Randi Rhodes really screwed this one up...

Apparently it was a re-run (mp3 file) because Randi was out with adbominal surgery, so I don't have the full archive to link you to, but she was complaining that no one took any disciplinary action against the Marine general who said that some people - like al Qaeda - are fun to kill, since they're complete schmucks.
Her argument with a caller was comparing the following:

Why is she personally fine $500,000 for saying bad words on the air

Why is he not punished at all for saying it's fun to shoot people

Randi missed the essential element of the comparison:

What she says on air is the intrinsic part of her job. If she never spoke on-air, she would not be a radio announcer, and never subject to such actions.

LTG Mattis is paid to lead and command troops. He is not paid to give speeches or sit on conference panels. He does these things outside the official scope of his duties, and he is not there as a representative of the US military (despite the uniform) any more than my father is representative of the US military when is a guest on a local radio show memorializing Veterans. My father was on the radio because of his military experience; LTG Mattis was on a panel because of his military experience. Neither were official representatives of the military. Otherwise, what are we to make of any current or former military member who wears his uniform anywhere - to church, to the mall, to a funeral, to panel discussions, to a parade? Are military war protesters who wear their uniforms to rallies there representing the government? Neither was LTG Mattis. It was outside the scope of his official duties.

Now, if LTG Mattis leads an attack in the wrong direction, or gets a bunch of his own soldiers killed because he botched the planning of an operation, then string him up like Randi would be for cussing on-air. Otherwise, sit down, shut up, and leave the man alone.