I can't let the week pass without a mention of Bob Grant, who died a few days ago. During the 80s I was a regular listener and he got me through a lot of long commutes. Those of you too young to remember him probably cannot imagine a conservative talk show host who actually was independent minded, and willing to actually speak his mind even if it went against the party line. He clearly never made the huge cash that the Limbaughs and Hannitys make because he never was mean just to jack up ratings-and he never got in bed with the wealthy-he got mean when he was genuinely pissed off at the ordinary working person getting screwed. He was totally unfairly called a racist-I got the sense that he was color blind and accepted everyone, as long as they worked hard, were honest, and cared about their family and community.

Yes I know 2 amendment was not his issue, but he was more of a 70s and 80s figure when this was not as big a deal as it is now.

I liked listening to him and miss his voice.

"Get off my phone..."

 

RIP Bob, enjoyed listening to him, but it was a while since I heard his show.

I liked Bob but he often got beat badly in debates. Which often lead to him yelling at the caller .

You can't mention Bob without mentioning the scam he called on day one, the Tawana Brawley incident.

"Get Gaddafi"

 

- Robert Ciro Gigante

 

RIP Bob, enjoyed listening to him, but it was a while since I heard his show.

He was back on 770 WABC on Sunday afternoons until a year or so ago. It was reported that he left due to health reasons.

 

He lived in Toms River.

 

RIP Bob.

I am old enough to remember Bob and really enjoyed his insight and point of view.  And I remember the Tawana Brawley piece as well.

 

RIP Bob

He will be missed i was a frequent caller back in the 90's.

I was an avid listener during the late 1970s, through the 1990s. Bob had a way of seeing through B.S. like nobody else. His instincts were spot on 98% of the time. The remainder of the time he'd say something in bad taste and get into trouble. But that's inevitable when you comment uncompromisingly.

 

Bob had all the race hucksters sized up pretty well from the beginning, especially the Tawana Brawley crew. 

 

A previous poster was correct that guns were not a big part of Bob Grant's thinking. He had an opportunity, after the massacre on Metro North in the early 90s, to make a stand for the second amendment, but I don't believe he did. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

 

That's not too unusual. I know several conservatives of his generation who still believe that only cops and soldiers should carry guns. It's a very immigrant/northeastern perspective. 

 

RIP Bob Grant.

A previous poster was correct that guns were not a big part of Bob Grant's thinking.

 

Bob Grant was no friend of the Second Amendment, that's for sure. That deficiency is somewhat mitigated by the fact that he despised Mario Cuomo as much as I did.

Bob Grant was no friend of the Second Amendment, that's for sure. That deficiency is somewhat mitigated by the fact that he despised Mario Cuomo as much as I did.

Funny. I listened to him for many hundreds of hours, usually while in the car. When I commuted from Bloomfield to Long Island I used to tape his broadcasts and listen to them during the long car ride home. I can't say I actually ever heard him say anything, one way or another, about the second amendment. Not even after the massacre on Metro North.

I remember his Norplant tirade with the famous "Bob Grant Mandatory Sterilization Act", referring to unwed mothers who kept pumpin'-out babies for more welfare.  To say he said what he felt would be an UNDERSTATEMENT!

 

"STRAIGHT AHEAD, STRAIGHT AHEAD!"  to heaven itself!

My sense of Bob was that in the 80s and early 90s he felt that the 2nd Amendment was not under attack. I hadn't listened to him in some time so I don't know if his view changed. Again, I felt that he was a believer in hard work, honesty, and fairness and he despised racial hucksters who exploited people. I think he never got the national attention he deserved because at heart he was a fair minded guy and didn't attack people just to attack them.

My sense of Bob was that in the 80s and early 90s he felt that the 2nd Amendment was not under attack. I hadn't listened to him in some time so I don't know if his view changed. Again, I felt that he was a believer in hard work, honesty, and fairness and he despised racial hucksters who exploited people. I think he never got the national attention he deserved because at heart he was a fair minded guy and didn't attack people just to attack them.

Partly true. He was a typical NY/NJ conservative with immigrant tendencies (even though he was from Illinois and not himself an immigrant). I know the type.

 

We forget that back in the 80s "2nd Amendment" meant hunting and home defense. Vermont was the only state back then, to my knowledge, that allowed people to walk around with guns. The current debate over concealed carry, during Bob Grant's heyday, was nonexistent. Many conservatives believed, when Florida passed the first concealed carry legislation in 1987, that there'd be a shootout at every fender-bender.

Funny. I listened to him for many hundreds of hours, usually while in the car. When I commuted from Bloomfield to Long Island I used to tape his broadcasts and listen to them during the long car ride home. I can't say I actually ever heard him say anything, one way or another, about the second amendment. Not even after the massacre on Metro North.

He actually used the phrase "you gun nuts in the NRA" in response to a rather vociferous caller complaining about Florio's gun ban. I wrote him a letter about this and then never listened to him again. I guess you didn't listen as much as you think you did.