NJ Acting Governer threatens talk show host

[ThePresence]

Text

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEWARK ? Acting Gov. Richard J. Codey on Wednesday defended his aggressive rebuke of a radio host over comments made about first lady Mary Jo Codey?s well-publicized battle with mental illness.

?Somebody made disparaging remarks about my wife. I defended my wife like any man or husband would,? Codey told a throng of reporters at the Statehouse just after addressing a group of mayors.

?I have a right to defend my family, and I will.? Codey suggested the station should take action against the host, Craig Carton, but said he did not expect an apology would come from Carton.

According to an account published in Wednesday?s Star-Ledger of Newark, Codey confronted the radio host in a hallway at the Ewing Township studios of WKXW-FM, better known as New Jersey 101.5, where the governor was to appear for his monthly ?Ask the Governor? call-in show.

?I wish I weren?t governor, I?d take you out,? Codey said, according to the newspaper?s account of the Tuesday night exchange.

Carton responded: ?That?s real professional. You want to fight?? Codey and Carton shouted at each other as members of the governor?s security detail hovered nearby. Carton then left the station, and Codey went on with the show.

During his news conference Wednesday, Codey sought to clarify the exchange, saying, ?I didn?t say I would take him out, I said I would take him outside. When you?re Irish you take them outside, not out.? He added he did not recall Carton challenging him to a fight.

Codey said he was upset about remarks Carton made during his Monday afternoon ?Jersey Guys? show. Codey said he personally did not hear the comments, but members of his staff in his West Orange legislative office heard them and wrote them down.

According to a partial transcript the governor?s office told The Star-Ledger it got from a ?trusted source,? Carton said: ?What Gov. Codey ought to do is approve the use of medical marijuana so women can have a joint and relax instead of putting their babies in a microwave. Then all they want to do is cook Doritos. Women who claim they suffer from this postpartum depression ... they must be crazy in the first place.? Codey said the radio station refused to provide his office with a transcript of Carton?s comments.

Citing station policy, program director Eric Johnson declined to release a tape of the show to the newspaper. He said he saw nothing wrong with Carton?s Monday show.

?Talk show hosts are free to comment on the news,? Johnson said. ?We have talk show hosts with strong opinions.? Johnson did not return several calls from The Associated Press on Wednesday morning.

?At what point does his freedom of speech converge in terms of public responsibility, because they do under license have a public responsibility,? Codey said Wednesday.

Codey is serving both as acting governor and state Senate president following last year?s resignation of Gov. James E. McGreevey.

Mary Jo Codey has been candid about her many dark days, including the joyless first year after their first son was born 20 years ago.

She has acknowledged having murderous thoughts about the baby, but said she knew she would harm herself first. The Codeys sought treatment for debilitating postpartum depression, which affects about 2 percent of women who give birth.

The acting governor has been a longtime advocate for improved care for the mentally ill and once worked undercover at a state psychiatric hospital to gather information to support his reform efforts.

Codey on Wednesday said his wife was upset by the remarks. But he also described her resiliency: ?My wife has survived mental illness, being in a coma for eight days, breast cancer, me at times, so I think she can survive this person.?

At the beginning of his call-in show, Codey delivered a prepared rebuttal to Carton. Codey said the station initially balked at him doing so, which he found ?odd because they wouldn?t provide a transcript for me, but they were going to censor what I was going to say.?

In his rebuttal, Codey said, ?Let me make myself very clear: I am proud of my wife and of her work to help people with mental illness throughout the state of New Jersey. These remarks were personally offensive to me, my wife and our sons. But I am even more disturbed that they reinforced a negative stigma and hurt hundreds of thousands of other New Jerseyans who deal with this disease every day.? Codey then took on-air questions for an hour.

As he left the station, Codey said he was glad he confronted Carton. ?I?m proud of what I said there,? he said.

I heard the show, I listen to them every day. You need to know the context. Craig was talking about women who murder their kids (like Andrea Yates) and then blame it on post-partum depression. He said those types of women are crazy anyway.

 

[dabuddha]

Good for him!

 

[ThePresence]

Originally posted by: dabuddha
Good for him!

BS. The radio guy did nothing wrong, I heard the show. The Gov. is just way too sensitive to these kinds of issues.

 

[metalmania]

Jay Leno is still alive.

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: dabuddha
Good for him!

BS. The radio guy did nothing wrong, I heard the show. The Gov. is just way too sensitive to these kinds of issues.

