| On the EDGE with KSTP radio host
Bob Davis An Interview by Rita Rosenberg Bob Davis is the iconoclastic, sometime conservative, sometime "Whatzit" 10-Midnight Talk show host at KSTP AM 1500 Radio. He thinks the "aliens must be democrats." His battle cry: "Dare to offend someone!" He gave up the "high life," rides his bike to work and has read every word written by Carl Jung. He's all for bombing the enemy in the War on Terrorism and credits Art Bell for getting him back into the radio business. He believes in clairvoyants (for about a month after a reading) and is a (sometime) President Bush supporter. I had a cup of coffee with Bob one Friday afternoon and this is the result. So, Bob, what did you think when I asked you for an interview for the Edge? Did you wonder why you were considered to be Edge material? Bob Davis: I think it's just because I'm crazy, you know, and my energy. And while I'm not the average conservative person, I have a lot of questions about what these labels mean today. I did a show on that: What's a conservative, what's a liberal? These people don't know. Nobody knows what a conservative or a liberal is any more. So I am what I am, and people just call that conservative because I'm conservative on some things but not conservative on other things. What do you think the new politics is going to look like? Davis: I don't know. It's very interesting. You have the Green coalition in the city, you have "liberals" -- and I don't know what that is. You have "conservatives" -- and I don't know what that is. Local politics is different from national politics. It's different from state politics. I think people are getting tired of giving about 60 percent of their paycheck to the government. I think that's going to be a primary thing, because no matter how much you give them, they spend it all. And who's getting it? The poor people aren't getting it, so where's it going? What should we do about poor people? Davis: There's no shame in being poor. We've got to take the shame out of being poor. Many of us were raised by poor people. My family wasn't rich. We've made people who are poor feel ashamed of themselves, and there's no reason for that. So, when you read The EDGE, do you "resonate" with any of it? Davis: I resonate with a lot of the spiritual stuff, and I resonate with a lot of the recovery stuff, the health stuff. I'm really very interested in it. Could The EDGE could ever appeal to the same market that you do on the radio? Davis: It'll never appeal to the conservative market -- they don't get it. They're going to have to come to those kinds of recovery things in their own time. Your average conservative person thinks that stuff is just so way out. How come you don't? Davis: I don't know. Were you in Atlantis? Davis: Was I in Atlantis? Along with me and some other people from The EDGE? Davis: Well...I'm conservative, a really hard conservative in a lot of things, but I have an open mind about a lot of things. First of all, as far as spirituality is concerned, you know, there are many paths. If you get to the same spot from a different path, it's OK. And a lot of the stuff that's "new age" stuff, a lot of it is just common sense. But I would never question anybody's faith. There are conservatives, there are Christians, but I hang out with a lot of people who are conservative Christians who are very cool people. It's OK, and when you charge all that stuff politically and say those people are bad because they believe such-and-such, there's plenty of room for all points of view, plenty of room for Hindus and all different kinds of people. That's a tough issue in conservative politics, because there are a lot of people who are... Fundamentalists? Davis: They're frightened by a lot of it. The other thing is that we've had in the last 30 years a whole explosion of people looking for something. They're not just going to accept the basic church line and they're going to look for other things. Remember 30 years ago? If you were an alcoholic, then you were "crazy." They locked you up or there was no hope for you. A lot of this stuff is relatively new. I don't sit at home with crystals and that kind of stuff. If you do that, fine. If you believe it and get energy from it, fine. But I'm not a crystal person. I'm not a ritual pagan-type person. If you're into that, fine. I remember you were on the air when 9-11 was happening, and you wanted to bomb and bomb and bomb. I did, too, and all of a sudden it dawned on me of the gifts we have here in this country and what we have to be grateful for -- and it's worth bombing someone over that. Davis: Sure it is. But in a more rational mind, possibly, I'm thinking, "Haven't we come further than that?" Davis: We have, but they haven't. That's the whole thing. But what about the whole Gandhi approach of non-violent resolution of our problems? Davis: Well, what about the whole Gandhi approach? What about the Palestinians pursuing the Gandhi approach? What about non-violent protests a la Gandhi, King, etc. They probably would have had success by now if they had made that attempt, but it's not in them. The fact is that, in reference to the Palestinian situation, people like Yasser Arafat do not rise to power by being elected street commissioner, then becoming a congressman and then becoming president. They rise to power by killing people. And he has killed, primarily the people that are closest to him and the people who oppose him. If you oppose Yasser Arafat, you're gonna go down. He's going to have you killed. So this is what you're dealing with: a leader who is a killer, a killer on a criminal scale -- that type of person. How can that kind of person lead a people to non-violent diplomatic solutions? He wants to kill, and that's what he does. You can separate out the whole Israeli question from that: just