The King is Dead

CNSNEWS.com ^ | 3/12/04 | Sterling Rome

[kattracks]

In response to a record indecency fine against the radio industry from the FCC, Howard Stern got busy trying to martyr himself by stating,"There's a cultural war going on. The religious right is winning. We're losing.""

Unfortunately for Howard Stern, one need not be a member or proponent of the "religious right" to find his assessment less than credible.

Alas, credibility is something that Howard Stern ran out of a long time ago. Even while radio has the become the media's version of the Wild West, Stern remains in a class by himself as the most base, vile, sophomoric, and pathetic radio personality in America.

Less than a decade ago, in the midst of the me-me 90's, Stern was at the height of his popularity as he cashed in on the public's fascination with all things rancid, tasteless, and titillating. And while it can be argued that there is still far too much of such content in the media, it is inspiring to see that times post 9/11 have, to some degree, created more sober tastes.

This is not to suggest that Stern still does not have his fans - surely he does. But even fans of his show (yes, I actually know some) freely admit that his shtick has gotten very, very old over the past few years. Apparently, people do finally grow tired of lurid sexual discussions, or making fun of minorities, women, or mentally-disabled homeless people.

Howard Stern has always struck me as a sort of pathetic schoolyard bully. He's not brave enough to take on anyone who can actually defend themselves, so he concentrates on the broken and damaged members of our society and singles them out for ridicule and humiliation.

Time and again he has proven that he is unwilling to take even a fraction of the heat that he routinely dishes out. When the public called his bluff and actually supported his candidacy for governor of New York, Stern refused to disclose any personal information - and sighted that requirement as his justification for quitting the race.

In the autobiographical film about his rise to fame 'Private Parts' Stern would have us believe that he is simply a "nice guy" with a sense of humor that upsets all the stuffy corporate types or religious zealots in the world. Even though this self-description is beyond generous, I am even willing to grant that there may have been a time in Stern's career where this might have been true. Yet, that is no longer the case today.

What has always been disturbing about Howard Stern is that he genuinely seems to believe what he is saying - from a racist slur to a self-appointment as "king of all media," to his current line that somehow he is being victimized by the evil forces of oppression. He has used this convenient straw man so many times before it's almost amazing that he has the nerve to do so again.

Unfortunately, like many celebrities in our culture, Howard Stern believes that he has the right to say anything (anything!) no matter how vile, slanderous, or offensive but the public has no right to hold him accountable - even if the airwaves he pollutes are public property.

Devoid of conscience, Stern measures his self-worth purely in the amount of money he is paid, unburdened by the rigors of self-examination. Yet, one would hope that such an existence is quickly becoming pass\'e9 in our society. Jerry Springer gives way to Ellen DeGeneres; 'American Idol' is undone by William Hung; Martha Stewart is found guilty on all counts.

Stern is the poster boy for the media's favorite excuse that worthless programming is justifiable because people tune in. I recall a video tape that was released back when I was in college titled 'Faces of Death.' As you might expect, this was simply a collection of fatalities caught on tape. It was a huge seller, and many incarnations were sold.

I am ashamed to admit that I watched about 5 minutes of 'Faces of Death' before I was overcome with the feeling that the tape was the nadir of existence in our culture and shut it off.

I still feel guilty about watching that tape, and not because I am such a highly moral, or even slightly religious person. I feel guilty because I was born with at least a mediocre moral compass that allows me to recognize that there are certain people, and circumstances, that decent human beings on this Earth ought not exploit for their own benefit.

Either Howard Stern was born without such a moral compass, or more likely, he sold it off a long time ago. In the meantime, his radio show is an amalgam of pre-pubescent sexism, racial and cultural bigotry, and open exploitation of those least qualified to defend themselves.

While it would be a joy to see his show taken off the air, it would be a shame to allow him the luxury of validating his suggestion that he is a victim of censorship. It would be better if he remained on the air until his tired, pathetic, and vapid program disappeared without mention.

There is hardly a more fitting fate for a man who has uttered so much, yet said so little.

Copyright 2004, Sterling Rome

[AppyPappy]

I am ashamed to admit that I watched about 5 minutes of 'Faces of Death' before I was overcome with the feeling that the tape was the nadir of existence in our culture and shut it off.

My brother knew the producer. It was a "work". A fabrication.

[EQAndyBuzz]

Hey, maybe Stern can move over to the Liberal network and do their morning show.

Bet this will happen.

[Salo]

Being a conservative, I say"Let the free market take care of Stern." It will do so far more effectively than Federal Government bureaucrats.

While it would be a joy to see his show taken off the air, it would be a shame to allow him the luxury of validating his suggestion that he is a victim of censorship. It would be better if he remained on the air until his tired, pathetic, and vapid program disappeared without mention.

[In_25_words_or_less]

Being a conservative, I say"Let the free market take care of Stern." It will do so far more effectively than Federal Government bureaucrats.

The free market didn't take care of aggressive and offensive saloon owners, who refused to police themselves, and Prohibition was the result.

[Solamente]

Stern took up drinking since his divorce. His thinking has become convoluted and irrational.

