Brian Wilson, one of the nation’s smartest, funniest, and most pro-freedom talk show hosts, is out at WSPD. Brian announced on Monday:
THIS JUST IN: Clear Channel and I have parted ways. I am glad to have had the opportunity to preach the gospel of freedom and liberty to Northwest Ohio. Wish I had the chance on the air to say thanks to my listeners. I will continue to make every effort to spread the message of free markets and liberty.
Brian did a wonderful job of waking folks up to the perils of Leviathan. He brought a sense of humor to public policy discussions that is unique to libertarian-conservative talk show hosts. That guy should have been syndicated nationally long ago….
Hopefully there will soon be an announcement of Brian back on the air elsewhere…
Mr. Wilson leaves behind a legacy of controversy thanks to his acerbic tone, a perceived negativity toward Toledo, and at least one stunt that featured him trying to force his way into a news conference by pushing through a door barred by a city employee.
Several public officials said they are glad to see him go.
“WSPD will not be hard-pressed to find someone who has a better wit, greater charm, and a far deeper knowledge base than Brian Wilson had,” said former Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner, whom Mr. Wilson referred to as Mayor Pant-Load. “He was one of the most boring talk show hosts I ever had the opportunity to briefly listen to.”
Mr. Wilson came under fire last year when he used the term “little monkeys” in reference to Toledo Public Schools students, and for a radio host who relied on local support for his show, he seemed to have contempt for area residents.
“I have never seen — and I’ve said this in public, on air, and in print — an accumulation of ignorance among a group of people centered in one geographical area until I came to Toledo. It’s astounding, absolutely astounding,” he told a Law and Media seminar of attorneys and journalists hosted by the Ohio State Bar Association in Columbus last year.
Former Mayor Jack Ford was on the Toledo Public Schools Board of Education when Mr. Wilson made the “little monkeys” comment, which the radio host said was in reference to learning and was not racially motivated.
“We found it offensive, but frankly it was kind of part and parcel what kind of things that [Wilson] had said at certain times before,” Mr. Ford said. “So it wasn’t too surprising it came out of his mouth.”
Brian is great.
http://www.toledoblade.com/TV-Radio/2012/11/13/Controversial-radio-host-off-area-airwaves.html
I just wish Clear Channel would live up tho their name and deliver some good old fashion dead air. Silence is golden.
I guess Brian Wilson just wasn’t goose-stepping to the beat of Clear Channel’s drums of death and destruction. The good news is that he won’t have to shower as often to wash off the Clear Channel stench.
My first reaction to Brian Wilson when I first tuned into his broadcast, I don’t remember how many years ago now,was “wow,what a breath of fresh air. I will miss him greatly, and hope I will connect with him on the air again in the not to distanr future’
Gene, you’re right – Brian is a huge breath of fresh air compared to other talk show hosts.
Don’t know if that Clear Channel affiliate will have the same concern about air quality in the future….
Thanks all for the kind words. Thanks to the Toledo area listeners who listened and “got it”.
For the rest: “I have never seen — and I’ve said this in public, on air, and in print — an accumulation of ignorance among a group of people centered in one geographical area until I came to Toledo. It’s astounding, absolutely astounding.”
Those quoted in the Stupid Paper didn’t get the joke: I was referring to THEM!
Pity.
If it weren’t for the political sphincters and union slugs and thugs running the place, Toledo could have been a contender for the commercial center of the mid-west. Instead,they chose to become the “Metropolis of Mediocrity” and “Dingbat Captiol of the World.”
And they got them the old-fashoned way: they earned it. (Apologies to EF Hutton, RIP)
So, Brian, since you’re no longer on the air in Toledo, will that rascal mayor that you drove out of office try to stage a political comeback?
Apparently so, James.
Rumors were circulating for a few months Finkbeiner (aka Mayor Pantload) was angling for a vacated Council seat or some place he could preen and foul. Then Jack “Mr. Mumbles” Ford, another re-cycled bit of incompenent political fecal matter, announced he had conquered all his ills and demons and was ready to “return to public service.” Claimed he “checked with certain members of Council and they confirmed they’d think about it.”
