On Friday morning’s Neal Boortz Show (March 7), Boortz repeatedly played an audiotape of a nine-year-old disabled boy, Jordon W, and ridiculed the way the boy speaks, saying, ”He sounds as dumb as a stump.”
Boortz also ridiculed the boy’s father, Gordon, demeaned the family’s business, a tire shop, and accused the father of child abuse based solely on Jordan’s speech patterns and mountain accent.
This is the same Neal Boortz who made light of the disabling of 13-year-old surfer Bethany Hamilton shortly after she lost her arm in a shark attack in 2003. Boortz called the girl “stupid” and ”inarticulate,” called her lost arm ”shark food,” and laughed that she’d “never be a typist.” (Bethany is now a competitive professional surfer despite her disability.)
Boortz promotes his talk show by admitting that he has a “personality disorder” that he’s parlayed into a “very good living.” The disorder goes deeper than the personality, and “good living” involves more than making money.
Here’s the original WSB news story where Boortz got the audio he used to trash the W family. WSB had sent a reporter to the family tire shop in Lula after a pieces of ice crashed through the roof of the family business.
And here’s the flippant poll where Boortz makes light of his emotional abuse of Jordan W (scroll down to see it):
Is Neal being too hard on that 10-year-old boy from North Georgia with the thick accent?
*Yes, he should lay off *No, he’s spot on *mah diddy sez neil’s bein ignert
Worst of all, here’s the demeaning post at www.boortz.com from Thursday, March 13—a week after the initial humiliation, and well after both Boortz and WSB General Manager Dan Kearney had been informed that the boy is disabled (emails demonstrating this are available and have been forwarded to the FCC):
…looks like we’ve really twisted a few knickers out there with our panning of Lil’ Buford’s communications skills. You remember Lil’ Buford, don’t you? The 10-year-old kid who can’t speak the English language? Yeah .. that one, the future worm farmer.
Finally, here’s the audio of Jordan and Gordon W. Jordan says, “I don’t care about me, I just care about my daddy.” As it turns out, Little Buford outclasses Neal Boortz by a country mile.
Wouldn’t it be nice if that mysterious ice from the sky wound up taking some cold hard cash out of the pockets of Boortz and his employer, and putting it into a trust fund for Jordan W?
The gods must be crazy in mysterious ways
March 7, 2008 at 3:07 pm |
He was disparaging the parents, not the kid. Its the prents reponsibility to assure his education.
March 7, 2008 at 7:27 pm |
I guess we read things differently. The kid’s speach is a reflection of his upbring, his parents have failed him. If he had an inpedement it is up to his parents to correct it and if they can not, to seek help to get the required correction.
March 7, 2008 at 8:29 pm |
“You waited a whole 7 minutes.” Wow! Monitoring talk-radio all day really has you over analyzing things. Did you think I was just sitting here staring at my computer screen. My wife came home just as I was typing and I stopped to listen to what she had to say. Next time I will just ask her to shut up so that the speech police can’t critique the timing of my post.
If the liberal speech police continued to monitor conservative talk-radio until they (you) made everyone else hate the hosts, conservative talk-radio would still dominate the airwaves. Why? Because you would all still be tuning in and putting more money in their pockets. If everyone else finds his statements as deplorable as you find his statements, then they will turn him off and no more Boortz. You need to rethink your strategy. Maybe the problem is with the consumer.
And to you (liberal), just as I would say to the conservatives out there, you can’t ‘force’ everyone else to think like you. In the words of Bob Dylan, “Don’t criticize what you can’t understand.”
March 7, 2008 at 8:48 pm |
“Let’s get our analogies straight.” That’s your best analogy. A teacher-student relationship has a fiduciary nature. Talk-radio host and random citizen have no relationship whatsoever. I don’t think you are giving that 9-year-old enough credit. Most people that are “slandered” by Neal Boortz on the air, as you have cited as the basis of your own personal grudge, don’t dedicate the remainder of their life trying to take him off the air. They just think he’s an asshole, and they move on, which is what you need to do. Get over it, Preston.