look at what kind of a person Arafat is. The Palestinian people have been completely let down by him as a leader, and that's what we have to deal with. They're using children. Who is going to defend someone who uses children as soldiers? And suicide "homicide" bomber. Children, 10 years old. That's indefensible. Hitler did that. How are you going to defend the Palestinian cause? How are you going to protest in Washington, D.C., for anti-globalism and the Palestinians? That's unforgivable, unacceptable, and it's depraved. Do you think we should just go get Arafat? Would that work, or would the system there just produce another person like Arafat? Davis: I don't know what the solution is, but I know the solution is not appeasing someone like that. It's a diplomatic problem. It's a military problem. It's going to go on, and cooler heads will have to prevail. They have to go through the process. There's a war comin'. Bottom line, there's a big friggin' war comin'. So all of this that's happening is just slow motion as we procede toward it -- and it's unavoidable. It's people who want to go backwards versus the people who want to go forwards. People in this country want to worship freely. They want to talk about all the stuff we just talked about, about having a better life, physically, mentally, spiritually. They want to pursue peaceful pursuits for the most part. There's always weirdos in society, but for the most part people in this country are about doing their business and living their lives. People in the Middle East don't want to do that. They want to go backwards. They want to take things back to the way they were 1,100 years ago. How could anybody in this country defend Islam when you consider the way that the Taliban and even Saudi Arabia treats women. It's indefensible. You can say that again. Davis: It's ridiculous. That's what the problem is with politics. These are stark choices that are coming out that people are going to have to stick with. If you believe that women are oppressed in the world and you don't defend destroying the regimes that do that, then you lose credibility. So the left is really in a tight place right now. Because there are hard people in this world with guns and they're coming for us, and if we don't defend ourselves, we're going to be in serious trouble. This country cannot tolerate what happened on September 11. If we do, we're done. That's why I got so upset, because I could just see it all, I see what's coming. Have you ever thought of running for office yourself? Davis: No. This is what I should do. I'm a radio guy. How long have you been a radio guy? Davis: Since I was 12. I started at the high school radio station, and then I got my first job in a newsroom. I was 15, and I just always worked in radio. What other markets have you worked in? Davis: I worked in New York, Pittsburgh, Washington, Baltimore and St. Louis. And I worked now three times in Minneapolis. I've been here, the first time seven years, second time seven, and now almost two. So I've been here more than anywhere else. I programmed, I was in management, with all kinds of radio stations. I worked at the number one station in New York, Z100. I was consulting at the time, and they asked me to do this show. The people at KSTP, Ginny Morris and Todd Fisher, wanted me to try this, and I said "OK," and I did it for a week. I had forgotten how much fun it was being on the air. I just love it. We have a great time. This is what I should be doing. Do you like Babs? (Barbara Carlson, former KSTP radio host)? Davis: I love her. She's a big personality on that radio station, and she's a great person. She takes a lot of guff. She can handle it, too, that's what I like about her. What about turning diplomacy over to women for two weeks, and you have to go by what we say? Davis: I don't think there'd be any difference at all. You don't? Davis: Here's why. Being in power is not a sexual thing. Look at Indira Gandhi, look at Golda Meir, look at Geraldine Ferraro. Look at Hillary Clinton! This idea that females are going to act differently than males in power is ridiculous. Dianne Feinstein is a perfectly fine democratic senator. She's not going to act any different than a male senator. People don't understand about politics that it's not black things or white things or whatever things. It's just your representing your constituency. Margaret Thatcher was one of the most hard-core conservatives and still one of the brightest people in the world, and it made no difference that she was a woman because power is power. It's asexual. Look at some of the great emperors and empresses in history. Cleopatra -- did she rule differently because she was a woman? Have you had your chart done by the woman who calls your show? What's her name? Davis: The goddess of astrology? Yes! Do you believe in it? Davis: I think there are some applications to it. I don't know that I'd use it, but I have a good time online. I go to them all and read them all every day. I've come to the point now that I think if you have a really good astrologer who can do your transits and all of that, I think it can be useful, but I think that if you do yoga twice a day, you'll transcend that. Tell me about the yoga you're doing, in the room with the temperature of 105. Davis: Well, it was 108 today. It's called Bikram yoga. It's the best thing in the world. The heat is great, because the heat loosens up your muscles enough so that you can stretch. The whole focus of Bikram is on your spine. As you're getting your spine aligned, everything else starts to go together. There's a lot of energy in the spine. Kundalini. Davis: It's Kundalini and you're working with that energy and you're healing yourself. And anyone can do yoga. Even George Bush can do yoga. Which one? Davis: Both of them. It might mitigate their