See? Toledo doesn’t have to waste taxpayer dollars paying for an election.
Carty Finkbeiner!?
Well, that’s the gold standard of denunciations. That is, the Iron Pyrite standard.
Jim,
I’m sorry to hear this about Brian. Of the large number of talk radio hosts I’ve heard Brian, Charles Goyette, Jerry Doyle and a couple of others were the only ones worth listening to. The rest of them are a collection of opportunists, religious nuts and neocons.
I hope Brian finds something here in the metro Atlanta area because talk radio here is nothing more than corporate radio, a la Limbaugh.
Brian Wilson was a stuttering idiot and the epitome of a amutuer radio personality.
“jonny”(?) doesr” (real name??) like many toledoites, doesn’t realize feeble attempts at insult like this are merely proof he – andthey – are intellectual sludge, incapable of recognizing they are the reason Toledo is the Loser Capital of America.
Brian, you were the only hope to wake up this scurvy crew on the sinking ship called “Toledo”. Your replacement is a tepid, watered down version of radio folly. I’ll bet this clown doesn’t even know Morse Code. For the 7 years you were available on the airwaves here in the anus of society, we all felt we had an ally. Not just some clown to regurgitate Clearchannels nonsense, but a true voice of the people. I no longer listen to 1370, which is unfair to the rest of the troops that were your supporting staff, but they seem forced to surrender to the new mentality by fear of job loss. Scott Sands is boring, neutered, and a pretentious schill. As far as BC’ing from Virginia, who could blame you? The crooked cops out to get you, 40 year Schemocratic mob out to destroy you, and the ultimate Pantload on your heels? Who in a sane mind would come to this sphincter of decaying morals? If you are on the air, please forward any info that would allow us to listen here in Schemetown. I also am an Extra Class, Code endorsed operator, and will do all in my power to continue in your amazing tradition of broadcast excellence. You really were the last hope for this conglomerate of crap called Toledo. I knew instantly, the first afternoon drive you missed and nary was a word mentioned of your departure, that the coffin nails had been driven on Liberty and Freedom in this horrible city. Thank you for enduring this mess as long as you did. Many others do not have the courage, conviction, and steadfastness of morality that you showed. BTW, I will intern for you free of charge, and will gladly provide my thousands of hours behind the mic experience to shuffle papers for you, if that is the need. If noone else has communicated the tragic loss we suffered when you departed, allow me to do so now. We miss you, Brian.
Many thanks for your kind words; my apologies for not acknowledging them sooner.
Now a year + later, it’s probably safe to say I won’t be returning to commercial broadcasting in this lifetime. The Suits in the corner offices now are the same age as my children. And they have zero interest in having their “father” on their air. Frankly, I never had a problem dealing with generational differences. Most everyone of every age doesn’t want Government telling them what to do, how to live, what to eat and not to drink and now, messing with personal health care, something as vital as their meddling is unconstitutional (despite what Chief Justice Roberts was blackmailed into writing).
Toledo unfortunately remains one the country’s great Petrie dishes for the breeding of ignorant arrogance and arrogant ignorance, as a Toledo poster above so eloquently demonstrated. The Stupid Paper, Mayor Pantload and the supporting cast of union slugs and thugs made for some great radio but horrible and destructive “governance” stifling what would have been a robust economy and growing market. Instead, the same infestation of moral vermin recently conspired to elect an egotistical moron like “D Minus” Collins for mayor. If Toledo can get any worse, you can be certain this waste of carbon will do it. My sympathies.
You comments above demonstrate 7 years weren’t wasted. Like Johnny Appleseed, some seeds of Liberty have taken root in those like you who, for whatever reasons, have dedicated themselves to staying there. You have my support and best wishes for success – altho with a -40 wind chill factor there as I type, along with a mountain of snow on the way. that is a decision I will never fullycomprehend!
Thanks again for your kind thoughts – and thanks for being part of the audio radiance.
Brian Wilson