Rick Johnson and Michael Agnello. A punishment from God.
Ok, I stated this blog would do some commenting on how the local media in West Virginia is covering topics, because some of their bias is just short of blinding. Today, I'd like to introduce you to two of the biggest idiots on the West Virginia Media stage. Rick Johnson, and Michael Agnello, of 58Live, the local afternoon talk radio show on 580 AM WCHS in Charleston. Welcome to the sweatbox, boys. It's going to get real hot, real fast in here.
To be fair, Johnson seems to be the milquetoast half of this less-than-dynamic duo. He usually just whines. No real substance behind his arguments, just whining. From a debate and/or argument perspective, he's harmless. Agnello, on the other hand, is a self-righteous obnoxious loudmouth right wing nutjob (remember, I said I'd go after nutjobs on either side with equal ferocity). As a loudmouth, Agnello is usually as wrong, as he is loud. Johnson is a native Mountaineer. Agnello, however, is a "fer'ner." He's from Chicago, and it only takes about 2 seconds of listening to his accent to figure that out.
A quick perusal of the bio's listed above, shows that Agnello's claim to fame is he worked with Team Thrust for Nations. A quick internet search for Team Thrust shows what it is: an evangelical outreach group. There you have it. Agnello is a certified bible banger. And as such, he'll be treated with the respect that group deserves, which is slightly less than zero. Agnello also likes to also tell everyone how he's a "Certified Senior Advisor," and how he served on Manchin's transition team for "senior issues." In short, Agnello never passes up a chance to tell everyone how great he is. When in fact, being a "certified senior advisor" really means, "I attended (and paid for) a seminar," (see this link). It doesn't take much beyond a check for the right amount to be a "certified senior advisor." And it didn't take much to be on Papa Joe's transition team, either. You simply signed yourself up. So Mikey, don't strain your arm patting yourself on the back. It's also quite evident by listening to Mikey that he's either a) still in the insurance industry, or b) was at one time. So you figure where he's going to stand on issues like tort reform. It's not hard, if you give it about 1.2 seconds of thought.
One of the big issues these two guys really harp on is gambling. They are opposed to it. They don't even TRY and be objective. Agnello will quickly launch into how bad gambling is, and how it destroys lives and quickly bring up John Kindt, a paid number cruncher by the bible banging anti-gambling lobby who's done "studies" about how bad gambling is (studies funded by anti-gambling groups). Let's face it. West Virginia needs all the help it can get. When the biggest coup of economic development in the last 5 years, is the opening of a sporting goods store (Cabela's) ANYTHING that can get a few more jobs here (like table games at the race tracks) should get OVERWHELMING support. Yet, self-righteous bible bangers like Agnello, oppose it. There's gambling on TV several nights a week. The World Poker Tour, the World Series of Poker on ESPN, Celebrity Poker, etc., are all getting TV coverage. There are multiple shows about gambling and Las Vegas on the Discover, Travel, and History Channels. It's evidently something people like to watch; otherwise, there'd not be so many TV shows about it.
Yet, people like Agnello continue to use their media pulpit to continually knock the gambling industry. Remember, Agnello worked (or maybe still does) for an insurance company. Isn't insurance just another form of gambling? You pay a premium, hedging your bet you'll have a wreck. The insurance company takes your premium, and bets that you won't have a wreck. But Agnello is against gambling. Except for that kind of gambling that the Catholic Church does in the form of bingo. In all his anti-gambling rants, he has, to my knowledge, NEVER cracked on the Catholic Church for bingo. I guess Jesus has no problem going "all-in" for bingo. In short, Agnello is a hypocrite. He’s a loudmouth, self-righteous, bombastic hypocrite.
Another thing Agnello likes to do is, basically kiss Danny Jones' ass. It should say that in Agnello's bio. Certified Senior Advisor, on Manchin's transition team, and Danny Jones' personal ass kisser. See, Agnello likes to come off as this enlightened neocon. He's anti-gambling, he's pro-tort reform, he's a bible banger, etc. And he’s always complaining about taxes being too high, and how state employees are paid too much. Yet, today on the air, when presented with the issue of the user fees that cities are starting to impose (First Huntington, then Charleston, and now S. Charleston), he sees no problem with that. WTF? As a conservative, he should be AGAINST tax increases. And let's not bullshit anyone here with semantics, ok? These aren't "user fees." They are taxes. They are taxes on those who happen to work in those cities. Just because you "call" them user fees, doesn't make it so. But Agnello has no problem supporting this nonsense, because he needs Danny Jones to come on his show. Remember my first blog entry about how the media (like Agnello and company) are a bit too cozy with the politicians, because they need access? Here's a prime example. Agnello and Johnson have no problem using public money to build the new ballpark. A new ballpark that Danny Jones and Toast Boy Rod Blackstone now admit is over budget, and is being built to accommodate the 300 people a night (on a good night) who'll go to the games (once the newness wears off). Burn those tax dollars on this kind of crap, but pitch a holy fit when someone brings up the potential for 2000 new jobs at the racetracks, including a new revenue stream. [Note: I will give Danny Jones this, he's supportive to this point of the table games at the tracks.]
