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John & Ken are also deceitful regarding the two things for which they are most well known: fighting illegal immigration, and being beholden to no politician.
In my very strong and knowledgeable opinion, John & Ken don't give a damn about stopping illegal immigration (frankly, they don't care about much of anything except their paycheck, and the fact that they often record segments and go home early,and never do their Saturday show live, seems to prove that). In fact, they would be miserable if that problem was ever solved. The reality that it never will be resolved is one of the reasons they strategically chose illegal immigration as their signature issue. Illegal immigration is simply a good “fall back” topic when nothing sexier is going on. They routinely abandon their fake fight (even during critical battles) when other “news” is more interesting. If O.J. Simpson ever killed Paris Hilton because she was having an affair with Scott Peterson, I can assure you that they would never talk about illegal immigration again until a terrorist brought a nuclear bomb through the southern border and exploded it in Southern California (I am positive that, as long as their neighborhoods were not directly impacted, John & Ken would come into work that day with huge smiles on their faces).
One episode that exposed John & Ken's phoniness on both the issue of illegal immigration and that of not sucking up to any politician occurred this spring, though almost no one bothered to notice. Though they only mentioned it one time that I am aware of (and even then almost literally whispered it as quickly as they could), John & Ken actually spoke at a fundraiser for Republican Presidential candidate Rudy Giulani.
Let me repeat that. The Dynamic Duo, known for being the fearless fighters against illegal immigration and for never drinking the Kool Aid of any politician, spoke at a FUNDRAISER (something they, to my knowledge, never specifically divulged on the air) for a guy who led New York as a sanctuary city for illegal aliens and has made some of the very weakest statements on the issue of any major leader of either party. And, oh by the way, they largely tried to hide that fact from their listeners (it was only after John spoke at a second function with Giuliani that he decided he better cover himself by mentioning it on the air as an “oh, by the way”). And some people still actually take these guys seriously?!
(For the record, I have spoken at a fundraiser for Ron Paul and have hosted a rally for Fred Thompson, but I went out of my way to disclose those events as much as possible, and, in the case of Paul, even confronted him on the air and at the fundraiser itself about why his stance on the war prevented me from ever possibly endorsing him.)
After speaking at the fundraiser, they had a couple of rather interesting incidents on the air while interviewing (which I am sure was totally “coincidental”) guests who were affiliated with the Giuliani campaign about the topic of illegal immigration. It was obvious that the Giuliani campaign was trying to use John & Ken to fool people into thinking that Rudy is tough on illegal immigration. It is in cases like this where the stakes are so incredibly high when John & Ken's fraudulence goes from being just aggravating to becoming unacceptable and downright dangerous. In June, here was Congressman Ed Royce, a Giuliani supporter trying to clean up Rudy's image on the issue of illegal immigration .
Later, in August, Ken interviewed Guliani's Homeland Security adviser and, as in the Royce interview, never bothers to disclose the massive conflict of having spoken at the candidate's fundraiser. Notice, in this montage of the interview, it is left to the callers to get tough with the guest on illegal immigration .
Then in October, the boys reveal they are mysteriously getting offers from the Giuliani people that include offering up guests like one of their main targets, Congressman David Dreier .
By the way, speaking of Dreier (who, ironically, John & Ken once timidly talked about as a possibly closeted gay man, before deciding that was too dangerous for them, for obvious reasons), he was one of the targets of John & Ken's vaunted 2004 “Political Human Sacrifice,” which was intended (at least publicly) to punish two congressmen for being weak on illegal immigration. To this day, John Kobylt laughably claims with a straight face that “PHS” was a huge success even though both of the targeted politicians easily won reelection (if it was so great, why didn't they try it again in 2006?).
John likes to boast that Dreier's margin of victory (11 points, though I am sure by next year it will be down to 3-4 when John tells the story on the air) was the smallest of his career. Well, yes, that is technically true. But in the real world winning a congressional seat by 11 points with the seat never even making it on the national radar as being the slightest bit endangered when the number one talk station in the district is devoting almost ten hours a week to your defeat is actually one heck of an impressive victory.
The sad fact is that “PHS” was a complete disaster and I told KFI management that it would be. They didn't care because they knew John & Ken could spin it in their direction and that the “Kool Aid” drinkers would buy it (I find it rather odd that the show that decries “Kool Aid” drinking has listeners who are by far the worst offenders of being brainwashed by frauds). I knew “PHS” wouldn't work because I realized the dirty little secrets of talk radio: that talk hosts are mostly preaching to the choir and that the percentage of the overall population that is listening at any one time is minuscule at best.
