But back to the subject of the Regular Guys' firing in particular. Though the Mexican vs. English aspect seems symbolic, in truth maybe it's just a plain case of someone breaking the law and a company ignoring harassment claims. (If I knew something about the law I could comment more knowledgeably, but why let that stop me?)
Did Larry Break the Law?
In many states, including Georgia, it's against the law to record a conversation without consent, much less broadcast it. Used to prank phone calls were a staple of radio entertainment but they've become infrequent. I've heard more recently these calls are either faked or the call has to originate from a state where recording conversations isn't illegal, i.e. Nevada. So if Larry Wachs recorded a private conversation and put it on the radio he broke the law, plain and simple, and he should have known better.
EXCEPT...he was inside a radio station recording two DJs! Air personaltities aren't known for shying away from microphones or publicity. So why would these guys mind being recorded and broadcast? If you're familiar with contemporary humor, which I would think two morning show hosts should be, you know anything could be used for comic material. Plus if you listen to the Regular Guys and are familiar with their style and the "In My Stall" segments they were known for doing, you should expect anything you say and do to become fodder for public discussion, especially if you're a public figure as Yogi and Panda are.
Are Yogi and Panda Sensitive Guys or PR-seekers?
Furthermore, I think either Yogi and Panda are taking the jokes far too hard or, more likely, they're just trying to get some PR points Frank Ski-style from "The Community" to show their audience they're two brown brothers who are going to come to Georgia, get their slice of the American pie and take no shit as they do it. Well, hats off, fellas. If I was a Mexican I would probably be in the back of the Toyota truck saying, "Geez, you guys are really making too much out of this." Larry and Eric weren't embarassing them in front of their audience because a lot of their audience doesn't speak English and they're listening to Y&P when the Regular Guys are on, anyhow! Furthermore, the Regular Guys make fun of anybody and everybody!
And what were they doing trying to intimidate a co-worker taking a whiz, anyhow?
In the meantime someone on the Radio-Info board made the comment that Yogi and Panda should fear for their safety, which was a brilliant comment to make on an Internet forum where your ISP is logged. Yogi and Panda are aware and are traveling with bodyguards, according to Rodney Ho.
No matter the legal aspects, Larry Wachs and Eric Von Haessler were super-nice guys on the occassions I had the pleasure of meeting them (see above photo), and I hope this won't create financial hardships for their families, and that they find another outlet where we can enjoy them both soon.
Maybe America is Just Turning Really Boring
Overall I think it's one of the final signs, if not THE final sign, that the radio business is dead. No more fun and hijinks, boys and girls. Christian FM station the Fish's billboards say, "Safe for the entire family!" That claim is quickly losing it's "unique value proposition" status. Soon every station will be equally humdrum and God-fearing. For Conservatives who pine for the glory days of the 1950's this should be great, for we may soon arrive in a new era where married couples will only be portrayed sleeping in separate beds on TV Lucy & Desi-style, and Elvis-bred rock n' roll singers will get minute time on TV, and then they will only be shown from the waist up, preferably singing one of their inoffensive ballads. We'll be back at the pre-Howard Stern and Steve Dahl era when DJ's read knock-knock jokes and gave a 45 RPM to the third caller, and that was all.
Well I hope you're happy now! The Mexicans, the Republicans, the church nuts -- everybody!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reality Bites
In other radio news...I think in some small way people who grow up poor and hand-to-mouth have a sort of advantage because they understand the nature of reality better than the rest of us. If your family is a check away from being under a bridge, or is already sleeping on cots at a shelter, you know what push-comes-to-shove is. If you grow up middle-class with at least basic cable and a VCR as I did, your perceptions can be skewed right into your middle-30's and beyond.
Thus it was with shock that I read Atlanta Journal-Constitution radio writer Rodney Ho's 
update on the whereabouts of one-time WGST-AM/FM talk show host Pete Davis. Back in the mid-`90's Pete Davis hosted a show 7 p.m.-10 p.m. on the News Monster, and I listened to it the three times a week I would visit a gym. I thought Pete was great and was really befuddled when they cancelled his show (in fact scrapped the whole winning lineup of the station) and began the legendarily-unsuccessful Planet Radio experiment.
Anyhow, Pete was relegated to sports anchor for the next decade, then was finally axed from WGST entirely just this past July. As I was surfing the `net I found Rodney's update on his latest whereabouts:
Pete Davis works at Borders Books.
Phew...hold on while I catch my breath. Okay, I think I can continue now...and Wayne "No Offense," Kim Peterson's next sidekick after Mike Rose? He installs siding with a company called The Siding Doctor. Okay, hold on...I gotta lay down. Is this serious? Were these articles dated April 1st? Geez...I guess I was naive. I really had no idea that there was a road from the microphone at WGST that led to the cash register at Border's Books. What was I thinking when I was trying to get into that business?
Democratic Congressman Jim McDermott recently lost a $700,00.00 lawsuit for publishing recorded telephone calls between Newt Gingrich and John Boehner. The Florida couple (Democratic operatives), the Martins, illegally recorded the call and passed the tape along to McDermott. Because neither of the Martins were a party to the call, but were utilizing a scanner to eavesdrop on Gingrich, their conduct was illegal and every re-publication of the recording was also a crime.
These laws may vary state to state.
I suspect Yogi and Panda are Democratic operatives.
If Yogi and Panda knew Wachs was in the bathroom, it was not surreptitious and I see no violation of any nature or description.
Say what you want, the Martins in fact WERE Democratic operatives. The story originally was played as an elderly Florida couple just happened to pick up this conversation, but the truth turned out to be much different. McDermott's liability was upheld on appeal. This, by the way, is "Baghdad Jim" McDermott fromn either Washington or Oregon.
I don't think the two Mexicans Yogi and Panda are Democratic operatives, just two more enrollees in the school of victimology. It keeps people from examining your motives or actions too closely. Think Jesse Jackson. Think Council on American-Islamic Relations.