?What Gov. Codey ought to do is approve the use of medical marijuana so women can have a joint and relax instead of putting their babies in a microwave. Then all they want to do is cook Doritos. Women who claim they suffer from this postpartum depression ... they must be crazy in the first place.?

Sounds like an ass to me :disgust:

 

[ThePresence]

Originally posted by: Fritzo

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: dabuddha
Good for him!

BS. The radio guy did nothing wrong, I heard the show. The Gov. is just way too sensitive to these kinds of issues.

?What Gov. Codey ought to do is approve the use of medical marijuana so women can have a joint and relax instead of putting their babies in a microwave. Then all they want to do is cook Doritos. Women who claim they suffer from this postpartum depression ... they must be crazy in the first place.?

Sounds like an ass to me :disgust:

It does look bad when you see it in the article. But in the context of the show it wasn't bad at all. When he said that, he was talking about women who say they want(ed) to murder their kids. He belives that anybody who feels that way is nuts, and the Gov. should'nt be funding programs for them, he should be locking them up in institutions.

 

[crystal]

Since his wife did suffer from postpartum depression, what Craig Carton did is basically called his wife crazy and should be lock up. BTW, from reading on his past works in try to get the funding to help these people, telling him he should lock them all up into an institutions is like a slap on the face.

 

[nageov3t]

I can't wait 'till we get to have an elected governor again.

 

[Geekbabe]

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: dabuddha
Good for him!

BS. The radio guy did nothing wrong, I heard the show. The Gov. is just way too sensitive to these kinds of issues.

I'd say real life experience has made him more aware of and more sensitive to the plight of those who suffer. Good for him for speaking out for her and for standing by her !

 

[Yo Ma Ma]

Mountain out of molehill... yes PPD is very serious, but who would actually view anything said by the disc jockey/talk show host with much, if any, credibility? I think the Gov's reaction to the comments just drew it more attention that it deserved.

 

[Grey]

NJ 101.5 is really chatting about it, "and the Gov still hasn't apoligized to our host" before every news clip.
The hosts are always fighting with the governor, I think Carton/Rossi got in several spats with McGreedy also.

 

[Siva]

I don't like that radio show, I catch it every so often at work. I think this is just another example of those guys being assholes.

The governor's son, whom his wife apparently wanted to kill is in my class at Drew University. Not that I know him well at all, but I just thought it was funny.

 

[ThePresence]

Originally posted by: Grey
NJ 101.5 is really chatting about it, "and the Gov still hasn't apoligized to our host" before every news clip.
The hosts are always fighting with the governor, I think Carton/Rossi got in several spats with McGreedy also.

Hmmm... they look pretty friendly with McGreevy here...

 

[ThePresence]

Statement from the radio station:

Statement from Andy Santoro, Group Vice President, Millennium Radio New Jersey and VP/GM New Jersey 101.5 FM Radio:

New Jersey 101.5 is surprised and disappointed the Acting-Governor would propose violence as the solution to his dispute with one of our program hosts.Talk show hosts are, by nature, controversial.

While we may not personally agree with their opinions, we defend their right to express them without the threat of physical harm.

 

[Grey]

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: Grey
NJ 101.5 is really chatting about it, "and the Gov still hasn't apoligized to our host" before every news clip.
The hosts are always fighting with the governor, I think Carton/Rossi got in several spats with McGreedy also.

Hmmm... they look pretty friendly with McGreevy here...

Don't you remember the two of them leading the charge for Gay McGreevy to leave ASAP when he came out? Or his scandal with the funding from that potential mob figure? They attacked him a lot.

 

[Siva]

Originally posted by: Grey

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: Grey
NJ 101.5 is really chatting about it, "and the Gov still hasn't apoligized to our host" before every news clip.
The hosts are always fighting with the governor, I think Carton/Rossi got in several spats with McGreedy also.

Hmmm... they look pretty friendly with McGreevy here...

Don't you remember the two of them leading the charge for Gay McGreevy to leave ASAP when he came out? Or his scandal with the funding from that potential mob figure? They attacked him a lot.

They were actually friendly with him before he announced he was gay... at least I remember him calling into their show more than once. It was only after he said he was resiging that they wanted him to do it immediately, which was so the state would have a chance to actually run elections.

 

[Grey]

Maybe I am confusing Dennis and Jim from the morning shows with the two afternoon guys?

 

[ThePresence]

Originally posted by: Grey
Maybe I am confusing Dennis and Jim from the morning shows with the two afternoon guys?

That's two seperate shows. Dennis & Judy is one and Jim Gearhart is the other.