Could someone tell me just what great injustice Charleston did in a past life, to be saddled with the punishment from God that is Mike Agnello? I swear, I never thought I'd say this. I actually miss Steven Reed.
To be fair, Johnson seems to be the milquetoast half of this less-than-dynamic duo. He usually just whines. No real substance behind his arguments, just whining. From a debate and/or argument perspective, he's harmless. Agnello, on the other hand, is a self-righteous obnoxious loudmouth right wing nutjob (remember, I said I'd go after nutjobs on either side with equal ferocity). As a loudmouth, Agnello is usually as wrong, as he is loud. Johnson is a native Mountaineer. Agnello, however, is a "fer'ner." He's from Chicago, and it only takes about 2 seconds of listening to his accent to figure that out.
A quick perusal of the bio's listed above, shows that Agnello's claim to fame is he worked with Team Thrust for Nations. A quick internet search for Team Thrust shows what it is: an evangelical outreach group. There you have it. Agnello is a certified bible banger. And as such, he'll be treated with the respect that group deserves, which is slightly less than zero. Agnello also likes to also tell everyone how he's a "Certified Senior Advisor," and how he served on Manchin's transition team for "senior issues." In short, Agnello never passes up a chance to tell everyone how great he is. When in fact, being a "certified senior advisor" really means, "I attended (and paid for) a seminar," (see this link). It doesn't take much beyond a check for the right amount to be a "certified senior advisor." And it didn't take much to be on Papa Joe's transition team, either. You simply signed yourself up. So Mikey, don't strain your arm patting yourself on the back. It's also quite evident by listening to Mikey that he's either a) still in the insurance industry, or b) was at one time. So you figure where he's going to stand on issues like tort reform. It's not hard, if you give it about 1.2 seconds of thought.
One of the big issues these two guys really harp on is gambling. They are opposed to it. They don't even TRY and be objective. Agnello will quickly launch into how bad gambling is, and how it destroys lives and quickly bring up John Kindt, a paid number cruncher by the bible banging anti-gambling lobby who's done "studies" about how bad gambling is (studies funded by anti-gambling groups). Let's face it. West Virginia needs all the help it can get. When the biggest coup of economic development in the last 5 years, is the opening of a sporting goods store (Cabela's) ANYTHING that can get a few more jobs here (like table games at the race tracks) should get OVERWHELMING support. Yet, self-righteous bible bangers like Agnello, oppose it. There's gambling on TV several nights a week. The World Poker Tour, the World Series of Poker on ESPN, Celebrity Poker, etc., are all getting TV coverage. There are multiple shows about gambling and Las Vegas on the Discover, Travel, and History Channels. It's evidently something people like to watch; otherwise, there'd not be so many TV shows about it.
Yet, people like Agnello continue to use their media pulpit to continually knock the gambling industry. Remember, Agnello worked (or maybe still does) for an insurance company. Isn't insurance just another form of gambling? You pay a premium, hedging your bet you'll have a wreck. The insurance company takes your premium, and bets that you won't have a wreck. But Agnello is against gambling. Except for that kind of gambling that the Catholic Church does in the form of bingo. In all his anti-gambling rants, he has, to my knowledge, NEVER cracked on the Catholic Church for bingo. I guess Jesus has no problem going "all-in" for bingo. In short, Agnello is a hypocrite. He’s a loudmouth, self-righteous, bombastic hypocrite.
