Michael Graham is an outspoken conservative talk radio host with WTKK-FM 96.9 in Boston, MA. He will be speaking at UMass Amherst on Tuesday, Febrauary 17, 2009.

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First off, what do you think of the Economic Stimulus bill?

 

"Overall, the economic stimulus bill is horrible, but if you're a Massachusetts politician, it might seem to you like a good idea because the crappier you ran your state, the bigger a win it is for you because you'll desperately need the money. And the economic stimulus bill is going to dump lots of money into the system with very, very little accountability -- which sounds like a corrupt Massachusetts politician's dream. If you're [a politician from] New Hampshire, you don't need the money because you didn't run your state into the ground -- but the more you wasted, the more you need the billions to cover your mistakes. Massachusetts is like the dumb, pot-smoking dope at UMass whose dad is a millionaire and who'll bail him out of jail when he gets caught; Mass is the state that's like the drunk, dumb kid on campus who would pledge to a frat. I call the economic stimulus 'the Screwulus' because it's going to screw us more than stimulate the economy. Particularly for your generation! You guys are going to have to pay it back plus interest. Once you figure paying the interest on a trillion dollars, each American family will have an extra $30 thousand in debt that you'll have to pay -- and that's on top of your student loans."

 

 

Have you spoken at UMass before? Are you looking forward to coming out here and talking with us?

 

"I am excited to come speak at UMass. I was recently invited to speak to a class at UMass, which was great because I love talking to college students. See, what many college students don't realize is that their professors have almost no idea what they're talking about. They just spew knee-jerk liberal bias. In fact, when I talk to the academics at UMass, it's embarassing how little they really know! This is because they're never confronted with logic. They're always just telling people how it is and they never have to back up their arguments, so they just spew this absolute, utter nonsense; this embarassing, juvenile nonsense simply because they're never challenged. The professors at UMass live in a cocoon of shared ignorance. When I go out to Amherst, I get to instantly be the smartest guy [in town] because I have to be challenged every day."

 

 

Anything you'd like to say directly to UMass in preparation for your arrival?

 

"I offer a challenge to everybody at the Economics department at UMass -- I will bring $100 cash money if they can defend the economics. They might be able to defend the politics of the stimulus bill, but not the economics! I promise to use small words so that liberal campus activists can participate in the conversation."

 

 

Rush Limbaugh recently came under fire for saying that he wanted Obama to fail as president. Do you agree? Do you want Obama to fail?

 

"No. Not at all. I want the stimulus to fail  -- as a bill -- because it's a bad idea because it'll hurt my kids. 1 trillion of essentially wasted money. If he had proposed serious tax cuts, you know, something that will actually help the economy, I would have cheered it. I want America to succeed. I don't want our economy to fail. I don't want our culture to fail."

 

 

What do you think of Obama so far?

 

"I thought Obama was a smart guy. I seem to have been wrong, though. Obama's only slightly better at politics than his cabinet appointments are at filling out their tax forms."

 

 

 

 

Can you tell us about your college experience? What clubs were you involved in as an undergrad?

 

"I went to Oral Roberts in Tulsa. When I was there, I was the president of the Young Democrats. See, the reason that I was the president of the Young Democrats, I later discovered, was because I was nonpolitical. I knew nothing. The Democrats group was too scared to meet because the campus was overwhelmingly Republican. I loved to debate and be divisive, so I was made the president -- I debated the College Republicans. It was fun.

 

 

Sounds like it was a pretty big task. How did that go?

 

"Well, because Oral Roberts is as conservative as UMass is liberal, I really learned the value of dissent, the value of debate. You see, liberals want the 'fairness doctrine' because they don't want fairness or debate. The left has abandoned the value that free speech is a value that is worth defending. All assault on intellectual freedom [in Massachusetts] today is coming from the left. "

 

 

At Boston College recently, professors were reportedly upset because the administration decided to put up crucifixes in some classrooms to restore the 'Jesuit tradition' at BC. Care to comment?

