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Randi Rhodes, an afternoon host for the progressive Air America radio network, was suspended Thursday after repeatedly insulting Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton at an event last month.Ms. Rhodes used vulgar language that likened Mrs. Clinton to a prostitute at an event sponsored by KKGN, the Air America affiliate in the San Francisco area, on March 22. A video of Ms. Rhodes’ remarks was published to the video-sharing Web site YouTube on Tuesday, prompting condemnations by some bloggers.

In a statement, Charlie Kireker, the chair of Air America, said the radio network “encourages strong opinions about public affairs but does not condone such abusive, ad hominem language by our hosts.”

However repugnant Rhodes’ comments were, why the sudden interest in her attacks on Clinton? Listening occasionally to Rhodes over the years, I’ve heard her seethe how sinister conservatives like Tom Delay and Dick Cheney could theoretically vanquish their enemies without anything resembling a fair fight. And I’ve heard her deliver “abusive, ad hominem attacks” against President Bush, usually including some kind of color commentary that either correlated his intellect with the distance between his eyes or pointed out his supposed simian resemblances.

She wasn’t suspended then, so why now?

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