Radio’s Voice of Freedom: The Great Ron Smith
While the Rush Limbaughs and Sean Hannitys of the world became enormously wealthy by kissing the boots of the neocon businessmen who have monopolized the talk radio industry in America there was one “old Right” voice of freedom that did not waver: Ron Smith of WBAL Radio in Baltimore. When the neocons lied the nation into the senseless and unconstitutional war in Iraq in 2003, cheered on by conservative chickenhawks like Limbaugh and Hannity, Ron Smith remained “the voice of reason,” as he is known in Baltimore, by opposing the war. (Unlike these chickenhawks, Ron Smith joined the Marines as a teenager).
For opposing the war Ron quickly lost 40 percent of his audience, but stuck to his guns and continued to oppose the war over the airwaves. The heroic management of WBAL Radio stood by Ron, and it paid off: nearly all of the audience returned once it became glaringly obvious that Ron was right about the war all along, and that the entire nation had been neo-conned (and continues to be).