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Tim's Take: Commentary from Behind the Scenes of WBEN

Thoughts from WBEN/WGR/WWKB Operations Manager Tim Wenger
Find Tim on Twitter at

No, We're NOT Taking Rush off the Air

Follow me @twengerwben on Twitter

It amazes me that there is still a vocal minority of people calling for the removal of Rush Limbaugh from the airwaves following the 'slut' remark from a few weeks back.  While I'm certainly not condoning Rush's language choice on that day, he's apologized publicly and the comment did not break any FCC guidelines.   Was it 'right' for him to say?  That's up to you to decide.  But it's no reason to stifle his voice in the conservative world.

Also amazing to me, is the number of people not from the Buffalo area who are simply reacting to some organized online effort who are calling from afar to ask that we remove Rush from WBEN.  They've never heard WBEN and don't know anything about the station and its committment to Buffalo and western New York.  If you honestly think Rush should be removed from WBEN and are a regular listener to WBEN, I welcome a conversation with you.(

There are seemingly endless choices for people to make in their radio and online listening and I'm not sure why so many people who can't stand what Rush stands for, listen to him every day.  Why torture yourself?  The fact of the matter is that the Rush Limbaugh show is the most listened to radio show in the world.  A lot of people like him and identify with his beliefs.  And I understand a lot don't!  But to simply call for someone's ouster because his beliefes are different from yours is simply not what free speech is all about.

I'm sorry Rush said what he said.  I(WBEN and Entercom Radio) certainly don't condone it.  But let's focus on the important matters that face this country and really demand more of our focus and attention.