There is at least one last point to make on this issue of John & Ken going after politicians. How anyone could possibly still buy into this notion that John & Ken are fearless and will go after anyone is beyond me. The ultimate proof of this came the day before the 2006 gubernatorial election. They had the only interview of its type with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (in their studio) for the first time all year long. After a year of betrayal after betrayal by the Governor on many issues important to KFI listeners (including illegal immigration) he was finally making himself vulnerable to real questions. This was the one chance to hold him accountable, but after much bluster in the lead up to the interview, John Kobylt came up as soft and small as Larry King on his worst day. In fact, I think the Governor's DNA may still be in the KFI studio from the servicing that John (whose kids go to the same school as Schwarzenegger) gave the Governor that day.
The reality is that John, contrary to his reputation, is just as enamored with those with celebrity and power as the average listener, and like most bullies, reveals himself as just another coward whenever he is really tested. I saw this first hand when we covered the Tookie Williams execution and John was pretending on the radio to confront Jessie Jackson. It was obvious from how far he stayed away from all the real action that he was simply afraid of anything resembling a real altercation (those who have done security for John at other KFI events have told me similar stories).
As for my time at KFI, as it finally came mercifully to an end, what once would have appeared important and devastating, now seemed just plain trivial and comical. This reality was encapsulated by two on-air incidents involving the O.J. Simpson saga where John Kobylt's distain for, and jealousy of, me clearly got the best of him.
The first occurred the day after Simpson was accused of robbery and there was a lot of talk about Alfred Beardsley (the guy whose stuff Simpson alleged stole) and who he was. The truth was that I knew more about who Beardsley was than any host in the country that first day because I had dealt with him for three years and had spoken to him that very afternoon. At the very moment that John & Ken were bathing in their ignorance on the air, the Drudge Report had a headline (which they mysteriously ignored) that listed my name as quoting Beardsley. John's hatred of me prevented him from using some of the best information available that day.
It got so absurd that when John & Ken got confused over which Simpson LA autograph session happened (or didn't happen) and when they happened, and Eric Leonard tried to set them straight by referencing (wrongly) a confrontation I had with O.J. Simpson, John went out of his way to make sure that my name never got mentioned. Listen carefully as Ken refers to me as Voldemort, the evil villain in the Harry Potter tales.
As silly and downright juvenile as that was, it was soon eclipsed by what happened just a couple of weeks later when John thought he had an interview scheduled with Fred Goldman. It was very well known at KFI and among the John Ziegler audience that I had dated Kim and was still very close to her. Apparently Fred called back after John announced the interview on the air and said that he could not do the interview. John immediately came to the conclusion that I must have called Fred to get him to not go on with my archenemies.
I have always believed that one of the main reasons that John is very good at figuring out how evil people either have or will act is that he is evil himself. He can predict their thinking because he thinks the same way. Apparently, if he were in my position he would have called Fred and gotten him to cancel the interview. However, for better or worse, that is not how it happened.
But that didn't stop John from going on a mini diatribe that would have gotten me fired in a heartbeat. He wrongly accused me, called me (Ken used the infantile “Voldemort” moniker again) a profane name, and divulged (to those many listeners who would figure it out) when my contract was up and that it would not be renewed.
I have no idea exactly what John knew when he made the statement about “four months,” but that just happened to be when my contract was up. That he had that information and disseminated it publicly clearly indicated to me that the confidentiality clause in my contract had been violated. John probably helped secure me a better settlement with KFI because he made them vulnerable to a lawsuit. Thanks John. I owe you one. Well, not really.
All of this made it very easy for me to say goodbye to KFI. After being told that my contract would not be renewed (neither party had any interest in doing so), I was asked to stay on the air for almost another two months, which is almost unheard of in talk radio and a testament to how much they trusted me to not say anything inappropriate as well as apparently how little talent there was out there to replace me (something that has been startlingly apparent with the pathetic nature of those who have tried out for the job, especially since they had plenty of time to find someone). I was even able to negotiate a last show to say goodbye to the audience, which is even more unusual, especially since I had been on the air at KFI for only four years and not in a drive time slot.
For my last show, I once again took the high road and I was very proud of how it went. Other than losing the privilege of speaking every night to thousands of loyal listeners, I was absolutely thrilled to be leaving KFI and to be producing a major documentary. I received well over a thousand e-mails supporting me after that last show. I think/hope that I have responded to them all. Since then, the response to this website has been extraordinarily positive and I have begun doing commentaries at KGIL.
