For the most part, KFI 640 AM radio personality Tim Conway Jr. (pictured) modulates his anger. But last night, during his show’s “News Bender” feature with announcer Aron Bender, he went on a tirade against recently released American hikers Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal.

Upon learning that the pair, together with previously freed border trekker Sarah Shourd, had made a supportive appearance at Occupy Oakland, Conway Jr. launched into it:

“Oh God… I wish they were back in Iran. You know, this is unbelievable. We spend so much time and so much money trying to get those ungrateful F’s out of Iran, and they come back here and the thanks we get is [for them] to join those other losers at Occupy Wall Street. Screw them! I hope they go back to Iran… God I hate ungrateful people, I really do. Punks. Punk-ass b*tches.”

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Freelance journalist Shane Bauer and environmentalist Josh Fattal have been sentenced to eight years in an Iranian prison for trumped-up charges of espionage and illegal entry into the country. The men were arrested two years ago while hiking near the poorly defined border between Iran and Iraq. Southern California native Sarah Shourd was also arrested, but has since been released.

The men’s families released a short statement yesterday, which reads in part:

Of the 751 days of Shane and Josh’s imprisonment, yesterday and today have been the most difficult for our families. Shane and Josh are innocent and have never posed any threat to the Islamic Republic of Iran, its government or its people.

The three hikers have strong California ties. Shroud grew up in Los Angeles, and lived in San Francisco after graduating from college. Bauer has written for the LA Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the San Francisco Bay Guardian. All are alumni of UC Berkeley.

Echoing the majority of reader comments at press time to Meghan Daum‘s latest LA Times column, we don’t buy into her stand-alone concept of “hiker hate.”

Daum suggests that the disapproval articulated by the American populace over the actions of Iranian imprisoned hikers Sarah Shourd (since released), Shane Bauer, and Josh Fatal is “so vehement that it lends itself to its own coinage and category.” That’s a stretch. The same kind of reaction framed the 2009 North Korean detainment of Current TV journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee, and in fact the amount of vitriol that has slammed the hikers is on par with just about any other Berkeley-Biloxi dividing topic (Sarah Palin, abortion, take your pick).

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The long, hard Iranian road for imprisoned freelance journalist Shane Bauer (pictured) and his UC Berkeley pal Josh Fattal crosses two major milestones this week. Monday marked 18 months of captivity for the pair and this Sunday, February 6th, Bauer and Fattal will be tried for the preposterous accusation of spying.

To keep their story front and center in the media and beyond, families and supporters have been marshaling statements of support from people like Sean Penn, holding fundraisers and arranging for people who know Bauer and Fattal to “testify” their words of support online. A recent such message comes from Bauer friend and colleague Shon Meckfessel:

One can, and should, feel sorry for Shane the Hiker, but an almost awed admiration, joined perhaps with outrage, steps forward instead for Shane the Journalist (author of more than 50 articles from “on the ground” in the Middle East, east Africa, and the U.S., for outlets as diverse as Al Jazeera, Christian Science Monitor, Slate, the LA Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Nation), Shane the filmmaker, Shane the multiple-award-winning photojournalist…

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