John Howell out at WLS: Some things are more important than a job.

   
    When I write a column that really touches people, it's easy to tell. The clicks climb. The comments surge. And the producers from talk radio shows call, particularly from John Williams over at WGN and John Howell at WLS. I love doing both shows, because both hosts are thoughtful pros with a sense of what gets people talking. I never say no, because spending 10 or 15 minutes discussing that morning's column is both a great commercial for the newspaper and just plain fun.  
    I won't be hearing from John Howell anymore, at least not as a host on WLS, which let him go Wednesday. The statement on the AM 890 Facebook page was the typical bright spin piffle:

     Yesterday was John Howell’s last show on The Big 89.
     He has been a staple of 890 WLS for over a decade. His wit, political prowess, and focus on Chicago conversations has given our audience a destination for smart, local radio in the afternoons.
     Thank you, John, for being a part of the fabric of The Big 89.

     That's it. Here's where you really miss Robert Feder, who would have dug up the inside story of what really happened and had it embroidered on a hankie and framed on the wall before anybody else knew Howell had been let go. Though just by looking at the WLS lineup, you could sense what's happening: the station is drifting further right. Howell was always an outlier, someone who hadn't drunk the Red State Punch Kool Aid. Trump wasn't his God, and that caused trouble — it was an act of courage for him to invite a guy like me on the show, and sooner or later his bosses were going to object. Any radio station that values the services of Trump Youth leader Ben Shapiro can't also shelter a moderate like John Howell.
    WLS hasn't said who will be replacing him — Alex Jones maybe? Word is that WLS is clearing the decks of people who think and feel, assembling a droid army of MAGA maniacs in preparation for the 2024 election. John might have kept his job if he parroted the party line, but that isn't his way. There's more to life than keeping a job. 

     "His conscience is clean that he spoke the truth about the evil of Trump, even though that cost him his job," one of Howell's many friends said.
     "It's appalling," said another.

     Yes it is. But it's also encouraging. You can say no. You can refuse. Howell's departure is a preview of the kind of choice many will have to make in the months and years to come. Go along or resist? There's always money to be made in betraying everything America ever stood for, and people are lining up to feed the right wing media machine, just as they line up to watch and listen. Word is that Cumulus Media plans to make WLS "the most conservative station in the country," a source said. Though I would debate that word, "conservative." These people aren't conserving anything. They're destroyers, wild radicals giddily tossing away everything important about the American democracy. 

     Kudos to John Howell. I respected him when he worked for WLS, and I respect him even more now that he doesn't. Much evil in the world is done by men trying to keep their jobs, or make a buck off someone else's ignorance, malice, fear and gullibility. It takes courage to walk away, or do what your heart tells you is right until your bosses can't stand it any more and show you the gate.