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Locations : BuffaloNew York

03/21/2012 12:45PM
No, We're NOT Taking Rush off the Air
Feel free to let me know what you think....
03/22/2012 7:01AM
thank you
thank you
03/22/2012 7:36AM
Keep Rush On
Tim, Thanks for taking the stand you did. Even though Rush shouldn't have used the word he did, I totally agree with him. Why is it that liberals can say anything they want but the conservative voice should not be heard? By the way, for years I paid for my own contraceptives, never once thinking that someone else should do that. The problem with a large segment of society today is that they think they are entitled to everything that some people have worked 40 years to get!! This government doesn't have to campaign to be re-elected, they just have to keep giving the store away!! The votes will follow. Thank you, Carol
03/22/2012 8:00AM
Keep Rush
If a bad choice of words were a reason for execution, Washington would be EMPTY! Thanks for standing up to the critics, Rush has always told it like it is!
03/22/2012 8:02AM
Agree with this one.
Thanks Tim for your reasoned response. By far, most of the haters are on the left. the venom which they spew in their disagreement with those of us who support the Constitution as written by our Founding Fathers is far stronger and than anything Rush says. These are the Socialists who would bring down our Constitution in a millisecond if they could. They want to have a Constitution which promotes their point of view and no one else gets a say. Rush was wrong in what he said but I'm willing to give a repentant sinner the benefit of the doubt whether leaning left or right.
03/22/2012 8:45AM
Hush the Rush
Really !! This guy is a joke, Try and talk that way about people like that in the real world (work,church,school, etc.) and see what will happen. (Fired, suspended,expelled,)He's just another shock jock that stirs the pot. In fact you have a Rush wannabe heading your 3:00pm show. Thank God for music stations like Swing1070 real for entertaiment, not ignorant talk show babble you barf out to your listners. And by the way, whats with the commercials with the church lady, man your sponsors must be cheap, Hamburg overhead door, Brothers of Mercy, some landscaping company, etc. Some like a church choir wrote those.
03/22/2012 8:50AM
I love conservative talk radio. I wish there was more.
Thank you so much for taking a stand for free speech. I respect you greatly. I will continue to listen to Rush faithfully. Judy
03/22/2012 9:10AM
The truth hurts...
Thank you so much for keeping Rush on your station. It shows you have integrity and believe in "free speech"....not like the left that only believes in it for THEIR side and want everyone else censored or silenced. Keep up the good fight.
03/22/2012 9:22AM
Shorter Tim Wenger
We want to appeal to peoples' fears, prejudices and ignorance because that's what the market demands. Who needs advertisers?
03/22/2012 9:25AM
Clearly, they never did listen to Rush.
Anyone, liberal, conservative or in between, with any brains and sence of being honest to oneself should be able to decifer what he / she hears on the radio as straight talk, showmanship or out right B.S.. Anyone who listend to Rush should find it easy to realize it's not BS. He backs up almost everything he says !!! Haters of Rush NEVER listened to him at all.....Too bad, they lied to themselves. Rodger
03/22/2012 9:49AM
We need Rush
Liberals call Rush a "hate monger", "racist", "sexist", etc. But they never offer any proof to back up these words. The message I hear from Rush is that people should take responsibility for their actions and stop looking at the goverment to bail them out. He wants everyone to be productive members of society. The sad truth is that government entitlement programs only make people more and more dependent on them. Sooner or later, this will all come crashing down when our nation's creditors no longer wish to foot the bill. Then, you will see the devestating suffering the liberal nanny state has created.
03/22/2012 10:10AM
Rush is right
Rush tells things the way they really are, like it or hate it. Since he is not arm of the govt controlled liberal media, he doesn't have to spoon feed us their agenda. How many times do we need to hear how beautiful Michelle is, or how poor Barry inherited a mess from Bush. Last I checked our debt & unemployment have gotten much worse on Barrys watch. If you give people things for free it removes the motivation to work, that's is why this socialist is going to get re elected. He has a growing voting base of govt recipiants. Recipiants don't care about taxes since they don't pay any. In fact, if it means more benefits for them, they are for increased taxes. Mike in Hamburg
03/22/2012 10:25AM
Kudos to Tim Wenger and WBEN for their support of Rush Limbaugh
It would be tragic to lose Rush’s powerful voice in support of American exceptionalism. Everyday Rush reminds us that our country’s greatness is not the result of big government handouts. Quite the contrary, it’s the result of exceptional individuals using their God given talents to full advantage. Many of these exceptional individuals immigrated to America motivated by political freedoms that would permit them to make the most from their lives. Native born Americans were similarly motivated by these same political freedoms - freedoms that were uniquely American. These are the freedoms (protections from government) set forth in the American Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution. Rush is a classic example of American exceptionalism – he has a unique media talent that, every day, draws millions of listeners that want to hear the truth about what made this country great.
03/22/2012 11:50AM
Keep him on
Thanks WBEN for not being a member of the simple minds club and bowing to the fringe of our society. Long live Rush, the constitution and WBEN
03/22/2012 11:54AM
Rush, on wben is the only voice different from every station, newspaper, tv, thats available in western ny. Liberalism runs rampant in this area dominating just about everywhere. We need some balance, and Rush is it.
03/22/2012 12:20PM
Toronto Listeners say keep RUSH on the air !
Mr. Wenger, great decision ! Fluke was a plant and Rush innocently took the bait...honest mistake on his part. Why isn't the mainstream media coming down on the other leftie commentators that deingrate women. BTW a huge audience tunes into his show each & everyday...especially with students. Merci & keep RUSH on
03/22/2012 4:30PM
How dare you. Rush is perfect and we obey his every command.
03/22/2012 4:37PM
Great response Tim.
Much like their notions on "tolerance" and "civility", the left haters seem to have rather one-sided and selective indignance. They're likely incapable of doing it with integrity but if they could do a gut check on themselves, and revisit many others who have said far worse and that were not been the recipient of such (feigned) anger,they'll no doubt find MANY and greater deserving individuals of their targeted indignation. From Bill Ayers to Bill Maher, the Reverend Wright to Nancy Pelosi. Get Rush off the air. Give me a break. Who appointed you the decision maker for the station? And as Tim said rather carefully, if you don't like it, you don't have to listen. Stop being a pawn of the left. Quit bitching. Do something productive. Anything you like in this great country of ours. But most of all, stop being the ridiculously and conveniently huge hyprocites that so many of you are.
03/22/2012 5:17PM
Keep Rush on the air
im, thank you for your thoughts, the left wants free speech for everyone but the people they disagree with. Rush is a beacon in the storm and we need his voic
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