Randi Rhodes Didn't Insult Hillary After All (Updated Update)

As a sometime listener to the Randi Rhodes radio program when she was still on it, I am quite sure that Randi meant no offense when she called Hillary Clinton a big [expletive deleted] whore at a live event for the San Francisco Air America affiliate.

Although the ardent Democrat has revealed that she favors Barack Obama for president and considers Clinton a big [expletive deleted] liar, she has clearly stated on her show that she will (under duress) advocate for the big [you know what], should Hillary win her party’s nomination. I even suspect that Randi voted for HRC’s fellow floozy Geraldine Ferraro as vice president in 1984. This, if verified, would put to rest the assumption by Rhodes’ employer, Air America, that she was insulting either Ferraro or the junior senator from New York.

After all, nobody suspended Tina Fey for calling Hillary a bitch. NBC knew she meant it in the most flattering sense. As, I’m sure, did Randi.

To see this does take some historical perspective. First-ever woman to run for president Victoria Woodhull was even more widely believed to be a member of the first-ever profession than Hillary. As the 1872 nominee of the Equal Rights Party, Woodhull ran on a platform of free love and legalized prostitution. While she fared poorly against war hero Ulysses S. Grant, she is revered by feminists today, suggesting that they--and Randi--idolize Hillary as well.

David Hinckley of the New York Daily News points out that once-fired/newly resurrected ABC host Don Imus “routinely calls Clinton things like ‘Satan’ and ‘the fat pig’” on the air. Which is far more hurtful, at least the “fat” part. While more slender than Clinton, Woodhull, too, was called Mrs. Satan, by cartoonist Thomas Nast…proving once again that those who do not know history are condemned to repeat it.

But are they condemned to be suspended indefinitely for it? Randi told Jeff Norman of the Huffington Post that her Air America employers “are in breach of my contract and have damaged my hard won excellent reputation in the broadcast industry.” Surely, now that I have explained what really happened in a dispassionate, scholarly manner, all will be forgiven.

Update: My fortune-tellling talents could use a bit of fine-tuning. On April 10 Air America announced that Randi "has chosen to terminate her employment with the company"--and not to apologize for her colorful descriptions of Hillary and Gerry. KKGN in San Francisco announced that they will announce on April 14 that she will return to the station...just not as part of Air America anymore. She'll be replaced temporarily by Richard Belzer, says Huffington Post article Randi Rhodes Quits Air America Rather Than Apologize For Hillary Clinton "F*cking Whore" Remark: "There's Relief And Joy" At The Station.

Updated update: No, Randi will not be working under Hillary at Walmart as a greeter, as Politisite feared. The Huffington Post writes that the Nova M Radio Network press release gushes that "The Nova M Radio Network is thrilled to announce" that they will be her new home starting Monday, April 14. Where, presumably, Randi will be free to say any f***ing thing about Hillary she wants.