March 8, 2008 at 12:23 am |
Boortz is spot-on!!! That is child neglect nothing more or less his parents should be imprisoned and the child place in a non-government school!
March 8, 2008 at 10:55 am |
Where is your proof that the child is”learning disabled”?? Just because he speaks differently from you or I??Talk about “intolerent”…..
March 8, 2008 at 6:07 pm |
Your evidence the the kid is disabled is…?
March 9, 2008 at 9:52 am |
Your point is…? Would you feel differently about mocking a nine-year-old on national radio based on the kind and degree of his disability? Maybe you’d like me to specify the child’s IQ to help you make that difficult moral distinction.
March 10, 2008 at 9:50 am |
wow…Mr. Mathers….you are quite a mad and angry little boy arent you?? Do you even have a soul…i wonder. To mock a nine year old is sad and pitiful. Neal Boortz is a pig
March 11, 2008 at 10:45 am |
As a communication professional who has educated students about improving their speaking abilities for nearly two decades, which amounts to approximately 1000 people per year, and as a parent who raised a disabled child who lacked the ability to speak at all due to a medical condition, I would like to weigh in on the discussion about education and speech disabilities. No matter what the quality of the education or the amount of love provided to a child, the speech of the child cannot be changed or improved. Additionally, many well-known singers and spokespersons throughout American history and pop culture have had speech impediments like stuttering and managed to have very successful careers. I have taught many students to do the best they can with what they have (in terms of speaking abilities). Accents and dialects are to be respected as part of our American diversity. It is typical to poke fun at the Southerner, even Southern comedian, Jeff Foxworthy does it, and many Southerners laugh at themselves when he does. But a distinction should be made between a dialect and a disability. To make fun of someone’s disability, regardless of who you are, transcends liberalism or conservatism, but resides in the essence of what it means to be a caring human being. (As a side note: I happen to believe that both liberals and conservatives care about the welfare of others; they just happen to have different political viewpoints about how the government should demonstrate that care). And to the state of government funded education, special education for students with disabilities is the only option that parents have. Very few private schools even have speech therapists or other special education professionals on their payroll, and unless the parent is a medical professional with a specialty in speech impediments, homeschooling is not the answer either. The best thing a parent can ever do for their child is to love them unconditionally, and I believe that is exactly what the Ws are doing for their son, Jordan. We should all be so fortunate.
March 11, 2008 at 9:52 pm |
I’m from South Georgia and I’m fully aware of how thick our accents can get. This leads me to the point… just because Jordan has a thick accent does not mean he’s ignorant or that his parents have failed him as parents. When I was younger, my accent was thicker than what it is now. It’s something that most southern kids grow out of.
As for Mr. Boortz, I take it you have no children, or at least I would hope not. I also suspect that you have never heard the saying “pick on someone your own size.” This is a child that you’re picking on! Who gave you the power to make fun of a 9 year old boy? I do not know where you are from, but down here in the South, we were brought up better than that. Obviously if you make fun of a child, you must be a child yourself… you should be ashamed!!!! As for placing the “child abuse” label on Jordan’s parents, someone should label you as a child abuser. This works both ways…. you say physical, I say mental. I will pray for you… maybe one day you will see the error of your ways!
March 13, 2008 at 9:49 am |
As a Child pscyhiatrist who only does Second Opinions on difficult cases I should be surprised by Dr. Boortz audacity of providing medical opinions in a field that he only knows as a patient….with poor adherance to treatment because his manic, grandiose discurse clearly shows his illness is out of control. But I am not shocked by his ranting against mental illness in children. For what is worth, I have strongly oppossed the overdiagnosis of ADHD in the USA (7% vs. 1% in the rest of the world) but it does exist. My paper “The Crisis of ADHD overdiagnosis” is available at http://www.psychiatrictimes.com . It was published by the journal Psychiatric Times on July of 2007
Returning the fact of not been suprised, in the year 2004 I was visiting a medical facility were one of the nurses had Dr. Boortz show on. I still remember hearing this expert in all the fields of human knowledge making fun of Argentinians because they passed a law to make hitting a child a form of abuse.
