Quadrophenia wrote:
I think it's great that people who heard Friday's show emailed and complained. I would have joined if you if I heard the show. By pulling the podcast (which is obviously a deliberate action), Mitch/The Score hope to tamp down huge firestorm from occurring. If there was an audio clip being passed around the web of radio hosts goofing on a person w/ not all their faculties, you can bet it would have gotten traction.
I'd be shocked if Bob from Niles returns. Bernstein won't make any mention of it and it will disappear like a fart in a wind storm. If ever confronted where Bernstein has to answer (maybe the Senior Columnist addresses it), he will say that Bob loved it and his family was 100% behind it and how Bob looked forward to it every week.
I don't listen to much afternoon drive radio, but when I do I check in to B&B and don't last long. One habit that drives me nuts is he thinks everything is funny. The show is almost like some morning zoo with laughing and schoolyard giggling over things that are not funny. Maybe i'm in the minority here but Bernstein is anything but funny and if he gets his jollies making a old man look silly than he should burn in hell.
You're getting at the point that I brought up earlier, namely Dan's defense. He might argue that while to some the segment might be distasteful, it was never meant to be offensive and that they were sincerely seeking Bob's opinions on movies because of his unusual perspective. That will be difficult to overcome. Furthermore, he will say that Bob and his family gave consent, so if anyone was injured in all this, it is Bob, who is fine with the bit. So the charges against Bernstein have to be framed differently by saying that he took advantage of someone who was not capable of knowing he was being abused for no other reason than to mock his disability and that this offense goes farther than just Bob, it extends to all people with mental disabilities or whatever his condition is. It's sort of akin to putting on a special olympics just to make a mockery and spectacle out of all the participants. The part of the gag that is damaging to Bernstein, I believe, is the pie grading, where every time Bob fails to grasp what it is or what they're asking him to do. That's where the intentional mockery is, because they have repeated it over and over again to get a good laugh.