The new liberal talk radio "network" was booted off the air in Los Angeles and Chicago yesterday. Unlike most radio shows, Air America uses leased time to air its views -- very similar to the infomercials that appear on TV in the middle of the night. According to the owner of the two stations, Arthur Liu, Air America owes him about a million dollars and recently bounced a check.

Air America's response to this development is stupid and juvenile, though it appears they believe that they are clever.

But Arthur Liu --- not funny. He lied to us, he ripped us off and now we’re chasing him down with a pipe wrench. It’s a metaphor.

To quote Inigo Montoya: "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

Metaphor: "A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison, as in “a sea of troubles” or “All the world's a stage” (Shakespeare).

It's not a metaphor. It's a (lame Jr. High) threat.

In the midst of all of the all-too-clever banter, we kinda get Air America's side of the story.

Here’s what really happened:

This Liu-ser was ripping off our boss Evan Cohen big time (he can’t do that, that’s our job). Evan found out about it and he stopped payment on a check to keep Liu-cifer from ripping him off even more. You can touch Evan for the occasional meal or drinks but a million bucks is crossing the line. And if we ever get low on cash, we can always call Barbra Streisand. Or any of the Baldwins. Except Stephen.

There are a couple of conflicting points here. First, I don't think Air America is out of money. If they need money, George Soros has it. They'll fund Air America at least through election day (after that I'm not sure they have the will to continue).

On the other hand, why exactly do you write a check, give it to someone with whom you have a business relationship and then put a stop payment on it? Say you've overpaid, let it go and make sure the extra money is credited to future bills -- like Air America says, it's not as though they're short of cash.