A Saturday Morning Detention
Discontinues as Ed Wallace Exits KLIF
2025 April 2
PREFACE: Saturday. March 24, 1984. Last week marked the 41st anniversary of the day of detention depicted by the cultural touchstone that is the 1985 movie The Breakfast Club. This post draws parallels between the fictional experiences suffered by the students at the hands of Assistant Principal Richard Vernon and the all too real experiences suffered by the KLIF audience at the mouth of radio host Ed Wallace.
If you have inexplicably not seen this movie already, this guide will aid in understanding the referenced quotes (but your heart has probably already died).
Billed as his last submission for KLIF radio, Ed Wallace began this March 29th edition of the Second Hand News segment with a brief minute detailing some history and statistics about all of his currently recurring pre-recorded segments. These segments are namely Classic Tracks, Backside of American History and Second Hand News. Then as Wallace always does, he instigates a ruckus by inflaming instead of informing for the remaining nine minutes of that ten minute SHN segment.
Describing the Ruckus of the Second Hand News Finale
About one minute into the segment, the Second Hand News finale became a tirade against the Wheels’ audience, which mostly supports President Trump’s policies.
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Wheels with Don Grantham and
John Ingram
But I'm just worn out. America is now facing dark days. We're already deep in it. We are not downsizing the American government as Trump and Elon Musk are claiming. They are hobbling it and there's a big difference. And when they are done, only then will everyone realize that we were all sold nonsense. And then you will come to see the ruins of our government and how it will impact America and American lives forever.” [SKIP AHEAD] “And by the time you realize how long all of this has been, It will be far too late to fix anything. Do you doubt that?” [SKIP AHEAD] “For the very last time… |
Wallace’s tirade began by declaring that Second Hand News (SHN) was “often the most important segment of the show”. He goes so far as to imply it is essential for the preservation of America’s future. Given this assertion, is it not curious that this “most important”, “much needed” segment was never mentioned in the KLIF Wheels’ promotional spots that ran weekdays over the past three years? Prior to Wallace’s decision to completely exit radio, one variation of the Wheels’ promo ran as follows:
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Promotional Spot for KLIF Wheels
Everything that you want to know Wheels, Saturday mornings, 8 till noon only on 570 KLIF and 96.3 FM HD2. And be sure to check out |
In the above promotional spot for Wheels, segments Classic Tracks and Backside of American History are explicitly highlighted, yet Second Hand News goes unmentioned. That is not an oversight, as SHN was never mentioned in any of the many variations of that Wheels’ promotional spot that have aired since other hosts nominally took over the show. No, that omission was intentional, as the nominal hosts desperately wanted to distance themselves from Wallace’s SHN.
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Wheels with Don Grantham and
John Ingram
Don Grantham Caller “Rick” John Ingram Caller “Rick” [ROOSTER TANGENT] Don Grantham John Ingram Don Grantham |
In the above audio, Grantham and Ingram proclaim ignorance of the contents of the SHN
segment that just aired on their show. The show bears their names, yet they
pretend to have no responsibility for its content. Instead, it is left to a
caller to fact check Ed Wallace. And both Grantham and Ingram agree with the
caller’s presentation of the facts and neither dispute the caller’s assertion
that Wallace’s presentation misled the audience.
This reveals the hypocrisy of the entire Wheels staff. At what point did Wallace, Grantham or Ingram ask themselves “Is this story true?” before putting it on air. Repeatedly, Wallace preaches to the audience that he asks that question for every considered story. Yet every week, his actions demonstrate that the question he really asks himself is whether the story (true or not) is useful to push his agenda.
Caller “Rick” should have been a wake up call for Grantham and Ingram to change how the show runs. Heck, he even has a rooster to serve as the alarm. But instead of fixing the problem that is Wallace, the show stopped taking any calls, lest the callers further embarrass the staff.
So let Wallace rage all he wants at his audience for rejecting his Democrat propaganda. It is all fake news in service of pushing an agenda. The audience knows it. The replacement hosts know it. And, ultimately, Wallace knows it as well.
Does Rachel Maddow Know Ed Wallace Raids her Show Content?
Wallace promotes Second Hand News as stories that “do not get much play from the major media”. Yet, mostly all of stories Wallace runs are sourced from mainstream publications. And his editorial presentation of such tales varies not from what the major media pushes.