intensity a little bit. It certainly did mine. It did? Davis: After 9-11 I started doing yoga. I was so tense. I was working out two hours a day and I couldn't get rid of it. I would exhaust myself. But yoga's magic. Really? You were so furious. Davis: I was furious. I'm still furious. I don't want to sound like a lunatic when I talk about the whole struggle that's coming. It's just that there's plenty of room for people who are of all different political streams in this country, but there isn't any room for...well, I'm just worried that that's going to die off, that this struggle is going to end up being so destructive that there isn't going to be any room for political diversity. We've got to be strong. We haven't even touched on Art Bell yet. Davis: I love Art Bell. Art Bell got me back in radio. I was so disillusioned and so depressed and I hated the business. One of the great things about Hubbard (owner of KSTP) is that it's a family business, and they don't ever say anything to us about what we should be doing. The radio industry has become this awful, horrible hell for most people. Oh, it's an awful business. I mean, even people who are working are constantly told what to say, how to say it, and I was one of the people who told people what to say. So anyway, I used to just listen to Art all the time. I'd come to work late because I had been listening to Art all night. He doesn't know this, but he is the person who got me back into radio again, just on the basis of being a listener. Before, I couldn't even listen to him. So when you hear Zecharia Sitchen on Art Bell saying that the planet Nibiru is headed our way and should be here in six months... Davis: It's not. You don't think so. Davis: No. But it's a great show. Where did he get all that information? Do you think he made it up? Davis: No, I think he's a Hebrew scholar, and he's investigating all that stuff. But he's not an astronomer and he's not a cosmologist, so what the hell does he know about planetary movements? I think he has proposed a very interesting theory. If you want to say, oh, let's just prove that we were brought here by aliens.... I always thought we came from another planet anyway. My own personal feeling, since I am from Atlantis, was that I always thought that we came from outer space. I don't know where that idea came from. There can be many explanations for where that idea came from. It could be that since we always look up, we've always thought we would come from there. I mean what are you going to look at? Who knows? But Art Bell does present some really interesting theories. There's another guy named Velikovsky. That whole "When Worlds Collide" thing. The idea of the universe being an electromagnetic system is interesting. There is also the science of physics that enables you to do things like send the space shuttle up, and there's operational engineering stuff. So there are two different worlds: There's speculative stuff which Art does, which is great, and there is the world of how things are actually done. What's your personal theory? Davis: There are no aliens. There are no aliens. None. Do you think they might be coming from other dimensions? Davis: No. They're just from dimensions in people's brains. Don't you think there could be other people somewhere else? That doesn't sound like something you'd say... Davis: Have you heard the theory, and you probably haven't, because no one would publicize it, but there is another theory that says we've been aware of the idea that there could be other people in the universe now long enough and we've searched long enough. There was just an article in the New York Times about SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) and how they've done a million quadrants of space now, and still haven't turned anything up. The best that's ever been written about the whole subject was that book called "Flying Saucers," a pamphlet by C. G. Jung. Here's what I'll say. Aliens are the new gods. There's a fundamental change in how human beings view spirituality. And the alien lexicon, the alien world, the idea of aliens is just a new expression of...it's another way for human beings to express some kind of idea about... Archetypes? Davis: Archetypes. That's what it is. And that's why it frightens people. That's why the Christians say they're demonic. And until I can sit down and discuss these things with an alien, I'll refuse to believe that aliens exist. And people say, "What about my experience? I was there and I saw aliens." OK, you run down every single one of those stories and you'll find that there are discrepancies. What did you think I would ask you today? Davis: I just hope I don't sound like a maniac. Are you going to have any more guests on? Davis: You know what, I'm not into the guests. A lot of the guys write these books and they're really... They don't know what they're talking about, you think? Davis: I don't want to sell somebody's book and somebody's point of view. I mean, if they're...we laugh about it, but it takes away time from me. It's all about me. So you don't need guests. Davis: I was sitting there one day going, "Hmmm, interesting," when somebody was talking about something. My producer says to me, "It's interesting how you say interesting, meaning you don't give a shit what they're saying." Hmmm, interesting. Davis: So I stopped saying that. What other Edge-y type things are you into? Davis: Edge-y? Besides yoga, riding your bike to work... Davis: I don't have any furniture in my house. No furniture? Davis: None. I have a Target chair, for $19, and I have a Futon, and a door with pillars that my socialist friend helped me buy. I got rid of everything else. Because you were just fed up with owning material possessions? Davis: I'm just over it completely. I don't even care. I've transcended material possessions. I