Faces of ignorance

Dear KTLK-FM management:

Don’t fire them as punishment.

Don’t fire them because they’re horrible representatives of your radio station.

DO fire them because, really, they’re too dumb to consistently remember to breathe, and sooner or later they'll just fall over and … What? Breathing is involuntary?

(Sigh)

What can one say about Minneapolis talk-show hosts Chris Baker and Langdon Perry? The talk jocks said — on air — that Magic Johnson faked having AIDS. Actually, children, Magic never said he had AIDS; he said he had the virus that causes AIDS. No matter.

Baker's and Perry's comments about Johnson took place after a caller complained about "demands on workers." Here's an account of the not-quite Algonquin Round Table-level discussion as reported by The Associated Press:

"Perry responded by asking about treatable diseases that a person can live with for a long time ‘if you just get some basic drugs.’

Baker responded, ‘Like Magic Johnson?’

Perry replied, ‘Like Magic with his faked AIDS. Magic faked AIDS.’

Baker said, ‘You think Magic faked AIDS for sympathy?’

Perry replied, ‘I'm convinced that Magic faked AIDS.’

‘Me, too,’ Baker said.”

Conviction, of course, can be a positive thing, but so can doubt. And after reading the above exchange, I still doubt Baker and Perry can inhale without cue cards.