Randy Credico on Fred Dicker (04/21/2017)

Supplemental document for: "Theory that Roger Stone's back channel to Wikileaks was Randy Credico", link: https://wakelet.com/wake/2d352ae9-febe-44a1-a7bb-51674a2e4bf5

Randy Credico on "Fred Dicker Live from the State Capitol", broadcast date: April 21, 2017.

Excerpt runs from 35:35 to 43:50.

File link: http://www.mediafire.com/file/cdthe66s3s2d092/LFTSC421171.mp3

["There But For Fortune" by Phil Ochs, link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0BeEHXjXIM ]

DICKER
That, of course, is the theme song, the wonderful song from Phil Ochs that I use to introduce Randy Credico, who besides being a great comedian, is a long-time political activist, he was something of a protege at one time for the radical and very famous leftist lawyer Bill Kunstler. He's been involved in a lot of civil rights, civil rights related efforts around the country, not just in New York, and he's the host now of a very, increasingly popular and significant talk show, on WBAI in New York City, one of the best known left wing radio stations in the United States, and he's also become something of a pal of Julian Assange, someone I want to ask about. I'm not sure if Randy's at the Russian consulate right now [RANDY CREDICO laughs], or over at London, maybe you're in Assange's bedroom in London. Good to have you with us, Randy, you're always a great guest. What's with you and the Russians?

CREDICO
[inaudible] That's very funny, putting on your Joseph McCarthy shoes today?

DICKER
No, I'm putting on my Randy Credico hat, it's your side that puts on the McCarthy shoes these days. Look at-

CREDICO
You're right, it is my side. Adam Schiff and the entire Democratic caucus, and the Congress, that have come out and they're calling this witch hunt, this Russia stuff, and Julian Assange...it is unbelievable-

DICKER
It is unbelievable-

CREDICO
-embarrassed, embarrassed to be a Democrat, you know what I mean? I think I'm going to bolt the party. Because at least there are some Repubicans out there, you know, like Rand Paul, and some others, that are saying, "Hey, wait a second, let's back up, and let's see what's really going on, instead of rushing to judgement." They're all upset because Hillary lost, and they're looking for a scapegoat. They're looking- She lost to Trump, not because of Wikileaks, not because of James Comey, she lost because she was a horrible candidate. Didn't step foot in Wisconsin, or Michigan, for just a second, or Minnesota. Just thought that she had it locked up, didn't have a program, and she had a lot of dirt on her, way before Julian Assange exposed the Democratic National Committee. I blame them. I blame, and that's where the focus should be, the focus should be on Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Podesta, and these corrupt apparatchiks, with Paul Begala, and all these people that are in it for the money. That's the reason why Hillary lost.

DICKER
How is that message, Randy, how is that message going over with your New York City audience, and if you would, talk a little bit about your ties to Assange, because I understand Julian Assange re-tweeted one of your tweets recently? He's got millions of followers.

CREDICO
Well, here's- Five million, yeah. They- I started a new series on Tuesday, "Julian Assange: Countdown to Freedom". And so I-

DICKER
That's on WBAI?

CREDICO
On WBAI. It's my sorta new show there. And it's on-going, and it got incredible reviews, a lot of great guests on, including Lionel [Michael LeBron] was on, talking about it, and then, he tweeted out the debut of the show, and Wikileaks itself, they tweeted it out this morning. It immediately got six hundred re-tweets from all of that.

DICKER
That's gotta really help an audience.

CREDICO
Yeah, well, we're gonna go with it, because it's an interesting perspective that we have on it. You get one side on CNN, and then MSNBC, two phoney shows. I've decided that Chris Cuomo is the _real_ Fredo of the family. Andrew's just half a Fredo. Chris Cuomo is the real Fredo-

DICKER
Why is that though? Why did you say that?

CREDICO
Because whenever you watch him-

DICKER
He's not a critical thinker?

