I assume he said many things I agree with. I assume as much because he’s been such an insufferable asshole for so man years, you’ll have to excuse me for not listening to the excerpt.

A hypocritical egomaniac who every know and again hits the nail on the head–that’s Howard Stern.

Hypocritical egomaniacs are not lacking on the radio. Having one who’s prepared to call out bigotry instead of embrace it is not a bad thing.

Good clip.

That’s one excellent rant. Obviously, this story in RS bothered him and his point that political leaders like Bachmann and Santorum ought to be shunned for their contribution in facilitating the hatred towards gays in our society was spot on.

Thanks for the post. Kudo’s to Stern for telling it like it is, as well.

Dog knows I have little love for Howard Stern in general — and the whole style of morning “shock jock” shows he inspired — but yes, he says a lot of things in this clip you’d probably agree with. It’s worth listening to.

I liked his co-host’s point irt Rosie O’Donnell “It’s like as if the only jokes ever told about me were that I’m black. Is there nothing else about me that exists?”

PZ Myers did a righteous rant on that article last week. As an educator and resident of the state (MN) discussed in the article, he really rips the schools for being a part of the problem instead the first line of defense for kids being harassed to the point of suicide.

Fuckers.

I remember a roommate playing a “you gotta hear this!” Stern rant in the early 90s that was homophobic enough to make me squirm. I guess he’s come a long way since then.

From the headline I figured The Site Monitor told TBogg to stop being specifically vicious, graphically unforgiving and filthy yet provocative…

I have listenend to Stern for years and he seems to have mellowed since his move to satellite, as he doesn’t have anything to prove to the FCC anymore. He always was and still is an egomaniac, but he has always been a strong supporter of personal rights and freedoms.

The RS article is good as well as frightening. Well worth taking the time to read. I weep for this country if a republican regains the presidency.

I wonder if Anoka-born Garrison Keillor will take this issue on in an upcoming PHC show. Much of his act involves poking* at the American Heartland™ facade with a pointy stick, although on this tragic issue, doing so while maintaining that folksy demeanor of his might be something of a challenge.

*it’s usually a gentle jab

Whatever happened to “Minnesota nice?”

Nothing at all. “Minnesota Nice” has always been a variation of the southern “Bless His/Her Heart”.

I find Bachmann & Santorum’s calls for anti-gay jihad a lot less distressing than the fact that our so-called press refuses to call them out on it.

It’s 2012. Doesn’t seem like it would be all that much to ask for our press to point out that this kind of shit is anti-democratic and anti-American; that relying on bigotry against fellow citizens for political power is the kind of thing that has had bad consequences whenever it’s been free reign.

Then again, that asks them to go beyond just being stenographers, so I guess it’s a bridge too far.

By “Dog”, you mean Santorum, right?

“We’re talking about people who are simply different because of the color of their skin, not because of activities that would cause problems for people living in those close quarters. [...] I know the whole gay community is trying to make this the new civil rights act. It’s not. It’s not the same. You are black by the color of your skin. You are not homosexual, necessarily — obviously, by the color of your skin. [...] The idea that being black and being gay is the same is simply not true. There are all sorts of studies out there that suggest just the contrary, and there are people who were gay and lived the gay lifestyle and aren’t anymore. I don’t think that’s the case with anyone who’s black.”

http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2011/10/09/339784/santorum-says-gay-soldiers-cause-problems-for-people-living-in-close-quarters-endorses-ex-gay-therapy/

Stern is exactly right. In any evolved, mature, civilized society, that motherfucker would be ridiculed, ostracized, and ignored for that kind of statement. Jenn is right, it’s the press’ job to make people like Santorum sit down and shut up.

There is something seriously wrong with this country if Howard Stern, Rolling Stone, Tbogg, and us DFHs are the only ones calling Santorum on his bullshit.

The Rolling Stone piece is just tragically sad, and unfortunately true. The anecdote that really got to me was about the 9-year-old brother of one of the suicide victims who tried to kill himself so he could be with his older brother.

And these people — the Minnesota Family Council, Focus on the Family, et al. — call themselves “Christian”? I guess it just proves that there is no God that they are not immediately struck by lightning every time they say that.

Each and every one of these murderous hypocrites should be required to read aloud, in public, at least once a day, Matthew 25:34-46. And then explain why they should not “go away into everlasting punishment”.

BTW, people like this are the primary reason I became an atheist.

Exactly. He has the gift of being able to reach Joe Lunchbucket in ways most lefties can’t.

What happened is what happened to the rest of the GOP nationwide: The Rockefeller Republicans got purged in the wake of the Nixon resignation. It took a while for the bigoted TheoCons and their corporate allies to get rid of them all, largely because the corporate-bigot alliance known as the Southern Strategy isn’t strong enough to paper over all the differences between corporatists and bigots, but they finally succeeded about ten years ago in eliminating or neutering the last few stragglers.

Arne Carlson was the last sane Republican to hold the governorship, and he was viciously opposed by the ascendant TheoCons, who in 1990 wanted Jon Grunseth (who turned out to be a perv), and in 1994 wanted the horrific Allen Quist (think of a Lutheran version of Rick Santorum, except even more obnoxious).

Listen to it — it’s amazing. It’s like somebody gave TBogg a microphone.

I remember Stern, back when he was on regular radio, when the gay marriage issue started to get a lot of press, said (roughly)-’Why not let the gays marry? Then they can have all the misery that straight people have.’ I think it was when Howard was starting to engage in his own divorce, so his view on marriage might have been a bit sour. He did have a point, and the moral nazis need to have their sick prejudices tattooed to their foreheads and put on FauxNews to explain their new body art.

They legalized gay marriage in Iowa and it’s right next door to Minnesota. WTF is up with these people? I’d say it’s about time that the “so called mainstream religious” folks started speaking out a bit more rigorously against this type of anti-hippy Jebus thinking so the atheists and rationalist community don’t have to do all the heavy lifting. So much focus on prosecuting the sexuality requirements of the Bible, yet so little interest in prosecuting usury? Whocouldanode?

I recently noticed where J.D. Byrider (sp?) as well as other “we-tote-the-note” car dealerships were being packaged by financial institutions just like all those crappy home loans were bundled and re-packaged. There are indeed billions to be made on high interest loans for used cars to desperate buyers at huge margins. It helps the bottom line that a lot of the buyers, already riding so close to the financial edge that they are buying from the only credit available source at all, will default and the car will be repossessed (Lizard Lick Towing anybody?) and resold to the next hapless client (victim). And I hear you can cash in on these things through the usual credit default swaps, blah, blah, blah. The stuff that caused the last meltdown and the banks were never required to fix. This is their second act against the citizens of the US. They’re righteously (indignantly?) pissed that their bonuses got limited to 150 thousand dollars this year. They’re looking for a way to get it back in another venue. You bitches have no idea how expensive those third vacation houses in southern France can be.

Enjoy.

For the record, there was no mention of homophobic Anoka-Hennapin MN “culture” on this weekend’s PHC. However, this was Pledge Week* for the DC NPR affiliate I listen to, and the programming was the usual pastiche specially produced for this situation: a mixture of popular bits from old programs interwoven with creative pleadings for pledges. If Keillor were to ever take on this issue, it would not be during a Pledge Week. [In an example of perfectly awful timing, the firing of Juan Williams by NPR took place just before such a PW, and I'm guessing the management of NPR is still nursing painful bruises over the ginned-up controversy that resulted.]

*These PWs seem (to me) to happen on a quarterly or bimonthly basis these days. Are they really only “a couple times a year”? {/curmudgeon mode}