Mr. Boortz

I got a smile reading Creative Loafing last week. A man named John Sugg did a little research on Neil Boortz, and found the most amazing things.
For those of you who have the good fortune not to know, Neil Boortz hosts a morning talk show. It originates at WSB am in Atlanta, and is syndicated in other markets.
I should not have been surprised at what Mr. Suggs found. Mr. Boortz has long been a cheerleader for the war in Iraq. Now, it turns out he was the beneficiary of a debatable deferral during the Vietnam War, when he was the prime age for cannon fodder.
Not long after that, Nee Yull arrived at Atlanta’s first all talk station, WRNG, in a little office park behind the Burger Chef in Brookhaven. He has been with us ever since.
I should count myself lucky. I don't work with anyone who needs to listen to the Neil Boortz show. There is no telling how many frayed working relationships can be chalked up to people forcing their neighbor to listen to his show.
People can be very aggressive and thoughtless when it comes to radios at work. This may be the next frontier of workers rights, like second hand smoke a few years ago. A lot of people just plain don’t want to hear their neighbors radio...but don’t expect the industrial media to tell you this story.
I saw a live performance by Mr. Boortz. It was after the Federal Building was bombed in Oklahoma City, and CNN had a Live talk show in the Lobby of the CNN center. Mr. Boortz was a host. He said...and I cannot recall the exact words...not to believe anything he says, that he is just saying things to make you think. I detected a smirk on his face while he said this.
There are things you can say on radio and get away with, because no one can see what is on your face. This is one of the reasons Neil does not come across on TV (the fact that he is ugly as sin doesn’t help either). When he says, dot believe what I say, I am just trying to make you think, with that smirk on his face, he is expressing his contempt for his audience. While it is not evident on radio, when you see the face it is obvious.
It should be noted the damage that Mr. Boortz is doing to the Libertarian movement. While an alternative party or two would do America good, the Libertarians are hampered by the "jerk factor"...i.e. they are linked to loudmouth jerks like Mr. Boortz. While this may be good for the ratings at WSB, it alienates a lot of people who could give the Libertarian party some support.
I could say more, but John Sugg says it better than I could. He has a partner in this. His partner is a man who went to Vietnam, and came home traumatized. He heard Mr. Boortz say that posttraumatic stress condition was phony.... like he has been in enough combat to know. Maybe he saw "Patton" too many times. At any rate, this man became the "anti-Boortz", and has been researching his combat record.
As much of a ruckus as Nee Yull has caused, he should have known this was coming.