CREDICO
[inaudible] Just watch how bad he is in interviews, you know? And he just doesn't do any journalistic work, and he just makes statements...there's no analysis, it's just like everything's matter of fact, when it's not. CNN is a fake- I hate to say it, because I have friends that work there, like Errol Louis, but it's a fake news network, and it may not be from the same perspective that Trump, uh, Trump perspective, I consider it a fake news network. Jim Sciutto, Jake Tapper, they go in there with an agenda. They have an agenda, they don't do news anymore. It's like I said last week, the only time they do news is when there's a plane wreck, and Richard Quest comes on, and says "We got some debris! In Australia, with some debris! That's gone into the Indian Ocean! [inaudible] debris!" The only time when you get news is when there's a plane wreck. The rest of it is this contrived political analysis. And presentation.

DICKER
What kind- I was asking you, Randy, what kind of response are you getting from the audience, that's a very rarefied audience in New York City, many radicals and leftists who listen to WBAI and listen to you, besides...I'm sure you have a comedic element, but in terms of the substance of what you're pointing out, are you getting a good response, are you finding a lot of people are agreeing with you?

CREDICO
[inaudible] Yes. Well, listen, I go and do have a humorous bent. A humorous vibe to it. I was talking about Mike Pompeo the other day, another Italian-American I don't like, but, what I did was, I, whatever, I played- Here he was, talking about "The Wizard of Oz", the wizard, and curtains, and all of that, and he's quoting from the "Wizard of Oz" [link:https://www.cia.gov/news-information/speeches-testimony/2017-speeches-testimony/pompeo-delivers-remarks-at-csis.html ]. Guess who wrote all the lyrics for all of the songs for "The Wizard of Oz"? Yip Harburg. Alright? Who would have supported Julian Assange. It's kinda ironic that you're boasting about "The Wizard of Oz". But so- Then I played the song from Ray Bolger, singing, you know which one, ["If I Only Had A Brain"] And I said, "There he is! He wrote that about Mike Pompeo!" I do a lot of stuff. I do it with humor, Fred. I don't come out like I'm some apparatchik myself. I do it with a sense of humor.

DICKER
No, I understand. You need to make it entertaining.

CREDICO
Response has been great. I've had Jay Leno on my show, I've had Ray Romano on my show, I've had Dr. Katz, from Comedy Central [Jonathan Katz], on my show, so we mix it up. We mix it up, Harry Belafonte, Dick Gregory, I've had some great guests on, and...you know, people listen because it's not run of the mill leftist stuff. And some of the people there don't like what I'm putting on. But I had Roger Stone on...you think the station likes him? No one at the station likes Roger Stone, but you know, he's good radio, alright? I listen to Mike Savage, I agree with him fifty percent of the time, forty percent of the time, but he's good radio, and he's right there on "Talk 1300" [Dicker's channel], he's a very entertaining- and you have to be entertaining. The left is not entertaining.

DICKER
Do you remember when Mario Cuomo had a radio show? It was so boring, he didn't know how to entertain, that's one of the reasons a lot of left-wing radio, not all, you're an example of [inaudible], but a lot of left-wing radio has failed because it's so humorless, so many of these people.

CREDICO
Ugh! You're telling me, it's just like, it's Ambien time when you listen to, and I hate to say it, we've got some great folks at the station, they got classical music, they've got great shows there, but I'm just talking in general, if you go around the country, and listen to left-wing radio shows, it's basically dull. Air America was dull. You know, that guy who's a senator, whatshisname, back from "Saturday Night Live", I can't even think of his name because I can't stand him, the guy-

DICKER
Al-

CREDICO
Al Franken. Alright? He had a radio show that was so soporific, Fred, it was so bad, and others like that. Mark Green had a radio show, I like Mark Green, but he's not entertaining, you know? Let's be honest.

DICKER
I think he still has a radio show. I think it's underwritten by his billionaire brother, that's probably the only way they can get it on the air.

CREDICO
Yeah, listen, he's a smart guy, but he's-

DICKER
He's very smart.

CREDICO
-make it interesting. You have a sense of humor, you're able to present something, you'll play a tape here and there that's funny, you'll...You know what I mean? You've got a crowd out there that just doesn't want to hear orthodox left wing stuff. You know what I mean?