Kevin James (broadcaster)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
For other persons named Kevin James, see Kevin James (disambiguation).

Kevin James (born 1963), an American radio host and conservative political commentator, hosts The Kevin James Show, which focuses on local and national politics. The program airs live on KRLA AM 870 in Los Angeles between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m., Monday through Friday. Previously, James was an assistant federal prosecutor and an entertainment lawyer. He achieved notoriety for a May 2008 appearance on the television program Hardball with Chris Matthews, during which James insisted that Sen. Barack Obama did "the exact same thing" as Neville Chamberlain Matthews refused to accept James' argument continuously asking James "what did he [Chamberlain] do? Munich Agreement#Resolution

Contents

[edit] Early life

James earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Oklahoma and attended the University of Houston Law Center.[1] He is a member of the California State Bar.[2]

[edit] Career

James worked for three years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, prosecuting federal crimes.[1] He also worked for more than 10 years in private practice, representing entertainment industry clients.[1]

After several years as a guest and substitute host for talk radio programs in Los Angeles, James worked as the morning drive host on KTOK AM 1000 in Oklahoma City in 2004.[1]

In 2005, James became the host of Red Eye Radio, an overnight (1 a.m. to 5 a.m.) call-in program on KABC (AM) 790 in Los Angeles [3].

Over Memorial Day Weekend 2007, James began hosting The Kevin James Show on KRLA AM 870 in Los Angeles.[4].

James also appears as a guest commenter on television news programs. He was a regular on Court TV’s now-cancelled Catherine Crier Live and has appeared numerous times on Hardball with Chris Matthews.[5].

[edit] May 2008 Hardball appearance

Chris Matthews (left) and Kevin James (right) on the May 15 2008 edition of Hardball with Chris Matthews.

James achieved national notoriety for a May 15, 2008, guest spot on the MSNBC television program Hardball with Chris Matthews in which James first supported a comparison of Barack Obama to former British prime minister Neville Chamberlain's "appeasement" of Hitler in Munich in 1938. Matthews challenged James' argument, and as James attempted to continue Matthews asked "what did Chamberlain do wrong?" James response was that "it all goes back to appeasement" and "he was an appeaser." When asked for specifics as to what exactly Chamberlain did that constituted appeasement, James did not provide an answer, instead reiterating his previous statement.[6]

Earlier that day, President George W. Bush, addressing the Israeli Knesset, had said that, while "some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals," he believed that "we have an obligation to call this what it is -- the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history."[7]

While James said he did not know if Bush was in fact making a veiled reference to Obama, he argued in favor of the comparison itself. The other guest, Air America Radio president Mark J. Green, denounced Bush's comparison. "It was bad enough when John McCain used this sleazy guilt by association of Obama and Hamas. Now comes President Bush using guilt by analogy, that somehow Obama is Chamberlain, and anyone who the Bush people don't like is Hitler." Although Bush never directly compared anyone to Hitler, Kevin James did, however, refer to it as a "Hitler comment" during the course of the interview.

After James agreed with the analogy to Chamberlain, host Chris Matthews turned to James and, saying he was conducting a "history check", asked, "What did Chamberlain do wrong?" When James failed to give an answer more specific than that "He was an appeaser," Matthews repeated the question and, over the course of the next five minutes, continued to ask James variations of the question, though the only answers James gave were variations on the original answer, that "He was an appeaser." When asked for specifics regarding Chamberlain's actions, such as what happened in 1938 at Munich and in 1939, James simply repeated the previous statement. Over the course of the conversation James himself never mentioned the Munich Conference, nor any of Chamberlain's specific actions preceding or following the conference.

James then attempted to shift the conversation back to President Bush and Barack Obama, though Matthews did not relent and eventually James admitted that he didn't know exactly what the President was referring to when he talked about what was being said in 1939. Matthews the proceeded to argue that the answer to the question of "What did Chamberlain do wrong" was not necessarily that he talked to Hitler, but that he allowed Hitler to take part of Czechoslovakia and that that was the answer he had been looking for that Kevin James had not provided.

James appeared on the January 12, 2009 episode of The Daily Show as a direct result of his Hardball appearance.[8]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d "Kevin James Biography". KRLA. 2008. http://krla.townhall.com/pages/KEVINJAMES. Retrieved on 2008-05-17. 
  2. ^ California Bar Membership
  3. ^ "Kevin James Named New Host of Talkradio 790 KABC's Red Eye Radio", KABC March 3, 2005 press release
  4. ^ "KRLA Website"
  5. ^ [1]In this MSNBC video, host Chris Matthews ends the segment by stating that James won the debate regarding the negative political impact of Barack Obama's affiliation with Rev. Jeremiah Wright
  6. ^ Video Clip Appearance from MSNBC
  7. ^ [2]White House Transcript, May 15, 2008
  8. ^ Huffington Post article: ""Daily Show's" Jason Jones Goes To Pundit School (VIDEO)".

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_James_(broadcaster)"
Personal tools
Languages