Air America and Mike Malloy - Update #3

Yep, it's Wednesday September 6, 2006, and Mike Malloy is still gone from Air America Radio.

Mike Malloy dropped an email to BartCop over the weekend, saying that he's got a few possibilities and to stay tuned.

On September 5, Malloy left a new message at his website:

We are still trying to recover from the shock of last week, but wanted to check in and thank you all for what you're doing on our behalf with the calls, emails, and petitions. We're overwhelmed by your kind words and actions.

Many thanks as well to our former colleagues Randi Rhodes and Sam Seder for all they have done and are doing to support us during this ordeal. They are true friends and we can't thank them enough.

Please keep checking here for news about what we hope will be the future of the Mike Malloy Show and again, much love and thanks for all your tremendous support.

On a much more important note - we hope you had a peaceful, restful Labor Day weekend and are ready to mobilize and kick ass for your progressive candidate in the upcoming elections! Gotta drive these criminals out of office and return some legitimate and rational control to Washington DC!

Speaking of Randi Rhodes, Tuesday was her first day back from vacation, and as she did not have internet access during her time away, she had found out about Malloy's cancellation only the day before. Obviously, she was livid, and became the only Air America host to launch into a tirade decrying Malloy's firing. She was furious, and mentioned that Malloy is often her first choice to sub for her on her show. Rhodes also told her listeners to keep emailing Air America demanding Malloy's return. You can hear YouTube audio from yesterday's show here.

Meanwhile, at Air America, Jon Elliott is filling in for the next two weeks on Malloy's old late night shift, but claims that he is only temporary, and that RadioNation with Laura Flanders will take over that slot. If Flanders is indeed replacing Malloy, then they were the last to know. According to show producer Steve Rosenfeld, in a blog post on September 2:

Dear bloggers. While the rumor mill is spinning. We have been told absolutely nothing about moving to the week, let alone to replace Mike Malloy in his late night slot. We were as shocked as everyone about Malloy, who is a kindred spirit. Everything else really is speculation. AAR management is making changes, but the last we've been told we're staying in our weekend perch.

(second post)

We would be telling you guys first if there were changes. Our response to the develpments at AAR is to do what we do best - more programming that brings voices to the airwaves and political debate that we feel need to be heard. That's the healthiest thing we can do.

So, does anyone know what's going on at Air America?

Lately, WFMU's blog has had some of the best commentary on Air America. And they certainly do a good job at slapping down losers like Brian (Baloney) Maloney, a.k.a. The Radio Neutralizer. Here's how WFMU describes what happened:

Last week, Malloy was filling in for the vacationing Randi Rhodes for the entire week, obviously enjoying the opportunity to vent and profess in a more conspicuous time slot. Then on Wednesday afternoon, driving on the expressway to the studio, his cell phone rang. His friend (and Air America honcho) Jon Sinton suggested Malloy might want to pull over for some bad news. Then on the shoulder of a suburban Atlanta interstate highway, Mike Malloy was fired. If you’d like to hear Malloy describe those moments, check out this interview of Malloy (with Cary Harrison) on ("Harrison On The Edge" on KQKE in San Francisco) the other night (download MP3 here).

The official reason? Financial considerations. In order to save some money Malloy was fired in mid-commute? Do you get the idea there might be more to this story?. By his own admission, Malloy was the lowest paid weekday host at Air America. The net yearly gross of Malloy and his wife Kathy (his producer) was probably less than the cost of a weekend retreat for Al Franken's staff. Undoubtedly, there were other reasons, which aren’t being released to the general public.

If I can shift again into the unsubstantiated rumors department. I’ve heard an alternate story on how Malloy’s abrupt spit with AAR went down. Although Malloy had been promised a contract, the ongoing meetings of the Air America brain trust were heavily split on keeping him around. Then one of Malloy’s friends at network headquarters happened to see the latest draft of the upcoming Air America schedule. The Malloy Show was gone, and his friend thought Mike might be interested in this turn of events. Perhaps the call Malloy mentions was really a return call from Sinton confirming the bad news. Either way, that call made it suddenly impossible that Mike Malloy would be hosting the next four hours on Air America in a few minutes, or ever. I did hear there was a hell of a scramble to find a last minute replacement. Again, this is all hearsay...

And lest we forget the people who are probably doing cartwheels over Malloy's departure. Forget Maloney. Tell that lazy, whiny bastard to stop complaining, get off his lazy ass and find a job. But the people at Shelley The Republican claim they were the ones that got Malloy fired. Um, I'm sorry - who? Here's what they have to say:

"Mike Malloy kept calling our Leader 'Chuckle Nuts' and the US Government the 'Bush Crime Family' but all this is over now. Everybody criticizing our Leader in a time of war will be targeted for termination. I hope you learned that little lesson, Mr. Malloy.

I said it before and I say it again: You are either with us or you are against us. If you are against us, you will be dealt with!"

Ironically, at the top of the page, the headline claims, "Compassionate Conservatism - Only in America". Obviously, Shelley and the gang hate us for our freedom. And don't flatter yourself, Shelley. Air America could probably give a rip about your irrelevant crappy blog.

(UPDATE: I posted this over at DU, and was told by several people there that this is a satirical blog, and that it's all a joke. If so, my hat is off to the people over there. Very convincing, if this is indeed true. Though I'm sure that there's some wingnuts that consider it gospel. A few sites that STR links to seem to confirm this. Okay, I'm man enough to admit that I've been had. Good job!)

In closing, don't forget, you can still sign the petition to reinstate Malloy here. As of this writing, 11160 have signed. Granted, Malloy has stated that he will not go back to Air America, but a petition with signatures in the tens of thousands sure would look good on a resume, right? If not at Air America, it could help him land another job.

And don't forget, stay tuned!