Another thing Agnello likes to do is, basically kiss Danny Jones' ass. It should say that in Agnello's bio. Certified Senior Advisor, on Manchin's transition team, and Danny Jones' personal ass kisser. See, Agnello likes to come off as this enlightened neocon. He's anti-gambling, he's pro-tort reform, he's a bible banger, etc. And he’s always complaining about taxes being too high, and how state employees are paid too much. Yet, today on the air, when presented with the issue of the user fees that cities are starting to impose (First Huntington, then Charleston, and now S. Charleston), he sees no problem with that. WTF? As a conservative, he should be AGAINST tax increases. And let's not bullshit anyone here with semantics, ok? These aren't "user fees." They are taxes. They are taxes on those who happen to work in those cities. Just because you "call" them user fees, doesn't make it so. But Agnello has no problem supporting this nonsense, because he needs Danny Jones to come on his show. Remember my first blog entry about how the media (like Agnello and company) are a bit too cozy with the politicians, because they need access? Here's a prime example. Agnello and Johnson have no problem using public money to build the new ballpark. A new ballpark that Danny Jones and Toast Boy Rod Blackstone now admit is over budget, and is being built to accommodate the 300 people a night (on a good night) who'll go to the games (once the newness wears off). Burn those tax dollars on this kind of crap, but pitch a holy fit when someone brings up the potential for 2000 new jobs at the racetracks, including a new revenue stream. [Note: I will give Danny Jones this, he's supportive to this point of the table games at the tracks.]
Could someone tell me just what great injustice Charleston did in a past life, to be saddled with the punishment from God that is Mike Agnello? I swear, I never thought I'd say this. I actually miss Steven Reed.
posted by bingmanch at 12:41 AM
16 Comments:
There is always Hoppy Kercheval.
Hoppy's ok. He's about 100 times better than Agnello. In fact, my very first blog entry goes into this a little bit. Talkline is the most important talk radio show in WV. Hoppy, however, isn't quite tough enough on his guests on occasion. But it occurs infrequently enough that its not a fatal flaw for him.
But compared to Agnello, he's Cronkite, Murrow, and David Brinkley all rolled into one.
Well, I sometimes I think he should be more tough. It's why I miss when Stephen Reed was his co-host for a while.
I don't think Reed was ever his co-host. (I assume you are talking about Hoppy?)
Reed always had his own show. Reed did have a show with Rick Johnson for a while, then got abruptly fired for evidently talking to another station about maybe doing a show.
Reed wasn't offically his co-host, but for about a year Mr. Reed was on Hoppy's show everyday. It was usually Reed who did the attacking while Hoppy simply kept the peace.
Agnello must mean "annoying" in Italian. What a bigmouth blowhard. In addition to his grating Chitown accent, he uses words like "folk" in a furrin way. West Virginians say "That's all folks!" but Agman would say "That's all folk!" as in the queer way it is used in "Queer as Folk". I think "folks" is the right way, but even if it ain't, when in Rome, at least try to talk the same lingo the Romans do.
As for the collectively closed mind of the WCHS talk show hosts concerning gambling, I think being anti-gambling is a litmus test for getting that job at WCHS. I'm not much of an expert on The Bible, but I wonder if It even mentions gambling. If not, why is gamling such a big hang-up with the fundamentalists, who usually hate taxes yet oppose this alternate source of revenue? It seems like most "do-gooders" (on the left and the right) are medlers and control freaks.
"Team Thrust" seems like an awfully sexy name for an evangelical group, no?
The Jerry Waters show on WVTS is better than both shows mentioned here. He calls every politician a crook (most wont even appear on his show), thinks the more gambling the better, wanted them to pull the plug on Terry, and for the most part give Danny Jones a headache every single day. He's been on the air in Charleston for 2 years now, and altho he goes off into the wild blue yonder now and then (pretty funny actually) he speaks more truth on a daily basis than the other 3 boobs combined.
Actually, for whatever it may be worth to you, I was on with Hoppy about 2.5 years. And Dr. Kindt is
not a "paid numbers cruncher" for any anti-gambling group in WV. He is the tops in his field, having studied the economics of gambling for thirty years. No morality from him--just observations as to what has happened to every economically distressed part of America who embraces casinos.
(Sorry for that TERRIBLE anti-gambling talk!) ~Stephen Reed
Actually, Kindt is the epitome of a paid number cruncher.
That's all he does. He writes anti-gambling articles, and then whores himself out to the anti-gambling lobby as a "speaker." Are you telling us he travels all over the country giving anti-gambling talks on his own dime?
I don't care if he's not paid by any anti-gambling group in WV. I never said he was (nice qualifer, however, with the "in wv" part). But you can't deny he's not paid by anti-gambling groups in general.
In all honesty, you can't really fault him for being such a prostitute. He's found a niche that people (anti-gambling groups) will pay big bucks for someone to be "their" expert. And he's exploiting that monopoly on being that "expert" to the hilt.
That still doesn't make his rantings correct, however.