really don't care about any of it. It doesn't mean that I don't appreciate this fine counter and these chairs and that stuff. It doesn't mean that I don't like nice things. I live in a nice place. I just don't want any junk. You know? Are you a nature lover? Davis: Not really, no. I'm an urban person completely. I'm totally into living in the city. That doesn't mean that I don't like nature. I've camped, I can camp and do all that stuff. I love that stuff, but I'm totally an urban person. I live in the city. Is this a good city? Davis: Oh, this is a great city. When we get the train built, that will be a great thing. I can't wait for light-rail transit to be built. Davis: The train that I want to build is much bigger and more heavy-duty than that train. I want a subway. I want it full-scale. I want to be able to get on the train in Uptown and go to St. Paul in 20 minutes. There's no reason why I shouldn't. And if it costs $10 billion, fine. I ride the bus a lot. The bus is the cheapest entertainment you can get. But if you have to depend on it for transportation, you're better off riding a bike, even if it's forty below zero. I don't have a car. Davis: I'm just over it completely. I hate to drive. You ride all winter on your bike. Now you can, because of global warming. Davis: I'm quite proud of it. Last winter was easy. Next winter won't be so easy. And you believe this global warming stuff is made up by... Davis: It's nonsense. It's not made up by anybody. People actually think it's happening, but it's nonsense. Why do you think it's nonsense? Davis: They've never conclusively proven scientifically that, number one, that we are in a global warming trend. We don't know how long it's been, and we don't know if it's happened before. There are too many scientific questions. And number two, having said the first, the second is, with so many scientific questions about the first question, how can you even begin to suggest that human beings are causing the planet to warm up? That is absolutely absurd. Then what is their motive for suggesting that, do you think? Davis: Funding! There's a political motive. I mean, if you need money to fund your organization to prevent pollution and so forth, you have to look at what all these treaties and ideas about pollution are about. So it's just guilt money that people are spending. Davis: I don't know. It's just that if you really look into this stuff, you're going to find out that a lot of statements that have been made about global warming are patently false. My theory about global warming is that the planet has been cooler and has been warmer and that we're just going through this process, and I think that we should conserve energy, we should not pollute because it's the right thing not to. We need to do everything we can do to do that, and we need to do everything we need to do to develop a new method for propulsion of automobiles and get out of the oil business entirely. Bob, you know what? You're on the edge! Because there's an orthodoxy about "new age" stuff, too. Davis: Of course! That's the new thing! That's what has happened: The left has now become the orthodox line. Which is OK. Pretty soon you're going to be the orthodoxy. Davis: No. I'll go the other way. I'll never be the orthodoxy. But I think one of the things that happens is that people have accepted certain things that have been said for 25, 30 years, and now these things have become cemented in people's politics. They don't stop and ever think, "Wait a minute! We were supposed to be dead by now." And then we were all going to freeze to death. No one said anything about global warming 20 years ago. I remember learning in school that we were all going to freeze to death, that the ice caps were going to grow and we were all going to freeze to death. Didn't happen. So you've just got to question these statements. If you really want to be on the edge, you've got to go to the hard Right. That's where the edge is today. It's not on the Left any more. The hard right! Davis: I'm telling the truth. I'm not saying that that's where I am, but I'm telling you that's where all the solutions are. The conservatives are the progressives today. They're the ones who are saying less taxing, less spending. That doesn't mean they're right about everything, but if you want to find the edge, that's where it's at. It's not on the Left. The Left is the orthodoxy. All those people who are out there on the Left and think that they're being liberal and edgy, they're old. Talk to some 18-year-olds. Did you ever hear that woman, the one who comes on Art Bell, the one who has relationships with the reptilians... Davis: Oh, God! She's out of her mind. OK, do you know who David Icke is? Read his book, The Biggest Secret. When you read that book, you're going to have to have therapy. It's about how the reptilians are taking over. The Queen Mother was a reptilian, and they eat babies. Some guy told me that Cheney was a reptilian. Davis: Well it's true. It's of course true. They're all reptilians. So there are reptilians, and that's the good news. That's another example of not thinking for yourself. Just think about it. David Icke says in his book that George Bush is a reptilian. They abuse children. They throw people out of helicopters, and they eat babies for lunch. One more question. I was going to ask you about your caller, Tom. Davis: Oh, that's Tom. I like Tom. Tom is conservative about a lot of things, but he's not about other things. I don't know what you'd call that. Yeah, what would you... Davis: A whatzit. Bob Davis can be heard from 10 p.m. to midnight on AM 1500, KSTP. Rita Rosenberg is an Account Executive with The EDGE. Contact her at (612) 338-8904 or e-mail Rita@edgenews.com Copyright (c) 2002 Rita Rosenberg |
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