Noted Quote: Mark Shannon On J. C. Watts

"...I 'm not looking for a 'hired gun' based on money, not principles, for Governor.... And that appears to be exactly what J.C. Watts has become. J.C. should stick with being a lobbyist. Oklahoma needs someone that appears more principled and more dedicated to conservative principles to run this state's government." ~ Radio talk show host and blogger Mark Shannon

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Taxpayer Tea Parties Due Wednesday

Taxpayer tea parties are being held across the state on Wednesday to protest the federal bailout. The flyer at left, courtesy the blog Muskogee Politico, advertises one in that city. For a complete list of planned events, go to Mark Shannon's blog.

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Mark Shannon: 'Fond' Clinton Memories

From www.markshannon.com ~ Howard Wolfson: "The American people remember the Clinton years fondly."

You mean the impeachment? The lies? The grand jury appearances? The bombing of the WTC, our embassies, our ships (USS COLE,) "Black Hawk" down?

Or was it Waco, Whitewater, the indicted members of his cabinet?

No wait, it was Paula Jones, Genifer Flowers, and Monica Lewinsky.

Yep, those are FOND memories Howie.

[Mark Shannon is the afternoon drive host at KTOK in Oklahoma City.]

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Citty Under Fire For Gun Control Comment

Oklahoma City Police Chief Bill Citty, who yesterday called for more gun control following a gang-related drive-by shooting that wounded six over the weekend, is under fire today from numerous quarters.

National Rifle Association news commentator Mike McCarville told NRA News listeners last night Citty "apparently has bought into the 'it's the guns, not the criminals' mindset" that propels those pushing gun control.

"Why isn't he talking about more gang control?" McCarville asked. "And since when do gang members pay any attention to gun laws? The only thing Citty's proposal would produce is more restrictions on those who already follow the law."

The NRA's Institute for Legislative Action put the Citty story on its international news wire feed, prompting numerous 2nd Amendment bloggers to comment.

The Oklahoma Shooters Association blog is jammed today with comments critical of Citty. Read them at http://www.okshooters.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30828.

Oklahoma City outdoor television and radio show host Ron Black scorches Citty in comments posted today on his blog.

KTOK radio talk show host Mark Shannon discussed Citty's remarks on his afternoon talk show.

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Cruising The Blogosphere

Tulsa writer David Arnett has a think piece up on his Tulsa Today about Barack Obama that's well worth reading.

Mark Shannon continues his rant against the GM building acquisition on which Oklahoma County residents vote tomorrow.

State GOP official Steve Fair has a number of thoughtful, and thought-provoking, posts on everything from the State GOP Convention to the immigration debate.

The Hill reports on Hillary Clinton's fadeout in the presidential race.

Brent Bozzell's Media Research Center reports on the latest softball interview of Barack Obama.

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Conservative Bloggers Illustrate GOP Dilemma

Two of Oklahoma's most active conservative bloggers, Mark Shannon and Ron Black, demonstrate today on their blogs the dilemma faced by most Republican voters this election year: They split, Shannon endorsing Mitt Romney, Black endorsing John McCain. Both indicated they'd prefer an alternative.

Shannon, host of his afternoon drive show on Oklahoma City radio station KTOK with a long-running blog that is widely read, wrote: I made up my mind on Wednesday night who to cast my vote for in the Presidential Primary next Tuesday. Actually, John McCain made my mind up for me. McCain may still win, and if he does, I'll vote for him in November, however, the jerky, arrogant, angry crap he spewed at Mitt Romney lost my vote in the primary. Romney may not be a "war hero," but he certainly has a lot more grace, style, and honestly, "class." than John McCain, and he's right on more of the issues than McCain. As for McCain, if he should win the nomination and he tries that crap against Hillary Clinton, he will doom his own campaign the first time he uses the behavior he exhibited against Romney on Wednesday night.

After reading Shannon's post, Black wrote his own: SHANSTER DECIDES TO VOTE FOR ROMNEY, I'M HOLDING MY NOSE AND VOTING FOR MCCAIN: Romney is WRONG, I mean REALLY WRONG on the 2nd Amendment and supports a ban on so-called assault weapons, just like Hillary and her mascot Bill did a few years ago. Romney has the business savvy and experience to do the right thing from a fiscal standpoint, but while that happens, he'd be signing bills on fingerprinting ammunition, registering handguns and banning scary black rifles. McCain, as far as I am concerned, is an arrogant waste of Republican votes but I like my 2nd Amendment far too much to vote for Romney. McCain's fight against free speech (a la McCain-Feingold) was a mistake and I think he's learning that fact. So, yes. I'm holding my nose and supporting McCain.