Take last Saturday’s SHN tirade. A variation of that screed can be heard every time far-left MSNBC host Rachel Maddow’s show runs. In terms of content and tone, there is no difference between Second Hand News (SHN) and major media. Major media (ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, NPR, PBS) all promote and suppress the same news as Wallace. All trumpet the same dishonest Democrat spin.
The Reason that the KLIF Audience Suffers in Saturday Morning Detention
It is no mystery as to why Wheels is able to cobble together enough listeners to remain on the air. Many times over the years, Wallace has snarked that there are scarce entertainment alternatives on Saturday mornings. So while sort of demented and sad, the audience generally didn’t have anything better to play in the background. Not that that says much for Wheels. There are no bragging rights in Wheels’ ratings besting questionable infomercials for Balance of Nature supplements, as those infomercials comprise of little more than parade an endless stream of dubious testimonials to hype the product.
As such, it is appropriate that as of April 1st, Wheels’ Inside Automotive web site has been converted into a wall of testimonials praising Ed Wallace. The Wheels radio show has always been a thinly veiled infomercial for Ed Wallace’s Balance of Nonsense.
You See Us As You Want To See Us
Wallace does not tolerate dissent. And for those with which he disagrees, Wallace labels them with the simplest terms, the most convenient definitions. This is easily demonstrated by the labels that he applies on his Inside Automotive website.
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Labels Applied
by Ed Wallace’s Inside Automotive |
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The Person
Seen |
The
Simplest Terms |
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Donald Trump |
moron; nuts; blowhard; racist; grifter |
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Ivanka Trump |
dumb |
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Elon Musk |
villain, evil; cheated; liar; dick |
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Hershel Walker |
lying; incoherent; idiot |
For out-of-favor national figures, Wallace labels them in the crudest manor. Fortunately these folks have the resources withstand trolls with a radio broadcast megaphone.
But what of the regular north Texas populace that dominates Wheels’ audience? Well, there is no grace for those opposing Wallace’s agenda. Take the case of Frisco, Texas real estate broker Jenna Ryan. Having received a misdemeanor conviction of parading, picketing and trespassing at the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, Ryan served 60 days in prison. Despite not being a prominent public figure and not engaging in any violence/vandalism, Wallace skewered her for four minutes on a SHN segment (January 8, 2022), mocked her in the show’s open on four separate occasions, and applied multiple misogynistic labels onto her on his Inside Automotive web site.
Despite (or perhaps because) Jenna Ryan having no platform equivalent to an AM radio program with which to defend herself, Wallace unleashed everything he had upon her. Jenna Ryan was a useful foil. Destroy her, and maybe the many like her in the KLIF audience would hesitate to resist Wallace’s agenda. So to accomplish that goal, Jenna Ryan served as a stand-in for you, and Wallace’s actions expose how he sees you.
In the movie The Breakfast Club, the detainees are assigned to write an
essay answering the question as to who do they think they are. For the newly released detainees of the KLIF Wheels
radio show, its audience has instead written an essay answering the question as
to who the heck does Ed Wallace think he is.
And for those who need a refresher on the essay that Brian wrote to answer the question of who do they think are, the ending to The Breakfast Club is submitted for your approval
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The Breakfast Club (1985)
We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it is we did wrong. But we think you're crazy for making us write an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us, in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain, and an athlete, and a basket case, a princess, and a criminal. Does that answer your question? Sincerely yours, |
Given that The Breakfast Club movie cannot be separated from its theme song Don't You
(Forget about Me) by Simple Minds, the
following music video is also submitted for your approval:
In keeping with the title of that song, Wheels’ hosts Don Grantham and John Ingram ended the March 29th broadcast with wishing to memorialize Wallace by lobbying for his induction into the Texas Radio Hall of Fame. The Texas Radio Hall of Shame is the more appropriate destination.
The KLIF
audience will gladly forget about Ed Wallace.
-- Related Stories --
2024 August 17 - Racism Hidden in Plain View on Inside Automotive Web Site
2023 November 18 - David El Attrache and Ed Wallace Stop Hosting KLIF Wheels
2022 November 5 - Major Media Did Not Give Much Play to Ed Wallace's Retirement from KLIF
2022 July 17 - Ed Wallace Announces End Date for his KLIF Wheels Radio Show
2022 May 3 - Jenna Ryan is third most frequent snark target for show opening