[muir_redwoods]

At a later date, when the democrats have congress and the white house and a leftist supreme court together with an activist FCC rules that Rush and Sean Hannity are offensive it will be too late for anything but regrets. Every radio and TV I ever owned had provisions for changing the show or shutting the damned thing off.

The premise is that free people get to make their own decisions.

[Mr. Thorne]

I agree.

I've seen Mancow on Fox and Friends railing about this, and I tend to agree with a previous poster that we SHOULD let the free market take care of this, but...

But...

Shock jocks, consider; you've achieved your purpose! For years we in flyover country have heard that things HAD to be ramped up, due to the coarsening of the culture. Well, Howard, Bubba, Opie and Anthony, Mancow, Larry Flynt, give yourselves kudos: you did it. You kept trying to out-vulgar each other, wrapping yourself in the first amendment as you 'gave the market what it wanted.'

Ribald pornography, hey it's free speech. Discussing the sex habits of prostitutes with 'em on the air? Free speech again. Meanwhile, I can't say a rosary within what, fifty yards of an abortion clinic? 'Cause that's harrassing.

Well, shockers, you've spent years outdoing one another. The other end of the moral (for lack of a better word) spectrum pretty much got shut down. Pat Robertson and Chuck Colson are kooks, Larry Flynt is a publisher.

Well, you got a reaction. It's not what you'd like, and believe it or not, it's definitely NOT what I'd like (I forsee issues with people like Rush Limbaugh, especially if/when Dems have political control again). But it's not unexpected.

Prohibition is actually a good example. I'd imagine we'll see the same kind of thing, probably compressed a bit in this day and age, with 'obscenity' becoming a major offense. And the police-ers will take THEIR end too far, just like the offenders have now, and the pendulum will swing back.

IMHO, of course.

[2banana]

Howard Stern - In his own words "The defender and martyr of the 1st Amendment" but has attacked the 2nd Amendment for years. He is a fool who does not see that all the arguments he has used against the 2nd Amendment can be used against the the 1st...

[Wolfie]

The most disturbing thing about the whole affair is that Stuttering John has turned out to be a genius.

[GungaLaGunga]

His show has become:

1. Political as hell - First 2-3 hours are nothing but railing against Bush, Christians, etc., blah blah blah....
2. BORING - His bits now seem forced and without the undelining wit and sarcasm they used to carry.
3. Defacto comedy for the new LIBERAL Network.
4. Recitive - Stern now quotes for minutes at a time from Al Franken, Ellen DeGeneres, TNR, The Nation.

In short, Howrd has become one of his bits - "JUMP THE SHARK"

[arasina]

Great post, Mr. Thorne.

[2banana]

Mr. Stern:

You rant and rave about protecting the 1st Amendment of the US Constitution. You call yourself a defender of the Constitution and are being sacrificed for defending it.

Yet you have continually and incessantly attacked the 2nd Amendment of the US Constitution for years.

You have failed to realize that the same arguments that you have personally used to attack one Amendment of the Bill of Rights could be used to attack any part of the Bill of Rights.

You just can't pick or choose that parts you want to defend. It is an all or nothing kind of thing.

Sadly, you are now learning that lesson.

Regards,

2banana


"Foolish liberals who are trying to read the Second Amendment out of the Constitution by claiming it's not an individual right or that it's too much of a public safety hazard don't see the danger in the big picture. They're courting disaster by encouraging others to use the same means to eliminate portions of the Constitution they don't like."
--Alan Dershowitz

[GigaDittos]

Howard Stern is a pathetic piece of crap. He's a liberal bigot who makes money on the most vile material imaginable. He has joked about his own wife, and about the misfortunes of others.

[apillar]

I think Stern is a victim of his own sucess. He got his fame and fortune by shocking his audience and pushing the edge. The problem is after he has had on his 10,000th lesbian or drunken midget or whatever it simple isn't shocking anymore and his audience just sort of yawns and moves on. Its actually a rather sad statement about morals in this country that not many are shocked by his antics anymore, but I beleive thats whats to blame for his declining popularity rather than some cooked up conspiracy between President Bush and the Christian Coalition.

[Maceman]

The free market didn't take care of aggressive and offensive saloon owners, who refused to police themselves, and Prohibition was the result.

What's your point? Prohibition was a colossal failure, wasn't it? That's why it was repealed. (But not before it built the Kennedy fortune).

[In_25_words_or_less]

Prohibition was a colossal failure, wasn't it?

In all ways except one -- saloons, beer and liquor companies have minded their manners ever since.

[Maceman]

In all ways except one -- saloons, beer and liquor companies have minded their manners ever since.

What do you mean, minding their manners. Prohibition wasn't about manners -- it was a manifestation of the PRogressive era impulse to improve society by changing people's behavior -- an explicit rejection of our nation's original founding values.

[In_25_words_or_less]

You're not familiar with the saloon practices of the time which galvanized the public into supporting teetotaler crusaders? It's interesting history.

[bassmaner]

But Prohibition never really ended. Think War on Drugs, which has turned our inner cities into free-fire zones and given us the highest incarceration rate in the world, yet drugs are still widely available.