Let me make this SIMPLE so you can understand it. I like both Rick and Mike and like their show. If you have such a problem with it then why listen? As for the comment about Agnello being a "certified bible banger" and being such he will be treated with less than zero respect. That is the dumbest comment I have ever heard. The problem with the world today is there are too many people like YOU who want to belittle anyone who doesn't agree with what you consider right. You probably guessed that yes I am a christian, however if someone wants to beleive in no God, or pray to the moon who am I to call that person names and tell them they deserve no respect. Hopefully people like you will wake up and quit making yourselves look like IDIOTS!!
The problem with the world today is there are too many people like YOU who want to belittle anyone who doesn't agree with what you consider right.
You mean kind of like those who constantly complain that any holiday greeting other than Merry Christmas is stupid, and demand that people boycott stores that don't use the Merry Christmas greeting?
You might like Agnello and Johnson. It's your right. There's certainly no requirement for good taste in America.
The reason I hammer them on a regular basis, is that there are people out there (evidently I've found one of them) that takes what the Doofus Twins say as the gospel, when in fact, it's quite often a) flat out wrong, or b) spun so hard, that you can't even tell what it is. In this respect, I think they do a serious disservice to the public. As what some people (unfortunately) see as a legitimate source for information, the Doofus Twins need to be much more responsible on the stuff they put on the airwaves. Too often, Agnello is using his three hours as time to simply parrot the Republican/Christian/Bible Banger position, and when challenged by anyone (including callers) Agnello is often simply dismimssive (never mind, he's a complete idiot) and condescending, all because he controls the show.
He is in a word, as I've said before, a fraud. If you really want to see what he's like I'd suggest reading this link:
http://wvpoliticalsweatbox.blogspot.com/2005/08/my-very-own-nuclear-option.html
thanks for the Agnello comments. a few things you may not know about Agnello:
1. he likes the military but somehow missed out on the action around Vietnam time when he was up for the draft. ditto with Johnson. ditto with Big Jim Humphreys, Manchin, Jungle Jim Lees, and many more. maybe even 'ol 'Walter' Lipton, former live-in boyfriend of WCHS-TV newsbabe Wendy Griffith.
2. he is "married" to Rhonda Hissom, former wife of local teleavangelist and shoe store owner Davey Joe Hissom. The Hissom family has long been involved in flamboyant evanglistic (tent revival) religion in the Charleston area (the old Hissom Tabernacle on Spring St.). The Rev. Earl Hissom was the founder of it. The late Rev. Davey Joe died in a private plane crash and was somehow connected with local pilot Clay Nease. As you know, Nease was caught hauling drugs in his plane at one time and may have been flying the plane Hissom was in. The Rev. Earl Hissom has a sister, "Roxy" Hissom who has sons who were involved in the local Charleston drug scene.
3. I haven't really figured out how Agnello got to Charleston. Maybe he is Michael Jiganello. Rhonda also is very flamboyant and likes the money.
4. Agnello is an Italian Catholic. Admits he went to Catholic schools. He must have gave that up to go fundamentalist/charismatic with Rhonda. Unbelievable to give up the gift of The One True Faith for a little tail.
5. Agnello's diction and grammar are pathetic. I wonder how much they pay him? He supposedly has some kind of insurance business. However, I must admit, he does better when he is on the show alone without Johnson. Johnson is just a radio man from St. Albans. Nice guy but more on the par with Jack Kane. Doesn't want to get people too fired up.
6. I don't call that show because they cut you off at will. They also talk to themselves way too much and don't involve the callers. Agnello is very impressed with himself.
also, what's the deal with Reed? i wish he would run for office in the State he surely loves. why Washington and Lee University? what does he do there? He and Watters had the best shows hands down. Wonder why Reed didn't go into law practice with his Dad and eventually run for office in his beloved Preston County. I understand he never took the WV bar exam. I can't understand why anybody would go through the ordeal of law school for three years and then not take the exam. Well, each his own!
I heard somewhere that Reed used to date black women. Maybe this wouldn't go over so well in "lilly white" Preston County. Would it have helped if the girl's name was "Buckwheat"? I know he is a memeber of NAACP and was in Atlanta at one time for seminary.
Reed seems to know the West Virginia political scene as well as anybody. He was good on "Underfire" on WVPBS.
Wow. That's some dirt there, that's for sure. Keep it coming.....
All fair points. Turning up the heat on Agnello over here too. Too many lies and distortions, much too tolerated. Interesting, WCHS now has added a disclaimer right before the talk show (as if its not the views of WCHS) for fear that their advertisers might get boycotted. Maybe they should be! Propaganda and lies have and do lead to criminal and immoral actions, including unjust wars.
http://westvirginiaholler.blogspot.com/
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