This is a controversial subject (only in the South) but for those who firmly believe a misbehaving child should be hit, I will ask them to think if their boss ever had to use spanking to get respect. Besides, when you hit a child the message is “I don’t have authority over you, so I use my superior force to control you.
I don’t want to expand on this issue because my reason for this note is that I heard Dr. Boortz insulting professor Preston Coleman, from Gaisneville College (Georgia) who “violated the constitution and every state law by criticizeng Dr. Boortz.
I could not help to laugh because he reminded me of a patient I just saw who came in full-blown state of mania and sounded as full of himself as this self-proclaimed “expert in everyting”. At the same time, I fell sad for the many citizens that believe the array of nonsense this egotistic bad-mouthing racist and right-wind extremist smear over the public air waves.
How sad that this great nation does not control (like in civilized Europe) mad men who feel entittled to poison the minds of innoncent bystanders.
Unforturnately I am not going to be able to hear his insults against my “ignorance” because next time I accidental step on 590 AM (Florida) and will make sure that I “run for my life.”
Congratulations professor Coleman.
Manuel Mota-Castillo, MD
Child Psychiatrist
Lake Mary, Florida
http://www.lakemarypsychiatric.com
March 13, 2008 at 11:29 pm |
That kid wasn’t disabled, he was just taught to speak like a hick and that was the whole point of Boortz talking about it. I live in the South and I hear this kids speak like that all the time and it’s a damn shame. No wonder people automatically deduct 50 points from your IQ when they hear a southern accent. Should he have not made fun of this child…absolutely not, but it’s being blown way out of proportion.
March 15, 2008 at 10:31 pm |
prestoncoleman wrote: “I spoke with the child’s father, who seems to be doing all he can to get the best education possible for his son.”
Don’t have children if you can’t afford to take proper care of them. There maybe specialists out there that can help Lil’ Buford, but his parents can’t afford their services. I am willing bet his dad has a cell phone, probably has cable, and could sacrifice a lot more than he is, but that would make things too uncomfortable.
A. Ainsworth wrote: “No matter what the quality of the education or the amount of love provided to a child, the speech of the child cannot be changed or improved.”
This boy needs to start developing a thick skin now if that is the case. This kid has a long, hard life ahead of him if that is the best he can communicate. The sooner he learns to ignore comments like Boortz’s the better.
March 22, 2008 at 7:21 am |
I think it was funny as hell! I live in Lula and have gotten work done on my car there,I don’t think those people are from Lula because we just don’t talk that bad here…
March 25, 2008 at 2:32 pm |
I keep looking at these posts and Southern this and Boortz is on, I live in the South all kids talk like that blah blah and people deduct points when they hear a person from the South speak. You’re so full of crap, to think that Southern people are stupid and talk poorly. Southern people have manners “yes sir”, “no mam” also we respect others and do not talk down or badly to one another. Especially if it is a child. Disable childern should not be talked down to, they are human beings. Also Boortz abused his right of speech, you are not allowed to slander people. Read the Bill of Rights.The kid could not even defend himself! What kind of a man does that? This country is all about “Being Politically Correct” Boortz was not being politically correct at all!
March 31, 2008 at 8:51 am |
I’ve been following this story and I can’t seem to find any evidence at all that the child in question is disabled. I’m curious as to what kind of disability this kid has. Or are you just using the word to stir the pot a little more quickly?
March 31, 2008 at 8:56 am |
The child suffers from multiple cognitive and emotional disorders. I won’t go into detail out of respect for the family. I wonder, though, if the nature or degree of his disabilities is really even relevant? Do you have children? If so, how would you feel if one of them were humiliated repeatedly in a national forum?
