Terrorists at Pacifica?

Pacifica Foundation vice chairman Ken Ford is playing the "terrorist card" at the formerly progressive radio network, currently in a financial crisis as it faces mounting bills from lawyers and PR firms. Outside vendors are not being paid, employee paychecks are in question, and four lawsuits alleging everything from financial malfeasance to by-law violations are scheduled to go to trial in January. Responding to charges of mismanagement, Ford characterized critics of Pacifica as "zealots," adding, "I see parallels between this group and al Qaeda, the terrorists who bombed New York. They have an innate anger towards society as a whole." Apparently the terrorists have succeeded, however, in achieving one of their sinister objectives. The day after Ford's remarks were published, Pacifica chairman Bob Farrell abruptly fired the network's unpopular executive director, Bessie Wash.