Shannon's blog can be found at http://www.markshannon.com/. Black's blog can be found at http://www.ronblackradio.com/.

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Shannon Takes Over As KTOK PM Host

As expected, veteran broadcaster Mark Shannon is the new host of radio station KTOK's afternoon drive show. The show, which had aired from 5-7 p.m. for the past two years, will now air from 4-7 p.m.

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Is Mark Shannon KTOK's New Afternoon Host?

Veteran broadcaster and blogger Mark Shannon may be radio station KTOK's new afternoon show host.

Shannon, last on the air here hosting the morning show on WKY before it flipped to Hispanic music and before that the morning host on a Nashville talk station, today posted a message under his name on his blog: "His next 25 years of OKC radio starts Monday," the message reads. He's also addded a line to his biography noting he will return to Oklahoma City radio on Monday. As we reported on Friday, the station will introduce its new afternoon drive show host on Monday.

Shannon's background includes work as an FM disc jockey in several states. In 1983, after a stop in Amarillo, he moved to Oklahoma City and joined KJ103FM (KJY0). His 7-year run there ended when he joined Classic Rock 107.7 KRXO, for eight years, where he evolved the mornings from a "more rock, less talk" format to a "no rock, all talk" show. The show, which was sometimes described as Rush Limbaugh meets Howard Stern, helped take the struggling station to number one in the market, and the highest rated classic rock station (percentage of audience) in the United States. In 1998, The Sports Animal 104.9/640am, hired Shannon to do a "man show" for the sports station.

In October of 2000, he was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, (CLL) a slowly progressing form of the disease of the blood. It responded to treatments and was in remission until earlier this year; he now is undergoing chemotherapy again.

Shannon returned to Oklahoma City after a stint doing mornings on 50,000 watt AM news/talk WLAC in Nashville and then joined WKY as the morning show host, a slot he held for three years until the station flipped its format.

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Mark Shannon: An Inconvenient Truth

Former broadcaster Mark Shannon's popular blog has this post today:

Monday was one of those days in life where reality stares you right in the face, and you have no ability to look away.

The cancer I've referred to as an "inconvenience" to deal with, now looms large in my future. It clouds anything and everything else I might think or want to do. In fact, it now is the only thing I can see in my future.

One of the results of my consultation at M.D. ANDERSON, and my local doctors consultations with the doctors in Houston, was a conclusion that I should pursue a bone marrow "mini-transplant" soon.

Monday my wife and I met with a doctor from the transplant team. She painted out a picture of what the next three to four years of my life will be like beginning with the transplant. Nothing about it is appealing. A six week hospital stay where I'll come as close to death as I ever have. Months of being confined to my home. Wearing masks, gloves. Dozens of pills. Transfusions. More chemo plus some radiation. Possibility of rejection and diseases caused by that. A 15-20 percent chance I won't even live through it and no guarantee of success if I do, and success MIGHT mean 5 or 10 more years of life.

If I don't do the bone marrow, I will likely have to go through chemo more often, and soon it will not work, or could cause another form of cancer which will bring the end.

Neither option is real inviting.

To me prolonging life to just prolong life is not appealing, but then I have not been given the grace to die yet, so I see no other alternative but to go through with it.

So now the inconvenience which leukemia has caused in my life, will now consume most of my time and efforts, at least for the next three to five years. And that's assuming nothing stops the transplant from going forward, and that I end up being one of the 60 to 70 percent who survive and fifty percent of those that actually have complete success.

Time to re-learn the meaning of "One Day At A Time" all over again.

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Mark Shannon: Clinton Funny Money?

Blogger Mark Shannon: "Hillary Clinton's campaign has generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions from some of the poorest neighborhoods in New York City's Chinatown. The Los Angeles Times reports an April fundraiser in an area known for its gritty urban poverty churned out a whopping $380,000 dollars. The Times says at least one Chinatown donor has denied making a $1,000 contribution recorded in his name. Another who donated $2,500 appears to be ineligible to do so under federal election law. And many donors could not be tracked down using property, telephone or business records. Gee, nobody smells a rat here, do they?" (Has the Clinton campaign taken its lead from Gene Stipe and David Walters?)

