The fact that people disagree with me is not breaking news. I take strong stands and always try to back them up with rational thought and facts.
What I have no patience for is being misquoted. I get misinterpreted frequently, and that’s bad enough. But there is no excuse for being misquoted.
I’ve been doing radio and TV in this market for over 30 years. I’m not alone in being victimized by being misquoted. It happens often. When I worked at WTMJ, I can’t begin to tell you how many telephone calls I received from listeners who swore that I or another newsperson said or reported something when we never did.
On Friday while filling in for Mark Belling on Newstalk 1130 WISN, I opened with what I consider an extraordinary topic that to my knowledge has never been addressed on local talk radio: rape/incest victims and why they make the, as I said numerous times on the program, incredible, inspirational decision to go through with their pregnancies.
My entire focus was to present the issue from the perspective of the assault victims and explain why they refuse to abort. My phone lines were flooded, and everyone who called in got on the air. I didn’t hang up on anyone. I did get agitated with some pro-lifers who misunderstood my position. Apparently, I was too honest in saying that I do have the utmost respect and admiration for the women who keep their babies, but I could understand the decision of those who choose to abort and would not criticize them for it. Never did I say the abortion was the right choice. Some pro-lifers wanted to turn this very specific discussion into a general debate on abortion whereas I wanted to keep the focus narrow.
A respected friend, fellow conservative blogger Dad29 wrote a follow up blog after my show. He makes two brief references to yours truly:
“(It can also be inferred that Kevin Fischer has a distaste for Pro-Life Wisconsin types; on yesterday's show he referred to people who objected to abortion-for-rape-and-incest-victims as "zealots," a term which has ALWAYS been a slur.)”
And later in his blog:
“And if being pro-life means that Kevin calls me a "zealot", so be it.”
There’s a major problem here. I never said the word, “zealot.” Not once. I did express great respect for the pro-life movement, so why would I use that term?
I listened to the podcast and there’s nothing wrong with my hearing. Never is the word, “zealot” that so angered Dad29 mentioned. I confirmed with WISN that my entire show was put up on the WISN website in a podcast for listeners to hear again and this entire segment was posted without edits. Dad29 swears I said the word, but as far as I’m concerned, he can stand on the highest mountain top and scream that to his heart’s content. The tapes don’t lie.
Dad29 says I have distaste for pro-life types. That is a blatantly false statement. He knows me personally and reads my blog. Anyone who thinks I’m not pro-life hasn’t been paying attention and has rocks in their head. Maybe Dad29 would like to talk to the people who run Pro-Life Wisconsin and Wisconsin Right To Life and get their opinion of me.
Dad29’s blog is not only false and misleading, it besmirches my reputation. It also attacks part of my livelihood, albeit part-time, that of being a radio talk show host, and I take that very seriously.
I expect this kind of garbage, and that’s exactly what it is, garbage, from the hateful left, but not from a friend. That’s why this makes me angry and very disappointed and I felt required a response.
