Folks, this is the lowest of the low. Wild Bill and myself were recently on Larry and Eric’s “Regular Guys” morning drive-time show at 96Rock about the IMs Foley with an adult page, Jordan Edmunds, and they were very fair to us. Larry and Eric are known to be conservative-leaning, and they have been suspended in the past by Clear Channel for a mishap on an audio segment that wound up going awry (a sex chat that was supposed to have played backwards, but by accident it didn’t. And they were fired). The Regular Guys are one of the, if not THE, most popular morning FM show in the Atlanta area, and every time they turn around, somebody’s trying to screw them.

Well, the latest was a tiff over a Mexican radio station crew who has taken over 105.7FM in the same building. Apparently the Mexican hosts can’t understand American humor, so racial insensitivity complaints were lodged, and eventually the Regular Guys were suspended again for some stupid PC bullshi*. Larry and Eric gave both Bill and I a fair shake, and unlike most of their interviews, they didn’t joke about us or make fun of us after the interviews. These are some really good guys, and the ethnic PC forces are at work here. I need ALL of you to please do what you can to tell Clear Channel Communications just what you think about their selective punishment of the Regular Guys just recently. I guess in the liberal bastions of some “shock jock” shows just cannot tolerate either Libertarian or Conservative views.

Here’s what Larry Wachs had to say on his blog:

I HAVE A STATEMENT TO MAKE
Bloggers, journalists, broadcasters, listeners, and friends—

As you may have heard, The Regular Guys Show has been terminated once again by Clear Channel Radio. In the past week, my partner, Eric Von Haessler, and I have been silent during a paid suspension while we awaited the results of a company investigation into a minor incident that has since snowballed into something that now demands a public response due to the fact that the principals on the other side are attempting to distort the facts and smear my reputation as a citizen and broadcaster and, in the short term, withhold my income without review or discussion with us.

All of this current mess took root, to my knowledge, in March, when the first national Hispanic illegal alien protests were taking place. We were doing our show in Orlando, from Braves spring training. Listeners started calling us on the air to get our opinion of the boycotts that were going on throughout the metro area and in other major cities across America. As the calls increased in volume, it became the only topic that day as it was on many talk shows across the country.

At one point in the show, we asked a producer to go down the hall and invite Yogi and Panda from Viva 105.7, also owned by Clear Channel, on the air to discuss the issue since some listeners had told us that they were exhorting their audience to boycott and take the day off. They agreed to come on and were ushered into our studio with our board operator, and we had a spirited discussion on the air.

In subsequent days, they complained to local Clear Channel management that they had been “disrespected” and that we should be lectured and punished for being in disagreement and making humorous comments about their point of view, all of which occurred exclusively on the air. Clear Channel management told them on more than one occasion that the opinions we express on the air are fair game, as are theirs, and protected not only by CC company policy, but also the 1st Amendment, and that if they didn’t want to look bad on the air, perhaps they shouldn’t agree to come on our show in the future. Nonetheless, the complaints continued unbeknownst to me through the year.

Fast forward to two weeks ago.

I was in the restroom down the hall from our studios after our broadcast was over on October 9, 2006. I carry a voice recorder on me and had it out to make some notes for a show meeting five minutes hence. Into the restroom walked Mr. Tapia and Mr. Carias who passed me at the urinal and headed for the two stalls in the corner. It’s a small restroom and there is no way they could not have seen me, further evidenced by the recording of them yelling insults at me from behind the stall doors which proves they knew I was there, knew I was recording, blowing up their claims of expectation of privacy, and that they still had an axe to grind about my on air opinions going back 7 months. They refused to talk to me like men. They chose to go into the bathroom stall and shout epithets in Spanish, not knowing I understand enough to know they were insulting me. Never have I engaged them in anymore than a simple wave hello off the air in the entire time we both worked there. In addition, the company has approved similar bits like this in the past.

This sparked another round of complaints to the company, who offered reasonable solutions to satisfy their ongoing and baseless grievances, but, insisting it was about the “honor of their culture,” Mr. Tapia and Mr. Carias went ahead and filed the criminal charge in Fulton County Magistrate Court against me and then filed civil complaints in Superior Court of Fulton County, GA against the company for “negligent hiring” and harassment and invasion of privacy chargess against me personally, omitting in the affidavit the salient fact that all remarks made about them and immigration were on the air, never off the air.

I have been more than willing, at the company’s request, to agree in writing not to even so much as speak of Yogi and Panda on the air going forward, for the sake of company harmony, and clear up any misconceptions they have about my opinion of them personally, which was on the favorable side, since they serve their audience well and deliver good ratings numbers and revenue.

A case of a humorous prank has turned into a culture clash, a suppression of 1st Amendment rights, and a ridiculous smear campaign against me as well as termination of my income without due process.

My friends, if crap like this is allowed to happen, I see the “Fairness Doctrine” looming mightily on the horizon, and all conservative talk radio hosts will be doomed; and for no other reason than liberal talk radio has failed miserably.

Here’s the contact info for 96Rock.com:

Additional 96Rock telephone numbers:

Studio Line: 404-741-9696

Office Line: 404-325-0960

And here’s Clear Channel’s Corporate info (PLEASE CALL OR WRITE!):

Corporate
Clear Channel
200 East Basse Road
San Antonio, TX 78209
Phone 1-210-822-2828

Folks, Larry and Eric need our help. This is just NOT right. The Mexican stations are taking over here in Georgia, and they’re using their “you’re offending my race” excuse to drown out American radio voices. It’s time to take a stand.

A good article where Eric responds to what happened, and here’s a petition to bring back the Regular Guys. Please, folks… get involved. These are two really great guys who are getting the shaft.

Wild Bill and WideAwakesRadio will soon have posts about this as well. This is just wrong.