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If It's THERE, How Long Before It's HERE?

Blogger Mark Shannon speaks for many when he writes of what's happening in a school in another state: "There is NO reason, not one, why a child eleven or twelve years old should be given birth control pills or condom, ESPECIALLY by a school. If a child is 'at risk' than they need to be dealt with, not helped along. If the parents DO NOT KNOW, they need to KNOW. If the parents don't care, the parents need to be prosecuted for child neglect. Schools have NO BUSINESS handing this stuff out. A parent cannot give a child a Tylenol to take to school without permission, how is it that our PUBLIC SCHOOLS are allowed to hand out BIRTH CONTROL items." Middle School Birth Control OK'd

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Mark Shannon: Left-Wing Lies

From www.markshannon.com~ An Air America talk-show host who accused "the right wing hate machine" of being responsible for an alleged attack on an on-air colleague — and the network, itself — did a fast backpedal Tuesday, apologizing for "jumping to conclusions" about a now-debunked mugging report.

Host Jon Elliott issued a written retraction of his remarkable on-air charge, saying: "I shouldn't have speculated based on hearsay that Randi Rhodes had been mugged and that it may have been an attack from a right wing hate machine. I apologize for jumping to conclusions based on an emotional reaction."

Elliott's initial claim that Rhodes had been beaten "by the right wing" for her political views set the blogosphere abuzz Monday night.

Rhodes, whose program airs on Air America weekdays, allegedly informed Air America that she was struck while was walking down a street Sunday night near her Manhattan home. There even was a report on-air that she had suffered serious injuries and had lost several teeth.
Elliott, meanwhile, went on a rant Monday night, telling listeners: "This does not appear to me to be a standard grab-the- money-and-run mugging," and, "Is this an attempt by the right wing hate machine to silence one of our own?" Elliot also suggested that the act might have been meant to intimidate left-wing radio.

The report spread quickly Tuesday over the blogosphere, with the Google blog search showing hundreds of posts on the subject.

The truth: She fell on her own.

No police report was filed.

Rhodes' lawyer NOW SAYS she was injured in a fall while walking her dog, speaking to the New York Daily News. He said she's not sure what happened, and only knows that she fell down and is in a lot of pain. The lawyer said Rhodes expects to be back on the air Thursday. He stressed there is no indication she was targeted or that she was the victim of a "hate crime."
These are the idiots of the left. They don't care what the truth is, they just make it up.

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Terrorist Torture Methods Shown

Blogger Mark Shannon has posted a link to graphic photos of the torture methods being employed by terrorists in Iraq. Not for the squeamish, but evidence of their brutality. Find the link under Mark's "News 2 Me" section.

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Arbitron Radio Ratings Listed

Bloggers Mark Shannon and Ron Black have the new Arbitron radio ratings for Oklahoma City.

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Fred Thompson: Concealed Carry Saves Lives

By Fred D. Thompson ~ One of the things that's got to be going through a lot of peoples' minds now is how one man with two handguns, that he had to reload time and time again, could go from classroom to classroom on the Virginia Tech campus without being stopped. Much of the answer can be found in policies put in place by the university itself.

Virginia, like 39 other states, allows citizens with training and legal permits to carry concealed weapons. That means that Virginians regularly sit in movie theaters and eat in restaurants among armed citizens. They walk, joke and rub shoulders everyday with people who responsibly carry firearms -- and are far safer than they would be in San Francisco, Oakland, Detroit, Chicago, New York City, or Washington, D.C., where such permits are difficult or impossible to obtain.

The statistics are clear. Communities that recognize and grant Second Amendment rights to responsible adults have a significantly lower incidence of violent crime than those that do not. More to the point, incarcerated criminals tell criminologists that they consider local gun laws when they decide what sort of crime they will commit, and where they will do so.

Still, there are a lot of people who are just offended by the notion that people can carry guns around. They view everybody, or at least many of us, as potential murderers prevented only by the lack of a convenient weapon. Virginia Tech administrators overrode Virginia state law and threatened to expel or fire anybody who brings a weapon onto campus.