 

"Image what would happen if one campus group after 9/11 had denounced mosques? They would have been denounced as thugs and bigots. BC pulling down those crucifixes is ridiculous. It's a private, Catholic school! What a bunch of wussies those professors are! They're cowards. You see, when I hear an idea I don't agree with, I run toward it. They run away from it because they don't have the guts to defend their viewpoint."

 

 

Are all colleges as crazy as UMass?

 

"UMass is definitely one of the crazier colleges in America. But I must say, it makes for great content on my radio show. You people provide my listeners with hours and hours of great entertainment.

 

 

 

What do you think of political correctness?

 

"Everybody agrees that political correctness is silly. The difference is that at UMass Amherst, there are people who don't realize that engaging in political correctness is censorship. They just don't get it. Every time you limit someone's freedom of expression, it's censorship. Political correctness is what liberals use in place of judgment."

 

 

What do you think of affirmative action?

 

"Affirmative action based on what? Based on ability? I'm all for it! I strongly believe that the smartest people should get the best opportunities; the hardest workers should get the most opportunities. Nothing but smart, hard-working people at the front of the line. I don't care who you are and where your from and who your daddy is! You see, the left is so fused with what they believe that they can't let go of it. It's downright embarrassing that there are still schools in Massachusetts that count people based on skin color. There are people in this state standing in the doorway blocking education for people based on color -- and they're all on the left. The only group the left disapproves of affirmative action for is conservatives. Sarah Palin was not qualified (though I feel she was more qualified than Obama); Sarah Palin had some experience (though, in my opinion, not enough). When conservatives make an affirmative action hire, the left opposes it. It's the only time."

 

 

What have you heard about Justice for Jason?

 

"Well, I've heard of it, but I'm not really competent enough to comment on it. My reaction (whenever I see something like this happening) is 'why are people talking about race?' Either a crime was committed or there wasn't! End of story. Either there is evidence or there isn't. If there's not enough, the guy should walk; if there is, he should go to jail. When I see people protesting instead of talking about the evidence, it's just a political statement. All I want is the justice statement. What are the facts? Okay, go home. It's like the OJ Simpson case: everyone knew he was guilty and it was embarrassing as hell to see everyone working only on the politics. What you're trying to do when you're only discussing the politics is avoid talking about the facts."

 

 

In your opinion, are cops racist?

 

"All cops? Of course not. But I'll tell you one thing: everybody who supports race-based government action is racist. So, not all cops are racist, but all libs who support affirmative action are."

 

 

What's your favorite way to piss off liberals?

 

"To point out the obvious. There's nothing that drives the left more crazy than pointing out what everyone already knows is true, but that they deny. You don't stimulate the economy by handing out welfare checks and coupons for digital television converters! It makes no sense. Its non-sense. And another thing they hate is when you remind them that we won the Iraq war. We won the Iraq war. We won it because we fought it the American way. We won it because it was worth winning."

 

 

What do you think of the war in Iraq, overall?

 

"Well, the most important thing is that we now have a self-sustaining Arab democracy in the middle east. This is so important. It will change the world forever."

 

 

So would you say there were no drawbacks to the war?

 

"Of course there were. 4000 combat deaths. The cost: $500B in real costs and billions more in support, but what's the real benefit? The very notion of war is horrifying, but what makes it worth it is that the effect of not going is so much worse.  As for Iraq, you cant have a war on terror and leave a terrorist in charge of a whole country. The price of not fighting the Iraq war and leaving the Middle-East as it was would be a nonstop flow of terrorism. My entire life since I've been old enough to read newspapers, it's been Middle-Eastern terrorists blowing stuff up. Consider 9/11: on one day, there was $500 billion knocked out of the economy. 3000 people died that day. There's been almost as many combat deaths. The difference? The Iraq War soldiers died to accomplish something. The people who died on 9/11 died and gained nothing."

 

Micahel Graham can be seen at 7 PM on Tuesday, February 17, 2009 in Campus Center 168. His daily radio program is on from 9 AM to noon on 96.9 FM in Boston, MA.

 

John can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The views and opinions expressed in any and all interviews printed or referenced in the minuteman are the views and opinions of the interviewee alone and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Minuteman, The Silent Majority, The Minuteman Staff, or The University of Massachusetts