My replacement at KFI is a guy named Bryan Suits. Here is what a respected radio reporter sent me about his experience with and knowledge of Suits:
Suits is evil, his Iraq tour of duty was all about career grandstanding. I support the troops, but not a phony like Bryan Suits. When I worked with him at KIRO, he was busted for constantly looking at porn on newsroom computers. He routinely backstabs his co-workers to win over the management. He was the lowest rated host in Seattle while at KIRO and KVI. Very lazy work habits, the only host I know who tries to get his airtime reduced, rather than increased. Boring delivery and childish antics. Really one of the worst people I have ever encountered in radio.
Another former co-worker of Suits said this to me:
He is an asshole, who nobody liked. While in Iraq he would take pictures of dead Iraqis in the streets and send them home with mocking/immature subtitles. Porn was found on his work computer and he tried to blame it on everyone else. He is obnoxious, insecure, and all about himself. He is so full of himself he is already eying John and Ken's slot. His wife a cop, and was on the scene of a suicide, she took pictures of the dead body, sent them to Bryan and they laughed about it in public.This is the type of guy people really need to know about. I think he is a TOTAL phony... as phony as they come.
Sounds like he will fit in perfectly at KFI.
As for those I knew at KFI, I know that this website has created quite a stir there. Even though we never had anything close to a falling out, I have heard nothing at all from Bill Handel since it was decided I was leaving KFI. Even though I should be surprised, I am not. Even though we still had a cordial relationship when I was in the process of leaving, I never heard again from Robin Bertolucci. Even though I should be surprised, I am not. Such is the nature of the lowlifes that tend to dominate talk radio.
I understand that Bill and Robin have gotten in a bit of tiff over the John & Ken 20th anniversary celebration, as Bill rebuffed Robin’s request that he speak at the event honoring the duo he hates. I hear things got so bad that Bill threatened to boycott part of his own show over it.
Many may now say that with this website I have finally chosen the low road and they are certainly entitled to their opinion. I am sure those who can not handle the obvious truth what I have written will try to discredit me by saying that I am just a disgruntled ex-employee who wasn't good enough to cut it. For the record, I absolutely AGREE that I am a disgruntled ex-employee who was not good enough at what KFI does to be a long-term success there. However, I would ask, who else would ever have the information, the ability, and the lack of disincentives to come forward with the truth here than someone that fits that description?
What is this truth of which I speak? It basically comes down to this: you should not implicitly trust ANYTHING you hear on talk radio in general, and you should be inherently distrustful of almost anything you hear from Bill Handel and totally distrustful of EVERTHING that you hear from John & Ken. Obviously all talk radio hosts are driven by their biased opinions that should be absorbed in that context, however in the case of KFI those opinions (and the ‘facts” that back them up) are not chosen based on any sense of what the truth might be, but rather on the very most cynical view of the best way to manipulate the audience into listening longer on any given day with little or no concern for standards, consistency, or damage that may be done to the region, state, country, or the public dialogue.
If John & Ken even came close to admitting what they really are and didn't pretend to be anything more than actors/entertainers, I would not have created this website. However, because they make believe that their goal is impacting public policy (and sadly, sometimes they somehow are actually allowed to “succeed” in doing so) and claim that their main weapon is the truth, there is an overwhelming need to call them out on their colossal duplicity, especially when it seems that no one else is willing and able to do so. That is why this website exists.
Now the truth about KFI and John & Ken is out finally out there. It is up you to act on it and, should you so choose, spread the word. Your input is welcome. My e-mail address is talktozig@aol.com
ADDITIONS:
Since this website was launched there have been several new revelations, which will be chronicled in this space.
John Kobylt revealed that he voted for Hillary Clinton in the
Both John and Ken revealed that they voted for John Kerry in the general election in 2004 which is also remarkable in that they never let that be known at the time (with Orange County giving Bush the largest voting margin of any county in the country, gee I wonder why).
On March 11th, John showed himself once again to be at best a heartless bastard, and potentially, as I contend on this website, a racist. Here he is (after discussing the Eliot Spitzer matter with Ken being rather quick and eager to bring up "anal sex" for some reason), laughing and taking "glee" about a reportedly homeless man (he wasn't) named Angel Martinez being killed by an arrow. Here is the audio of that episode:
The next day (clip 1), Ken (while doing the show alone) essentially apologized for both John and Terri Rae Elmer's laughter. Clip 2 is John's response to a listener's complaint.
On April 4th, 2008 John and Ken were talking about charges that Lou Dobbs has jumped on the illegal immigration bandwagon only for ratings. What ensued provided a "through the looking glass" moment and John and Ken inadvertently exposed themselves as the FRAUDS that they are. If you only listen to one clip on this website, listen to this one as John and Ken make it obvious that they are indeed faking their stance on the issue.