fourth of July weekend for posting some pretty racist Tweets on Twitter about a black woman who punched him in the face in Times Square. For those of you who live under a rock and have no clue who "Opie and Anthony" are, they're an extremely popular radio show, who at one time gave the Great Howard Stern a run for his money as far as radio shock jocks go. It was O and A who coined the phrase "Whip 'Em Out Wednesday" or simply seen on bumper stickers as "W.O.W." Yes, I know that you've seen them on cars, but probably never knew what those stickers meant. Well, back when O and A were making their bones in NYC back when I was still at Z100, they ran this campaign on Wednesdays where if women saw these bumper stickers on cars, they were urged to lift their tops and show the bearer of the sticker their boobs. Those were some great days! I've never seen so many boobs in my life until that time period and I never even had a sticker!

     Anyway, today, Anthony, after two decades on the air and three firings (oh yeah, he was also fired in Boston for running an April Fool's Day joke saying that the mayor of Boston was dead.), says he's going off the airwaves for good after his recent SiriusXM firing. Anthony was fired on Friday from SiriusXM for a series of racially charged tweets. He says that he plans on doing a live podcast-style broadcast from Long Island home studio. One source said that Anthony is pretty much "history as far as any corporate-owned media are concerned."

     Cumia, who is 53, would most likely recruit many of the comic regulars featured on the O and A show like Jimmy Norton, Bill Burr, Jim Florentine, and Nick DPaolo, just to name a few. Though, Anthony has decided to flip the dial on his career, rabid fans of the O and A show have launched an online petition demanding that Anthony be re-instated on the show. Nearly 4,000 supporters, many whom are threatening to cancel their subscription, backed Cumia after he was axed for the Twitter tirade, which was deemed as "hate-filled" by his former employer. In the petition, it was stated, "A member of your staff should not lose their job for exercising their First Amendment right to free speech. You should be ashamed of your actions."

      The $3-million-a-year co-host launched his Twitter offensive early Wednesday after asserting that he was punched in the face by a black woman in Times Square while he was trying to take a picture of the touristy NYC hot spot. Anthony ripped into the woman calling her a "c**t" and a "savage" and expressed his desire for someone to shoot her. He also Tweeted, "It's really open season on white people in this day and age. No recourse. Fight back and you're a racist." The tweets were deleted this weekend after his firing was announced. 

     Here's what I  have to say about this situation after being in radio for 13 years: Anthony, you're a public figure, bro! Though, I might agree with the way you felt at the moment because you got clocked by a black woman for no reason at all, but taking it to Twitter was not a smart move because you have so many people watching you. You might not have been an A-list celebrity, but you're a celebrity nonetheless and one of my radio heroes. Yes, I do agree that your First Amendment rights were taken from you, but come on! When you're in the public eye, you really need to watch what you say on sites like Twitter and Facebook. On the bright side, you might be better off out of corporate America and doing your own thing and being your own boss. Your followers will follow you to your podcast, so you're off to a pretty good head start. As for that black woman, you're right! Something bad should happen to her. She can't just go around punching people because they take pictures in Times Square! It's Times Square! That's what tourists do!

DISMISSED FROM THE MILITARY FOR BEING ANTI-OBAMA

I always thought that when men and women enlisted in the military, they were sacrificing their lives to protect this country. I also thought that 'freedom of speech' was an amendment in the Constitution. Well, isn't the right to choose a political party part of the American way, as well? Many of us have been caught sitting around and talking politics and sometimes, we'll even bash the President, whether it is Obama or Bush or Clinton or whomever. Sometimes, we'll even post our feelings on Facebook. I've seen a number of posts within the past four years poking fun at our current President. Were any of those people punished? The answer to that is no! Then why should a 9-year Marine be dismissed for his Anti-Obama remarks? What is happening to this country that we can't even speak our minds anymore? I mean, yesterday, I blogged about a women who spoke her mind, but was extremely racist about it. Fine, she deserved to be punished, but someone who is fighting for and defending our country should not be punished for having a sense of humor. That is just plain wrong!

Out in Camp Pendleton, California, a Marine named Sgt. Gary Stein apparently criticized President Obama on his Facebook page and is now being accused of misconduct and according to a military board late Thursday, should be dismissed. The board also recommended that Stein be given another-than-honorable discharge. In other words, Stein would lose his benefits and would not be allowed on any military base. That's absolutely ridiculous! It kind of reminds me of people who made fun of Mussolini or Hitler, which wouldn't happen because those people would be punished and tortured. Well, this is no different! The board's recommendations go to a general who will either accept or deny them. If the general disagrees with the board, the case could go to the secretary of the Navy.

Stein's lawyers argued that the 9-year Marine, whose service was to end in four months, anyhow, was only expressing his personal views and exercising his First Amendment rights. Stein addressed the board members during Thursday's hearing, telling them he loved the Marine Corps and even wanted to re-enlist. During the hearing, the prosecutor stated that Stein went as far as using Photoshop to superimpose images of President Obama's face on a poster for the movie Jackass. Okay, I really don't see the harm in that. Was there really any sort of threat on the President's life here? The prosecutor went on to say that Stein's behavior violates Pentagon policy that limits free speech rights of service members, and said he should be dismissed after ignoring warnings from his superiors about his postings. It sounds to me that the prosecutor is getting a bit touchy here and I'm willing to bet if you go back into his private emails, there is some sort of Obama-bashing come from his end too!

The government's even submitted screen grabs of Stein's postings on one Facebook page he created called Armed Forces Tea Party, which the prosecutor said included the image of President Obama on the Jackass movie poster. Stein also superimposed the President's face on a poster for The Incredibles movie that he changed to The Horribles. I still don't see anything threatening about any of this. Stein has said that his opinions are his own and has even put a disclaimer on his Facebook page stating so. His attorney argued that service members have the right to voice their opinions as long as they do not appear to be presenting their views as being endorsed by the military. They also said that the Pentagon policy is vague and military officials don't even understand it.

The only real problem here is that Stein did declare on Facebook that he would not follow orders from President Obama and later clarified that statement saying he would not follow unlawful orders. I think that's where he is wrong because he may not like the President, but he's enlisted as a serviceman for this country, which right now, is being run by President Obama. So, unfortunately, Stein has to abide by the President's rules.

One former Marine, who happens to be a Senator now, wrote a letter to Stein's commanding officer stating that the sergeant should not be dismissed for an opinion shared by a majority of Marines. Stein went on to say that his statement was about President Obama was a part of an online debate about NATO allowing U.S. Troops to be tried for the Quran burnings in Afghanistan. In that context, he said that he was stating that he would not follow orders from the President if it involved detaining U.S. citizens, disarming them or doing anything else that he believes would violate their constitutional rights.

It sounds to me; Stein is more of a hero than someone who is trying to hurt the President with his words. Why would they try to strip the man of his benefits after he spent 9 years defending this country? It also seems that his words were to protect other American citizens. I'm still trying to figure out what he did wrong? Was making fun of the President wrong? If that's the case, you might as well punish this whole country because we're all making fun of him! When did we become a country full of cry babies? We used to be a World Power, but now I'm feeling like we've become part of the World Comedy Hour! This is ridiculous! What do you guys think? Should Sgt. Stein be discharged from the Marine Corps?