by Brad Heavner, October 1996

Rarely do your Far Right Radio Review hosts listen to the worst of shortwave all day long. It is damaging enough to one's mental stability to check in on it at periodic intervals. But to demonstrate the collective strength of the multitude of radical reactionary right-wing radio programs now available on shortwave, we have compiled this log -- a sampling of what can be heard in a typical day.

FRRR Log. Monday, August 19, 1996.

9-10 am. Bo Gritz, Freedom Calls, WWCR. Freemasons are taking over. Jewish bankers attack Pat Buchanan. Life on Mars story a hoax to destroy Christianity. History of KKK. Selling land in Idaho separatist colony. Selling gold coins for survival of economic crash.

10-10:30 am. Ron Wilson, Hour of Courage, WWCR. Dixie theme. Report on stories in John Birch Society's New American. Relinquishing U.S. sovereignty with foreign troops on U.S. soil. Will be forced to bow to all demands of Japanese. Vince Foster "murder cover-up." Moral decline -- prepare for disaster -- buy gold.

11-11:30 am. Ron Wilson, Hour of Courage, WHRI. Repeat of 10am.

11am-12pm. Lynn Standewick, Freedom Forum, WWCR. Phones down. Explanation of all products in survivalist catalog -- water purifiers, Dutch oven recipes, night vision goggles. Roman Catholic Church is a tool of Satan.

11:30am-12pm. Larry Bates, Unraveling the New World Order, WHRI. Welfare reform is a big give-away to the poor. 80% tax rate coming. How to have all of your tax debt cancelled.

12-12:30 pm. Bill Lauderbach, Domestic Shortwave Report, WGTG. Analysis of other reactionary shortwave talk radio programs. Christian Identity, conspiratology, freedom of racist speech.

12:30-1 pm. Bob Spear, Preparedness Hour, WGTG. Time is running out. Tough financial times. Learn to defend yourself. Buy survivalist products.

12-3 pm. Chuck Harder, For the People, WHRI. U.S. Taxpayers Party propaganda. Cover-ups surrounding rencent spate of plane crashes. On Wall St. Journal article about gov't cover-up: "It's an interesting article. I haven't read it as yet, but the headline suggests that it might have been a bungle."

1-2 pm. Randall Terry, Randall Terry Live, WWCR. Report on U.S. Taxpayers Party convention. Bible-based legislators needed. No other issue but abortion. Aim to take over the world.

1-2 pm. Jim Ceaderstrom, Financial Survival in the '90s, WGTG. Promotion of coming survivalist convention in Indianapolis -- The Preparedness Expo. Only hope is gold, silver, platinum. Best prices.

1-3 pm. Henry Feinberg, Henry Feinberg Show, WWCR. Income tax is illegal. 1040 Form is voluntary. Right to travel freely is God-given; driving licenses are unconstitutional. Public schools are instituting hierarchy which New World Order will step into. Babies are marked at birth by governor for future roles in state service. Council on National Policy will make political representation obsolete.

2-3 pm. David Smith, Newswatch Magazine, WGTG. Why the 13th and 14th Amendments (abolishing slavery and guaranteeing freed slaves full citizenship) were undesirable and unconstitutional. Except on the larger plantations, slaves were better off than slave-owners, as they were able to enjoy a stronger sense of family and community. The Illuminati's control over the U.S. government.

3-4 pm. John Johnson, Patriot News Hour, WGTG. Report from the Republic of Texas, now an independent country once again.

3:30-4 pm. Ron Wilson, Hour of Courage, WHRI. Repeat of 10am program.

3-5 pm. Norm Resnick, The Norm Resnick Show, WWCR. Information from the Creation Research Center, "evaluating science in a biblical manner." Public schools can take your children and turn them over to Social Services whenever they care to.

4-4:30 pm. Stan Johnson, The Prophesy Club, WHRI, KWHR. The New World Order is going to come crashing through your front door.

4:30-5 pm. David Smith, Newswatch Magazine, WHRI. Repeat of half of 2pm program.

5-6 pm. Paul Parsons/Rick Tyler, Voice of Liberty, WWCR. Need for militias to stand ready. One-world socialist government is already upon us.

5-6 pm. George Douglas, Common Sense, WGTG. Off the air today.

5-6 pm. Pete Peters, Scriptures for America, WRNO. One of America's leading Christian Identity leaders, today speaking on the importance of tithes and offerings. Give generously.

5-6 pm. Steve Quayle, Blueprint for Survival, WWCR. Why citizens should build their own criminal justice system.

5-6 pm. Mark Koernke/John Stadtmiller, The Intelligence Report, WRMI. Lots of self-promotion as premier leaders of militia movement. Outcome-Based Education is training our children as soldiers for the New World Order.

6-6:15 pm. Bob Hallstrom, Herald of Truth, WRMI. Crying about his free speech rights to attack Jews as Satan's spawn and blacks as subhuman mud-people.