And you’re right I’m stirring the pot—with the truth. Boortz shouldn’t be allowed to get away with this, and all those defending him should step back and ask themselves, who deserves their compassion more: Neal Boortz, or Jordan W and his family? (I don’t mean to imply that you’re defending him, Laughing…you just seem interested in getting to the truth.)
March 31, 2008 at 9:19 am |
I think the nature and/or degree of his disabilities is completely relevant. On the one hand you have a normal child who has been totally disserviced by his parents. And on the other you have a family that is struggling with a disabled child through no fault of their own.
No, I don’t have any children yet. I’m absolutely sure that if I had a kid and heard somebody on the radio making fun of the way my child talked I would be furious. I would also feel ashamed of myself (assuming his speech pattern is not a result of a disability) for letting my child down so severely. Again, I feel that the child’s disability, if any exists, is at the heart of the issue.
Also, as you might expect, I have no compassion to give to either party. I’m pretty insensitive.
I’m no fan of our current president, but I seem to recall people making fun of his speech patterns for the last 8 years, even going so far as to compare him to a chimpanzee (which is, admittedly, kinda funny). Where is the outrage there?
April 3, 2008 at 9:50 am |
I missed this broadcast and am very curious to hear Boortz’s comments. Does anyone know where I might be able to find this? No doubt Boortz’s attorneys have made this very difficult to find or obtain.
April 12, 2008 at 4:47 pm |
Man!!!! Bootz is alittle crazy but its very understandable. He might be cruel for attacking the kids but I do not have any sympathy for the attack of his parents. We as Americans complain about how the kids are the way they are so Bootz is simply stating what we are all wanting to say. So my worrds to him is keep speakin the truth.
April 12, 2008 at 6:01 pm |
I don’t think Boortz had any right to make fun of a young child. People from the South have thick accents, especially children. I don’t think the disabilities the child has should justify why it was wrong. It is simply wrong becuase he is a young kid. I don’t think Boortz should be suspended simply because of freedom of speech, but I do think that Boortz should be told that what he did was unacceptable. How are kids going to learn right from wrong if adults don’t model it for them?
April 13, 2008 at 2:57 pm |
I dont know very much about Neil Boortz, but i feel that anyone who is bashing a child for something he said, has some serious issues. Let alone a child who more than likely has some kind of disability. It makes me wonder what kinda of people we have on these radio shows, and how much people actually listen to them.
April 13, 2008 at 5:02 pm |
It is great to read how many people look at this issue, and some of them for me make no sense. I think what is in question here is : was it right for Boortz to continuously mock a 9 year-old on a national broadcast? I think not.
Image yourself as that 9 year old, and the consequences that would come afterwards. I’m sure then you wont be blaming your parents for not raising you properly.
April 13, 2008 at 11:19 pm |
I don’t believe the child’s disabilities are even relevant in this case. It is a nine year old boy. Should anybody have the right to ridicule and bash a little kid on national radio? I think even if the kid was completely normal Boortz has no right to make fun of him. It is very easy for people to say that they have no sympathy for these attacks Boorts did to this boy, but what about if it was their kid? would they be thinking the same way then? I’m all for Boortz when he is talking about Fair tax, but I think he has finally gone off the deep end.
April 14, 2008 at 11:50 am |
Boortz makes me so sick… I have a brother who has a speech impediment and he is the smartest kid I know. Speaking differently doesn’t have anything to do with how smart he is. Boortz has no right to ridicule this little boy on national radio. He should be ashamed of himself. I’m sure that their are things that Boortz does that we all can make fun of. How would he feel if his own child was made fun of? I am so proud of coleman for bringing this up! THis needed to be addressed… i pray for you Boortz!
