JAY SEVERIN - AN UNSUPER TUESDAY

"Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you!  for so did their
fathers to the false prophets." (Luke 6:26)

I tuned it to the Jay Severin Show (or is it "Extreme Games"?) on Super
Tuesday afternoon.  Most of you know I'm a radio talk show "junkie" and a political
"junkie" so I was happier than a crack user at a police department drug
warehouse.  Jay's juvenile behavior yesterday was so disappointing that as
competitor Howie Carr used to say, "He should be caned".

Here is what happened:

A guy from Weston called; I think the guy was "Jim From Weston".   What Jay
DIDN'T GET...what Jay DIDN'T PERCEIVE...is that Jim From Weston was actually an
ADMIRER of Jay's.  I knew right away exactly where Jim From Weston was coming
from.  Jim was thrilled to be on the air, and he HAD to be very nervous. 
(I've actually done a little bit of radio on the now defunct WJLT radio including
hosting talk shows and taking calls, and believe me, calling in to a show is
a thousand times more scary than is hosting a show.)  Jim obviously liked Jay
and enjoyed his show, but was disappointed at times that Jay can be
unnecessarily abrupt, rude, arrogant, and juvenile in how he treats callers.  The
mistake Jim made (and on this I agree with Jay) is that Jim "LED" with that thought.
That thought was maybe 10% of Jim really wanted to say on the call, but it
was all he got to say. 

Jay grilled Jim savagely.  If it was a boxing match, Jim was on the group,
spurting blood, on the verge of death, and almost unrecognizable, and Jay was
shoving the referee aside and kneeling down to CONTINUE the beating.  Did
anybody watch "Lost" last week when Jack beat up Ben?  Well, Jack was KIND to Ben in
comparison to how Jay treated Jim from Weston.

I wanted to hear Jim's point.  We never got to hear it.  Instead we got to
hear Jay with a display of insecurity and whining like I haven't heard since my
youngest was a preschooler (Sorry, Rachel, but it's a great illustration)!  If
that wasn't bad enough, for at least five minutes after Jim's call was over,
Jay was making fun of him and taking pot shots at him.

I wonder what Jim from Weston's opinion of Jay is now.  If Jim has friends or
family who were listening, I wonder what they think of Jay Severin.  If I was
talked to like that by Jay Severin, I'd be embarrassed, but I'd just try to
put the experience behind me.  If Jay Severin ever treated a close friend of
mine that way, well, I'd have to take the next day off and spend it praying
because I'd frankly be so angry.

I've heard Michael Graham, Howie Carr, Rush Limbaugh, Tom Finneran, and Moe
Lauzier all take calls from people who "LED" with criticism the way Jim did. 
Frankly, the only other host who reacts like Jay is Moe Lauzier, but even Moe
would not keep making fun of the guy after the call was over.

Michael Graham, Howie Carr, Rush Limbaugh, and Tom Finneran are no "push
overs".  They're all smart guys and they're all very capable of handling
themselves in a debate or argument, and USUALLY they come out of the argument
victorious.  They've also got enormous amounts of grace, class, and wisdom.

In my opinion, Jay Severin has a higher I.Q. than Michael, Howie, Rush, or
Tom.  He certainly has a higher I.Q. than me.  And, YES, Jim from Weston was
wrong to LEAD with that critique. He should have saved it for late in the call or
e-mailed it to Jay.  But there's a classy way to treat a person.

One of the highlights of my life was being a two-hour in-studio guest of
David Brudnoy's on WBZ in early 1989.  The topic was the Assemblies of God.  I was
scheduled to do one hour with David, and we were getting so many calls from
all over the country and David enjoyed it so much that he asked me to stay for
a second hour.  David Brudnoy was gay.  David Brudnoy thought the New
Testament was bunk.   David Brudnoy was also a perfect gentleman, asking me off-air
about my wife and kids and the church I pastor, and even buying me a  coke
during the news!  When David was on his death bed at M.G.H. I tried to get in to
see him and was disappointed that I was not allowed in.  I think the family
thought I'd come in there acting like a wild and crazy southern preacher. I would
have spent no more than 5 minutes in the room and thanked David for that night
on WBZ and just prayed a loving prayer for him.

If by some miracle Jay Severin ever reads this, I hope it will cause him to
do some soul-searching this Lent.  I'll still listen tohis show, but it was so
disappointing yesterday that I ended up listening to Larry Poitras on
Woonsocket, Rhode Island's WNRI AM radio!