Tom Finneran Calls Bullsh*t; Nobody Cares

Tom Finneran is getting desperate. Last month, the former speaker announced he was launching a lobbying firm, then reneged on his plan after critics pointed out that it was a huge conflict of interest for the talk radio host. Now Finneran is screaming profanities on air to drum up ratings because a guest talked over him.

Jessica Heslam reported yesterday that Finneran fumed when Barbara Anderson from Citizens for Limited Taxation talked over him. While the broadcast signal was bleeped, the streaming feed and the audio archive were not. (Scroll to 12:30 to hear the offending language.)

“I’ll have a civil conversation with anybody, but when it amounts to – hey, do you got your finger on the button? But when it amounts to bull (expletive), that’s what it is, bull (expletive), see you later.”

Allow us to clutch our pearls in horror. It’s a morning show! Certainly the children were listening in droves, leaving uncomfortable parents to explain why moral paragon (ahem) Tom Finneran was using such filthy language. To a lady, no less. The internet-savvy ones could go online and hear the vigorous “bullshit” in its unedited form. Horrors!

In this post-Janet Jackson Super Bowl performance world, you’d imagine the FCC would get involved. But you would be wrong. The FCC doesn’t regulate cable or satellite profanity. But there is this interesting tidbit.

When it comes to fining offenders, the FCC looks at the context in which the word is used, said Media Attorney David Oxenford, a partner at Davis Wright Tremaine in Washington, D.C.

“It’s all a matter of context,” Oxenford said.

We imagine the comment would have to be in the context of a show that has an audience. But good try, Tom.