Free Republic

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) -- Two upstate New York radio hosts have been fired over their on-air comments about Rochester's decision to cover gender reassignment surgery for city employees. Entercom Rochester on Thursday announced the firings of Kimberly Ray and Barry Beck from WBZA, calling their comments "hateful" and saying they don't represent the station. Ray referred to someone seeking gender reassignment surgery as "a nut job."

Among certain radio talk show hosts, bloggers and their followers, being called a cracker was a high compliment yesterday. They seized upon a comment made Thursday by state Senate leader Don Perata, D-Oakland, who talked about “all these crackers down in . . . San Diego, taking on the governor” over immigration issues. Perata, who made the comment during a news conference, was referring to a forum in La Mesa with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last week where some accused him of being soft on illegal immigration. Schwarzenegger later said he was surprised at the “intensity of the prejudice” of some...

The nation’s leading radio talk show hosts are striking back at the establishment for kicking Rush Limbaugh when he’s down. The radio star stunned his audience last week when he said he would undergo 30 days of treatment for addiction to painkillers. One host calls the timing of the story itself “suspicious.” Another thinks Rush outed himself in a plea for help. In e-mails to NewsMax.com, as well as in statements on their own programs sent to us, the radio hosts, who see Rush as the icon who pierced the airwaves’ left-wing Iron Curtain, are blowing the whistle on...