On Monday, 1:05 Pacific Time, I’ll be on “Talk Back,” the nationally syndicated show of the legendary George Putnam, distributed nationwide on the Cable Radio Network.” Chuck Wilder will be filling in for George. Topics (May 19, 2008): “In Defense Of The Fence” and “They’re Coming For Your Kids!”
Category Archives: Ilana On Radio & TV
Classical Liberalism
Classical Liberalism, Ilana Mercer, Ilana On Radio & TV, Individual Rights, libertarianism, Liberty, Natural Law, Paleolibertarianism
Jerri from Righttalk.com, with whom I used to do a short commentary segment fortnightly, once asked what “classical liberalism” meant. How about the principles upon which America was founded?
Not so long ago I became acquainted with the writings of French classical liberal, Benjamin Constant (1767-1830). And in particular, his treatise on the Principles of Politics. Frederic Bastiat was, “in some ways,” Constant’s heir.
I liked Constant’s definition of freedom: “Individuals must enjoy a boundless freedom in the use of their property and the exercise of their labor, as long as in disposing of their property or exercising their labor they do not harm others who have the same rights.” Of course, today’s statist interpretation of “harm” would include competition: setting up a Wal-Mart adjacent to a mom-and-pop shop.
More pearls from Constant: “Society has no right to be unjust toward a single of its members … the whole society minus one is not authorized to obstruct the latter in his opinions, nor in those actions which are not harmful, in the use of his property or the exercise of his labor, save in those cases where that use or that exercise would obstruct another individual possessing the same right.”
A contemporary gem is my friend, renowned British philosopher, David Conway. As a teacher, David explains freedom splendidly in Classical Liberalism; The Unvarnished Ideal. Contact him to obtain the book.
Liberty is explained in “Jackass Cooper & The 1-Trick Donkeys”: “Classical liberals (this writer) are distinguished in that the only rights they recognize are the individual’s right to life, liberty and property, and the pursuit of happiness. The sole role of a legitimate government is to protect only those liberties. Why life, liberty, and property, and not housing, food, education, health care, child benefits, emotional well-being, enriching employment, ad infinitum? Because the former impose no obligations on other free individuals; the latter enslave some in the service of others.”
In addition to an application of the principles of liberty, my columns/essays almost always include references. It’s about taking the time to work through the columns and extract the references. I have links on my Links Page to great classical liberal sites.
My Articles Archive is easy to navigate. Begin with Ludwig von Mises, Murray Rothbard, Ayn Rand, Henry Hazlitt, Frederic Bastiat, F. A. Hayek, Lysander Spooner, and the great heroes of the Old Right, Frank Chodorov, Garet Garrett, John T. Flynn, and Felix Morley. Morely’s “Freedom and Federalism” is a must in every American bookcase.
A discussion of natural rights can be found in “CRADLE OF CORRUPTION.”
UPDATE I (3/31/2017): MORE BOOKS.
If you want to understand The Idea of America, read foundational books on American republican virtues (not least the title linked). Begin with the book The Power in The People by Felix Morley, and you’ll be able to watch or read Bill O’Reilly’s folderol, and such stuff, and assess it for the shallow nothingness that it is.
Truth is not about the penny plan, or the red line in Syria, or whether to beat up on Russia or not. It’s about grasping the foundational principles of liberty and the limits of government—the principles Jefferson, Madison, Mason, John Roanoke, John Calhoun held dear; grasping those creedal core issues and applying them to the issues of the day.
The other exquisite text by Morley aforementioned is Freedom and Federalism.
For starters, let’s see these texts on your coffee tables.
UPDATE II (12/2):
Classical liberalism relates to @JoyReid like a saddle to a cow. It's libertarianism! Think Ludwig von @mises, Benjamin Constant & Bastiat. https://t.co/dkEvorbqUW
— Ilana Mercer (@IlanaMercer) November 6, 2017
A Date With Frank of Queens and John of Staten Island
Tonight, Friday, March 21, at 8:00 PT, I will be speaking to Frank of Queens and John of Staten Island about Obama, his preacher, his Old Lady, and his big, bad, white grandma.
They’re The Right Perspective, WWCR. The frequency is 3.215 MHz Shortwave. These patriots also happen to be the only talkers out there who take a deep interest in my dying homeland; they have a weekly segment called “Hello, Africa!”.
Call (718)761-9996 to be heard on the air!
On The George Putnam Show (More About a Great American)
America, Celebrity, Elections 2008, Ilana Mercer, Ilana On Radio & TV, Media
Tomorrow (Oct. 9, 2007) I will be on George Putnam’s nationally syndicated show, Talk Back (more about Mr. Putnam here as well). It is “distributed nationwide on the Cable Radio Network.” I’ll be on from 1:30 to 1:58 PT.
