Worst person in the world ...

To borrow a phrase from Keith Olbermann's MSNBC show, it might well refer to Omaha attorney Kermit Brashear (seen at left) who apparently represents both The Lutheran Church Missouri Synod and the non-profit monkeys at Gateway Creative Broadcasting.

To remind you, Gateway has offered a hundred gazillion dollars to LCMS for their 99.1 frequency, with the note "held" by the Lutherans.  The intent is to change the Classical Music format to a Contemporary Christian format. There's a tiny little amount up front and then there's a ginormous payoff at the end of the loan.  But nobody's got any idea where the money will come from. 

Gateway is a non-profit that relies on contributions and is not likely to be able to raise anywhere near that loot.  I mean, Christians are generous and all, but not to this extent.  The financing deal is simply beyond belief.

This mutt Brashear has had some obedient court place all LCMS employees under a gag order.  No one there can say anything about the sale.  Unfortunately, this idiot also included an order that disallowed LCMS employees from providing info to contact the FCC regarding the sale.

Nope, can't do that. Illegal. Brashear is a lawyer and he should know this.

STLToday's culture warrior, Sarah Bryan Miller, offered contact info online:

Federal Communications Commission
Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau
445 12th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C., 20554

You can get answers to questions about the process by calling the FCC’s National Call Center, toll free, at 1-888-Call FCC (1-888-225-5322).

Brashear and his cohorts are about to be hit with a nuclear (legally so) round.

STL will not allow Classic 99 to be sold this way or for this purpose.

If you like the Classics, you're gonna hate this ...

From STLToday.com:

As early as tomorrow, KFUO, 99.1 on your FM dial ("Classic 99"), could be sold. The prospective buyer is Gateway Creative Broadcasting Inc., a not-for-profit corporation that broadcasts Christian contemporary music from Des Peres as "JOY FM" on two small FM transmitters on the distant fringes of the metro area.

Throughout much of the St. Louis area, JOY FM's two signals barely can be heard. KFUO, on the other hand, has a "big stick," a 100,000-watt transmitter and a 1,027-foot tower. To pay for the reported $18 million deal, JOY FM might have to ditch its commercial-free, listener-supported business model.

I know all the reasons for and against this deal, and I understand why the LCMS needs to sell. If my company was running a $5million annual deficit I'd be posting everything I had on CraigsList.

But there's still something troubling about this deal. Maybe witnessing the passing of this station, which I truly enjoy, reminds me that my Father's favorite radio station, WFLN-FM/Philadelphia, was transferred to the University of Pennsylvania and dropped its classical format on the day he died in 1997.

Final words from STLToday:

In the last two years, area music lovers have raised $800,000 to support KFUO and have offered $8 million for it. In return, they've been offered JOY FM's two weak signals and a chance to piggyback a high-definition signal on KFUO's tower. But if you have to buy an HD radio receiver, you might as well buy a satellite radio and get three classical stations.

We take no position on church finances or its mission, or even on musical tastes. We only would note that when it comes to stirring souls, there's nothing on the Christian contemporary playlist that can match Beethoven's 7th.

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