In recent years, however, armed Americans -- not on-duty police officers -- have successfully prevented a number of attempted mass murders. Evidence from Israel, where many teachers have weapons and have stopped serious terror attacks, has been documented. Supporting, though contrary, evidence from Great Britain, where strict gun controls have led to violent crime rates far higher than ours, is also common knowledge.

So Virginians asked their legislators to change the university's "concealed carry" policy to exempt people 21 years of age or older who have passed background checks and taken training classes. The university, however, lobbied against that bill, and a top administrator subsequently praised the legislature for blocking the measure.

The logic behind this attitude baffles me, but I suspect it has to do with a basic difference in worldviews. Some people think that power should exist only at the top, and everybody else should rely on "the authorities" for protection.

Despite such attitudes, average Americans have always made up the front line against crime. Through programs like Neighborhood Watch and Amber Alert, we are stopping and catching criminals daily. Normal people tackled "shoe bomber" Richard Reid as he was trying to blow up an airliner. It was a truck driver who found the D.C. snipers. Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that civilians use firearms to prevent at least a half million crimes annually.

When people capable of performing acts of heroism are discouraged or denied the opportunity, our society is all the poorer. And from the selfless examples of the passengers on Flight 93 on 9/11 to Virginia Tech professor Liviu Librescu, a Holocaust survivor who sacrificed himself to save his students earlier this week, we know what extraordinary acts of heroism ordinary citizens are capable of.

Many other universities have been swayed by an anti-gun, anti-self defense ideology. I respect their right to hold those views, but I challenge their decision to deny Americans the right to protect themselves on their campuses -- and then proudly advertise that fact to any and all.

Whenever I've seen one of those "Gun-free Zone" signs, especially outside of a school filled with our youngest and most vulnerable citizens, I've always wondered exactly who these signs are directed at. Obviously, they don't mean much to the sort of man who murdered 32 people just a few days ago.

Via http://www.markshannon.com

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Hip-Hop Culture Shuns Police Help

Read all of this scary report on Mark Shannon's blog: Black rap star Cam'ron says there's no situation, including a serial killer living next door, that would cause him to help police in any way, because to do so would hurt his (filthy lyric) music sales and violate his "code of ethics." Cam'ron, whose real name is Cameron Giles, talks to Anderson Cooper for a report on how the hip-hop culture's message to shun the police has undermined efforts to solve murders across the country. Cooper's report will be broadcast on 60 MINUTES Sunday, April 22 (7:00-8:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

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Media Research Center Gives 'Dishonor Awards'

From www.markshannon.com ~ A mostly conservative audience turned out last night in Washington at the Media Research Center's annual "Dishonors Awards" for what it calls the most outrageously biased liberal reporters of 2006.

The "God I Hate America Award" went to New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr., who apologized to students at the State University of New York for all of the wrongs of America.

The "Dan Rather Memorial Award for the Stupidest Analysis" went to Katie Couric for a "60 Minutes" interview with Secretary of State Rice, in which Couric quoted her daughter commenting on U.S. foreign relations by saying, "who made us the boss of them?"

The "I'm Not a Political Genius but I Play One on TV" award went to Rosie O'Donnell for saying that 9/11 caused America to invade two countries and kill innocent people, and for comparing radical Christianity to radical Islam.

And the "Tin Foil Hat Award for Crazy Conspiracy Theories" went to CNN's Jack Cafferty for suggesting the Bush administration might be coordinating with Osama bin Laden.

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Rooney Hits Nail On The Head

CBS commentator Andy Rooney says giving "moral waivers" to military recruits is a recipe for disaster. Agreed. Blooger Mark Shannon has the scoop.

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Mark Shannon Says He's Out

Mark Shannon, former radio talk show host and local blogger who had considered running for mayor of Edmond, says he won't. Shannon writes he decided he's just not political enough to seek office.

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Petitgrew Seeks Edmond Mayoral Post

Former state Rep. Wayne Pettigrew says he's a candidate for mayor of Edmond.

Pettigrew said he decided to seek the office to ensure future quality growth comes to Edmond. "I recently moved from west Edmond to east Edmond and I always knew about the traffic problems we had in west Edmond and now I realize they have all sorts of service issues out there in east Edmond," he told the Edmond Sun.

Pettigrew served 10 years in the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1994 to 2004.

Others considering the race include former radio talk show host and blogger Mark Shannon.

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