NO SACRIFICE IS TOO SMALL FOR REP. DREIER LEGISLATOR'S ATTACK ON TALK RADIO APPEARS AS PHONY AS IT DOES IRONIC.

Byline: Steve Young

IF you live in Southern California and enjoy talk radio's most listened-to afternoon talk radio show (airing on KFI-AM (640), and hosted by John Kobylt and Ken Chiampou), then you know the focus this past week was rather personal - and wondrously ironic.

John and Ken, who tend to spotlight local issues more than the standard talk fare, are not adverse to taking that spotlight and using it to pound their victims into bloody - and many times, entertaining, though often, sophomoric - submission.

Last winter, during the California gubernatorial recall, you might have thought it was the ``John, Ken and David Show'' as Rep. David Dreier, R-Glendora, showed up often and seemed to be turning into the co-host for every talk-radio show heard across California. That's how often he appeared on the radio dial as front man for the Schwarzenegger campaign. And it was John and Ken who led talk radio's thorough disemboweling of former Gov. Gray Davis.

But how times have changed, and how the shoe finds its way to the other foot. For now, it is Dreier who is in danger of becoming disemboweled.

It's all about illegal immigration. You know, the issue neither George W. Bush nor John Kerry would touch with a 10-foot Latino vote.

John and Ken have battered Dreier and his nebulous record on working to halt the border flow into the States. So brutal is the hosts' pummeling that now Dreier not only refuses to appear on J&K's show, but he is also giving the cold shoulder to other stations and shows - like KABC's Doug McIntire just across the Los Angeles radio dial - that he once used to pummel his adversaries.

Ironic, aye?

This summer, John and Ken initiated an effort for listeners to select the Republican legislator who most exemplifies the lack of real effort to halt illegal immigration. And, with true talk-radio subtlety, they named it ``political human sacrifice.'' Those up for desecration included, among others, Reps. Chris Cox, Mary Bono, Darrel Issa (the man who initially funded the recall campaign), Dana Rohrbacher and - big winner - David Dreier.

Well, now, John and Ken received a federal complaint filed by the National Republican Congressional Committee regarding their political human sacrifice. That's right. The same guy who threw himself whole hog into the (almost) human sacrifice of the (almost human) Davis, is threatening legal action now that it is he who is being the one torched at the stake.

It almost makes talk radio worthwhile. Almost as good as Rush Limbaugh on drugs, Bill O'Reilly phoning in his sexual spin. But this is way better. The others got caught. They knew the news of what they had done had to be silenced as soon as possible. But Dreier and the NRCC hypocrites think no one notices how pitifully obvious their nonsense is.

Among other hysterical portions of their complaint is that it accuses J&K of ``illegally using corporate money to advocate for Congressman Dreier's defeat.'' It says that ``John and Ken's show has become nothing but a political diatribe.''

I guess that's unlike the cleaning tips you get on Sean Hannity's three hours a day. Can't wait until the NRCC sues the entire Clear Channel lineup.

The complaint's legal analysis offers an eye-opening revelation: ``Conducting corporate radio shows and political rallies that expressly advocate for election or defeat of a clearly identifiable federal candidate does not fall within the First Amendment 'press exemption.'''

Holy moley! All these years of having to listen to Rush and the boys are over, and it's all thanks to the due diligence of Republican oversight. Irony has never found a more deserved archetype.

Among other legal blah-blah-blahs and political yada-yada-yadas within the complaint is the fact that - horror upon horror - John and Ken had estimated one particular rally as having ``hundreds and hundreds of people.'' As if that wasn't bad enough, the dastardly duo felt they had to throw acid on the wound by following that comment up with - hide the children's eyes - ``my God, this is a big crowd.''

While some legal actions are just nuisance cases, this, ladies and gentlemen, is a prime example of why - thank God - we have a Constitution. No wonder the NRCC's complaint asks that John, Ken and the other miscreants involved in these felonies ``should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.'' These traffickers in free speech need to be put away. Hopefully, when they do, they'll throw away the key. Perhaps then, we can all once again sleep the peaceful sleep we once cherished before good people like David Dreier had to suffer having to hear those seven harrowing words - ``my God, this is a big crowd.''