Updated (Oct 9, 2007): I’m hugely privileged to have spoken fleetingly with a great and brilliant American. (Excuse the adjectival banality, but words fail me here.) Mr. Putnam is a national treasure, who should be on TV to remind Americans how incisive, sonorous and super smart some of their media mavens used to be. (Now none of them are.) I was also touched by Mr. Putnam’s graciousness about me and my work. This is a man whose counsel Nixon and Reagan sought, and who “has a star on the Hollywood Boulevard ‘Walk of Fame.’” Again, an honor. (I did get a chuckle out of Mr. Putnam when I said that at www.ilanamercer.com, his listeners could read columns as funny and as well-written as Ann Coulter’s, only principled. Incidentally, I endorsed Ron Paul as the hope for America; Mr. Putnam agreed enthusiastically and expansively.
Roger Grace wrote a series of columns about the great man. Here is one.
George Putnam: the Voice That Keeps Booming
By ROGER M. GRACE
In a 1984 “Salute to KTTV’s 35th Anniversary,” former President Richard Nixon, on videotape, said of veteran Los Angeles newscaster George Putnam:
“He won the admiration and respect of millions of people in Southern California due to the fact that everybody could count on him to say exactly what he believed, whether it was popular or not. Some people didn’t like what he said; some people liked what he said. But everybody listened to George Putnam. That is why he has been one of the most influential commentators of our times.”
At the time of that program, Putnam was weekend anchor at KTTV, after having been off television for a spell. The station’s news director publicly stated when he brought Putnam back on board that people told him he was nuts.
Putnam no longer enjoyed the popularity he had in the 1950s and into the early 1960s. Nonetheless, unalterable is the fact of Putnam’s unparalleled attainment when his career was at its zenith. He was a powerhouse. Among those who sought his counsel back then was Nixon.
Putnam is associated in the minds of many with Channel 11. However, in the mid-1960s, he was wooed away by KTLA, Channel 5, located one block west of KTTV on Sunset Boulevard. Channel 11 later enticed him back, and Putnam was again turning east from Van Ness into the KTTV lot. KTLA once more lured Putnam away in the early 1970s, and he was again turning west from Van Ness. (He was now doing his twice-nightly news show, as well as “Talk Back,” with viewers phoning in.)
When his high-priced contract expired, it was not renewed. Putnam’s style, once viewed as one which evinced enthusiasm, was now perceived as affected and passe. He worked for awhile at KHJ and KCOP, at one point doing a two-man chat show with Mort Sahl.
In 1976, Putnam returned to radio, where he got his start in 1934. During the 1950s, he had been heard on KFI (the NBC affiliate), later on KABC-AM (as was fellow KTTV news personality Paul Coates). His new home, however, was not so prestigious. It was KIEV, a station in Glendale that was little known outside that burgh. The station, licensed by the Federal Radio Commission in 1932, had its dedicatory program on Feb. 11, 1933. It broadcast from the basement of the Glendale Hotel, receiving free rent in exchange for advertising. It began broadcasting at a meager 100 watts, but worked its way up to 250 watts the next year. It was at 5,000 watts when Putnam got there with his “Talk Back” show.
Putnam gave the theretofore obscure station credibility, and enabled it to attract other top personalities, such as Mr. Blackwell. For years, Putnam’s broadcasts emanated each noontime from the bottom level of the Arco Plaza, in downtown Los Angeles. Lunchtime shoppers could bob in to join the studio audience.
The station on Jan. 1, 2001, acquired the abandoned call letters of a better known station, KRLA. That year, Putnam left his broadcasting home after 27 years when the station wanted to air his commentaries during the week, but relegate his call-in show to weekends.
But that did not end Putnam’s career in broadcasting. At age 88, he’s still broadcasting, his new venue being KPLS, a right-wing station in Orange County.
In 1995, at the local Emmy awards ceremony, Putnam was given the Governors’ Award for career achievement. He has a star on the Hollywood Boulevard “Walk of Fame.”
An article in the April 20, 1956 issue of TV Radio Life observed: “Some people say he is hammy. Others say he is the best in the field.”
He was—and is—a ham. Whether he was the “best in the field” may be debated. My own local journalistic “heroes” from that supplemental news medium known as television—supplemental to newspapers, that is—are Clete Roberts, Bill Stout and Paul Coates.
Though there was bravado to his manner, he was far from a Ted Baxter. He was informed.
In offering “One Reporter’s Opinion,” he did not merely read words crafted by another; the opinion was his, the words were his.
I do find fault, however, with the lack of clear demarcation during Putnam’s early days on L.A. television between his role as a reporter and as a commentator. He did, in my view, assume the role of an advocate in contexts where journalistic ethics would have dictated neutrality.
But this cannot be denied:
There has never been a more popular and influential newsman in Los Angeles television than Putnam. He’s a legend.