Liberal Repercussion

Ten Minutes that rocked...
Howard Stern joins the real world. This may be a good thing.

http://www.buzzflash.com/farrell/04/03/far04006.html


On Feb. 26 (the day Stern's program was suspended in half a dozen Clear Channel markets), he not only said that the Bush administration doesn't know what it is doing in Iraq, but within a ten minute span pointed out that:

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Al Gore won the election.
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Bush did not fulfill his duty in the National Guard.
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George W. will never admit that Poppy Bush pulled strings to get him into the Guard and keep him out of Vietnam.
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There are several questions about Bush's character.

While callers to the show repeatedly expressed dismay that Stern was taken off the air in certain cities, one fan expressed the overall mood by saying that the new FCC/Clear Channel tactics are reminiscent of Nazi book burnings. Never mind that the canaries in the proverbial coal mine were chirping a similar tune last year, back when radio stations were organizing Dixie Chick CD demolitions, the distant rumbling of goose-stepping is now being heard by former Bush supporters, too. Dubbing Clear Channel "fear channel," Stern warned that the "fascist right-wing" is "getting so much power."

The following day, Stern was even more forceful. "Get rid of George W. Bush," he said, adding that Bush is "dangerous" and has a "religious agenda." By Monday, March 1, Stern was circumspect. "There's a real good argument to be made that I stopped backing Bush and that's when I got kicked off Clear Channel," he said.

After Stern was pulled from six cities, including Orlando, Miami and Pittsburgh (which, coincidentally, are important markets in important swing states), John Hogan, president of 1,200-station Clear Channel, appeared before members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and apologized for letting Stern say the things he's been saying for years. "I accept responsibility for our mistake, and my company will live with the consequences of its actions," Hogan said.

"I don't think what [Stern] said this week was different from things he's said before," Rep. Fred Upton said. "Why didn't you do this earlier? Has he actually changed his tune?"

"I don't think he's changed his tune, but we've changed ours. We're going in a different direction at Clear Channel Radio," Hogan responded.



By now, ties between the Texas-based Clear Channel and the President of the United States are legendary. Clear Channel's vice chairman Tom Hicks "made Bush a millionaire," while Clear Channel stations were a staple at "'pro-troop rallies,' which, by many accounts, "were virtually indistinguishable from pro-Bush rallies." [AmConMag.com]

So, was Stern taken off the air because of the shock waves emanating from Janet Jackson's breast? Or is there, as Stern and others suggest, more to this story?

Oddly enough, Rush Limbaugh's twisted defense of Stern provides a clue. Though Limbaugh was somewhat brave and honorable to speak out, the spin Limbaugh placed on the incident speaks volumes. This was Limbaugh's take, courtesy of Matt Drudge:

"Smut on TV gets praised. Smut on TV wins Emmys. On radio, there seems to be different standards. I've never heard Howard Stern. But when the federal government gets involved in this, I get a little frightened. If we are going to sit by and let the federal government get involved in this, if the government is going to 'censor' what they think is right and wrong... What happens if a whole bunch of John Kerrys, or Terry McAuliffes start running this country? And decide conservative views are leading to violence? I am in the free speech business. It's one thing for a company to determine if they are going to be party to it. It's another thing for the government to do it." [DrudgeReport.com]

John Kerry? Terry McAuliffe? Why not mention that the FCC is headed by Colin Powell's son, Michael? And what about Clear Channel's ample ties to Bush? This bit of spin ventures so deeply into the Land of Intellectual Dishonesty, it's easy to see why, given the value of propaganda, Limbaugh is said to have received a $35 million signing bonus when he signed his reported $250 million contract back in 2001.

And, given the evidence (particularly since Howard Stern himself is now openly asking if his censorship woes didn't begin with his criticism of Bush) one wonders if Stern's political change of heart didn't have something to do with Clear Channel's preemptive strike. "Maybe they did it as a favor to Bush?" Stern asked.

posted by Rei Toei @ 10:33 p.m.