April 14, 2008 at 4:08 pm |
Boortz makes me sick……….hes not even funny. That is a shame that a man in the spotlight such as Boortz would stoop as low to make fun of a child with a disability on national radio. Not only did he ridicule the young boy once, he continued on mentioning the young boy and his family. Clearly in today’s world, repercussions follow from ignorant comments such as Boortz took. I wouldn’t be surprised if Boortz had to pay retributions to the family. Whether the boy had a disability or not, there is no room for attacking a young child, and his family; regardless of their social class and education.
April 14, 2008 at 5:31 pm |
I see this situation as Boortz should lay of the child and focus more towards his parents. His Parents Have neglected him of being educated and getting the approporiate treatment for his speech impediment. Boortz should not be find or suspended due to the fact he has the right to say what he wants. He will just loose listeners who are sympathic to people with speech impediments.
April 14, 2008 at 9:42 pm |
All I have to say to Mr. Boortz is, didn’t your mom ever teach you to pick on someone your own size? Making fun of a nine year old and his father only makes you sound like an arrogant prick. I have no respect for you. Many children have speech impediments and eventually just grow out of it, and also there are worse things in life then having a speech impediment. As for Boortzs’ disbelief in ADHD… I agree that doctors are over diagnosing people with this disorder, but until you have it you will never understand it. I hope Boortz has a kid with ADHD then maybe he will believe in it.
April 15, 2008 at 5:59 pm |
Neil Boortz is cartainly gifted with ridicule and satire; that fact, however, in no way gives him the right to mock the underpriveleged. Boortz’s sharp tongue serves a far better purpose when addressing actual societal and political issues, rather than picking on a child. Boortz only demeans himself when he stoops low enough to mock the defenseless.
April 15, 2008 at 10:06 pm |
I think the whole situation is very sad and shows how our society is ignorant and cruel. A young boy with autism is some form of it first of all cannot help his disability and for a grown and supposedly educated man to ridicule him shows his real intelligence level.
April 16, 2008 at 11:22 am |
Emily McArthur.
Boortz is a grown man in body only, the level of his intelligence ceased to increase the day he graduated from high school!
To put it bluntly, Boortz is a aging, over-the-hill bully that hides behind a mike, and the 1st Amendment! Nothing more, nothing less!
April 18, 2008 at 8:37 pm |
The kid is not handicapped, the kid is not autistic, the kid has no mental disabilites. He parents taught him to talk like a hick. Every kid these days that isn’t on level with other kids has ADHD or something else preventing them from excelling. It’s NEVER the child being lazy or the parents fault….especially if they come from a poor socioeconomic background.
April 18, 2008 at 8:54 pm |
GertBFrobe, you don’t know anything about the child or his socioeconomic background. All you know is what you’ve heard from Boortz, which you parrot without a shred of evidence. You may be right about ADHD and about the pervasive victim mentality in our culture, but what do you know about Jordan or Gordon W? Nothing.
btw, there’s nothing wrong with having an accent. Do you judge people with Yankee or English accents? It sounds like you’re the one with a bias against Southerners, even as you claim to be one.
April 20, 2008 at 6:41 pm |
I am a Southerner. You chastise me for knowing nothing of the kid but make assumptions about me. The only reason people are screaming he has a disability or ADHD is to demonize Boortz. They don’t care about that kid, they just want Boortz to look bad.
April 21, 2008 at 7:24 am |
GertBFrobe wrote, “I hear this kids speak like that all the time and it’s a damn shame. No wonder people automatically deduct 50 points from your IQ when they hear a southern accent.”
Look at how sensitive you are when your own words are thrown back at you on this little blog. Now imagine that you’re nine years old, disabled, and are being humiliated on national radio. You’re dead wrong about the child, Gert, and you have a poor sense of moral proportionality. How can you be taken seriously when you pretend to diagnose the absence of disability based on a five-second sound bite?
April 21, 2008 at 2:01 pm |
GertBFrobe;
By any chance, did you and former Senate Majority Bill Frist graduate from the same medical school? Or maybe you and Boortz flunked out of Texas A&M together in ‘67!