McDermott makes list of author's 100 worst Americans

Paris Hilton's parents; the Rev. Al Sharpton; the guy who gave us "Fear Factor;" and Rep. Jim McDermott.

At first glance, they don't have a lot in common. But they are linked for eternity in a new book, "100 People Who Are Screwing Up America (and Al Franken Is # 37)."

McDermott, as it happens, is No. 38. The Democratic congressman from Seattle apparently doesn't pose as big a threat to democracy as comedian-and-leftist radio talkster Franken. But McDermott presents more of a problem than, say, feminist Gloria Steinem, at No. 42, or Enron's disgraced chief executive, Kenneth Lay, who lumbered in at No. 45.

Almost as bad for the United States as McDermott is the city of Seattle, which is described as "ground zero for overpriced coffee," home of more "progressive loonies than anyplace else on the Left Coast."

"100 People" is the latest in a trilogy by Bernard Goldberg, an Emmy-winning former CBS News correspondent, who hit the jackpot in 2001 with "Bias," a book on the alleged liberal leanings of the media. His follow-up was "Arrogance," again decrying liberals. The books became bestsellers after they were widely touted by conservative think tanks, blogs and talk-radio folks.

Is McDermott upset by Goldberg's latest? "Ha. I think the author is undercaffeinated," McDermott laughed. "He just needs a decent cup of coffee."

As for Seattle's defenders, the president of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, Steve Leahy, said, tongue in cheek, "Perhaps this will give us a whole new tourist slogan: 'Loonies? Just another part of Emerald City's charm.' "

The book assails McDermott's pre-Iraqi war statement that President Bush "would mislead the American people." Today, McDermott says, "The truth is that the president did mislead us, and the people in Seattle knew it first because I told them."

In an interview, Goldberg said that he wasn't just including McDermott because of what he said on the eve of the Iraq invasion, it was where he said it — Baghdad. "You have to reach a certain level of indecency to make it in the book," Goldberg said. "I think he reached that."

The main issue in "100 People" is that America has lost its civility, and its public demeanor is held hostage by trashy TV shows and celebrities, where profanity and near-nudity are the only way to get a producer's (and the consumer's ) attention. But Goldberg admitted that it's the list that will get the publicity for the book itself.

1. Michael Moore, filmmaker 2. Arthur Sulzberger, publisher of The New York Times 3. Ted Kennedy, Democratic U.S. senator, Massachusetts 4. Jesse Jackson, Democratic African-American activist 5. Anthony Romero, American Civil Liberties Union's executive director 6. Jimmy Carter, former Democratic president 7. Margaret Marshall, chief justice, Massachusetts state Supreme Court 8. Paul Krugman, columnist at The New York Times 9. Jonathan Kozol, education scholar and author 10. Ralph Neas, president of People for the American Way

Already, avowedly Republican Web sites such as INDCjournal.com have been prepping the "buzz" by rampant speculation about who would make the list. Fox News Channel has booked Goldberg for interviews. Media mogul Rupert Murdoch, CEO of News Corp., which owns Fox, also owns Goldberg's publisher, Harper Collins.

The "100" list counts backward and culminates with a photo of movie producer Michael Moore, who made "Fahrenheit 9/11," a documentary argument against President Bush and the war in Iraq in which McDermott played himself. The top 20 include Sen. Edward Kennedy, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Democratic Chairman Howard Dean and billionaire George Soros, who spent millions to defeat Bush in last year's presidential election.

There is another name with a Seattle connection: Rolling in at 95 is singer Courtney Love. Goldberg's only description of her in the book is unprintable.

McDermott says Seattle is smarter, more politically astute and better read than most of the country. "Goldberg can talk about me if he wants, but don't attack my city," he said.

Goldberg responded, "It takes Seattle to create a Starbucks; that wouldn't happen in Kansas City."

The 50 MOST LOATHSOME NEW YORKERS by NEW YORK PRESS had the best list.

9
Janeane Garofalo
Comedienne/Activist
"OHMIGOD. IT'S RIDIC," exclaimed the daughter of an Exxon executive when asked about the backlash against her born-again activism. Less ridic is the ditzy disdain this liberal Dennis Miller with tits has for the rest of humanity. "Evil is in the face of every frat guy that ever raised a beer cup and went whoo-hoo," Garofalo once observed in a tv plug. But that was before her political phase, so maybe Janeane's evil bar has been raised. In a 1996 Playboy interview, Garofalo explained: "I don't want to see Friends anymore, even though I am friends with some of the Friends." She's a name-dropper who claims to hate the names; a counter-culturist who likely reads Adbusters over a Starbucks mocha latte; a muddled activist who protested Bill Clinton's bombing runs—at least starting in 1998—but still hangs a picture of the man on her wall (she's shaking his hand). "I never imagined that I would never care about dumb things anymore. I never imagined I'd be a person who could transcend that kind of nonsense," she told the Progressive. We never imagined a second-rate comic could so bug the shit out of us.

8
Donald Trump
Developer
THE MAN AND his nest of orange hair refuse to die peacefully. Donald J. Trump represents New York to Americans the way George W. Bush represents America to Europeans. The Tower casts a shadow over New Jersey in the morning and Long Island in the evening, while the tax breaks Trump receives for his projects cast a shadow over New York City's budget. Despite his wealth, Trump's resume of significant good works could be spoken without a breath by Brenda Vaccaro doing a Playtex commercial. Even he admits that his pro bono re-engineering of Central Park's troubled Wollman Rink was to give his own kids a place to skate. The Donald's primary public service since 1987 consists of taking out full-page ads in the major New York dailies calling for the death penalty for five defendants in the Central Park jogger case—whose convictions were later overturned. Bill Gates has donated $100 million to fight AIDS in Africa; Donald Trump's contribution to the war on HIV consists of having his supermodel prostitutes tested before going in bareback. He claims to build things people like, but if most Manhattanites had the chance, they'd throw him off the island in a pair of cement Pumas.

7
Howard Stern
Disc Jockey
WE NEVER CARED for Howard's mooky blatherings, but we support him in his 11th-hour conversion to free-speech champion. Too bad the jackass waited so long to take a stand—a more chicken**** millionaire you'd be hard-pressed to find. He choked when he ran for governor, helping instead to elect the biggest tax-and-spend Republican in New York history (who gave us two of the biggest subway fare hikes in history). With his money and fan base, Stern could've taken on the criminals at the FCC a long time ago, but as always, the smut jock went ostrich, burying his face in a pair of fake tits while the Constitution got crumpled. Come to think of it, scratch the opening line. We hope Ashcroft locks him away for 10 to 20.

37
AbeFoxman
National Director of Anti-Defamation League
FOXMAN'S ADL HAS paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines and civil suits for various abuses over the years—like spying on the African National Congress—and yet continues to enjoy the endorsement of law enforcement officials and a cowed media. The superhumanly self-righteous gasbag makes $450,000 as Likud's point man at the highest echelons of U.S. thought crime enforcement, where he smears critics of Israel with allegations of anti-Semitism and honors the memory of the Holocaust by allying with oven-chasing lawyers and those who would downplay the Roma genocide to bolster the case for Jewish exceptionalism. Even fellow Sharon-shill Bill Safire wanted him to resign after his role in the Marc Rich pardon. For the book on Foxman, see Norman Finkelstein's The Holocaust Industry (Verso), written by the child of two survivors. Foxman helped block the publication of one of Finkelstein's earlier books in 1998. Just another day at the ADL office.

http://www.nypress.com/17/13/feature/feature.cfm?page=3&last=1

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