6-7 pm. Mark Koernke/John Stadtmiller, The Intelligence Report, WWCR. On a different station for their second hour. More on public education. Promotion of upcoming events -- protest the raising of the UN flag on UN day in Lansing, MI; attend a public hearing of the common law court of the "Republic of Texas." Federal detention centers are being built to house all objectors when the crash comes. Solicitation to rebroadcast program locally on micro-power FM stations.

6-7 pm. David Smith, Newswatch Magazine, WWCR. Repeat of 2pm program.

6-7 pm. Jeff Baker, The Baker Report, WGTG. Program from violent anti-abortion activist and Florida head of U.S. Taxpayers Party. Not on the air today.

6-7 pm. Suzanne Harris/Jack Ludlow, The Law Loft Report, WWCR. Ultra-conservative interpretation of the day's events on Capitol Hill.

7-8 pm. Viking International Trading, Protecting Your Wealth, WWCR. Land rights, gun rights, county supremacy. Total financial collapse is on the way. Buy gold; best prices.

7-8 pm. Pete Peters, Scriptures for America, WRMI. Anti-Christ forces are taking over the world. Fight for God's true chosen ones: the white race.

7-8 pm. Kurt Saxon, The Kurt Saxon Show, WWCR. Readings from 19th century letters relating to his Root Rot book. Exposing Alex Haley as a liar and explaining that blacks brought to America as slaves were better off than those left in Africa. Prepare for the end.

7-8 pm. Jack McLamb, The Jack McLamb Show, WHRI. Former Phoenix police officer recruits active duty law enforcement officers and military personnel to the militias.

8-10 pm. Tom Valentine, Radio Free America, WWCR. British Israel and Masonic lore. Challenge any civil authority. "Ethnic cleansing is not a war crime. It is a natural thing. It's a normal thing."

8-10 pm. John Bryant, The John Bryant Show, WWCR. Militia march on Washington planned for Labor Day. This is the 11th hour. Children born today will pay over 85% of earnings in taxes by the time they hit the workforce.

8:30-9 pm. Ron Wilson, Hour of Courage, WHRI. Repeat of 10am program.

9-11 pm. Chuck Harder, For the People, WHRI. Repeat of two hours of 12-3 program.

9:30-10 pm. Stan Johnson, The Prophesy Club, WHRI. Repeat of 4pm show.

10-11 pm. William Cooper, Hour of the Time, WWCR. The leader of the "Second Constitutional Army of the Republic" complains about a lack of support, about other militia leaders, and of the power of secret societies.

10-11 pm. Bob Enyart, Bob Enyart Live, WHRI. "The nation's most popular self-proclaimed right-wing religious fanatic, homophobic, anti-choice talk show hest" rants about gays.

10-11 pm. Paul Parsons/Rick Tyler, Voice of Liberty, WWCR. The heads of Citizens for a Constitutional Georgia bring us more on the militia movement.

It is easy enough for most of us to pass off the wild idea that United Nations troops are going to storm out of manholes and invade the U.S. as crazed paranoia. We can hear sporadic calls for violent action and take heart that such hysteria is not rampant everywhere. We can be disgusted at overt racism, but realize that it is a small number of people who would actually hope to see a race war.

In most spaces, this is certainly the case. The racist and violent fringe does not dominate in the town square. On U.S. domestic shortwave, however, reactionary filth is the norm. People who might not otherwise fall for the scapegoating rhetoric of the far-right are being worn down by the sheer volume of it. A constant flow of programming, one feeding off the twisted logic of another, breaking down the good sense of good people hour after hour, day after day, month after month.

It is easy enough to understand why these racist and militant organizations have turned to shortwave. AM radio networks are expensive, and often a programmer will get run out of town when a community realizes that a particular show cannot be squeezed into the broadest interpretation of their standards of decency. Shortwave radio does not reach most people's daily commutes, and often they are not even aware that the medium exists. For those who seek it out by simply buying a shortwave radio and turning it on, however, it is as real as any information source.

Since the Federal Communications Commission in the United States went through a deregulatory binge and seemingly eliminated the requirement that shortwave broadcasts be directed at a foreign audience, the capacity of U.S.-based stations to carry this type of programming has grown enormously. With this, the character of the medium itself has been transformed as well. While international broadcasting was traditionally the realm of the open-minded listener who wanted to hear transmissions direct from overseas, it is now the place to go for the inspiration to build explosives and instructions for doing so. Pick up a shortwave radio next time a gun show comes to town.

While progressive researchers and activists do have their outlets on community radio and can occasionally wrestle a positive soundbite into mainstream media, it is also essential to have a voice on shortwave. For those of us at RFPI, it is particularly exciting to be putting our programming out for a listening audience that would not otherwise hear such ideas. Many thanks to all the producers who provide us with top-quality programming. And immense gratitude goes out to all who support the Global Community Forum and the Far Right Radio Review.