I am surprised more people are not a more concerned about the connection between the Bush administration, Clear Channel Radio and Howard Stern. This could possibly the most frightening example of a government using party-friendly corporations to squash dissenting opinions I have ever seen.

Bush, along with other investors purchased the Rangers MLB team. Bush’s investment was a little over $600,000. Tom Hicks then purchased the Rangers for $250 million. For his investment of $600,000, George W. made about 14 million on the transaction.

Tom Hicks is now the Vice Chairman of Clear Channel Radio. Clear Channel went from owning 36 radio stations in the pre 1996 Telecommunications Act deregulation era, to owning over 1200 now. From 36 (two below the legal limit at the time) to over 1200! On June 2nd 2003, Michael Powell, son of Secretary of State Colin Powell, and the FCC voted to further loosen media ownership rules. Thus, opening the door for Clear Channel to move into the television arena as well. I wonder if Clear Channel is appreciative to George Bush and Republican deregulation. And since Tom Hicks essentially made Mr. Bush a multi-millionaire, I wonder if George might do him a favor every now and again?

Only after he became critical of Bush and the FCC committee investigations into broadcast decency, in the wake of boobgate, was Stern kicked off of the Clear Channel network. The offending conversation that got Stern booted was from a caller that used the word “nigger.” Something that has happened on that show for ages (most of the time, the comments are directed at co-host Robin Quivers) and suddenly it is indecent enough to get him banned from the network.[hr]
Now, Stern is convinced, through FCC insiders, that fines are about to be levied against Infinity Broadcasting, a subsidiary of Viacom. According to Howard Stern, the last time that happened, while waiting for court proceedings, the FCC made it impossible for Infinity to do business. What used to take six weeks was now taking months. The same thing will happen again. When the FCC comes down with their fines, if Infinity wants to go to court, business will cease. Not only Infinity Broadcasting, but Viacom as well. Viacom owns such companies as the CBS networks and MTV. They will not take the chance on being in the sights of the FCC for the sake of Howard Stern and will be forced to fire him.

So let’s see if I have this correct. Have an audience and be overtly critical of the government, lose your job, or at least be beaten into impotency. On the grand scale our first amendment rights are non-existent. Doesn’t it scare people one little bit that one of the most important and basic freedoms we have is being trounced right in front of their faces. Freedoms that American soldiers are dying for right now? Do tax cuts mean that much? Do party hard-liners honestly; have no problem with this kind of thing from an elected government? Do they just chalk it up historical corruption, governments have been corrupt forever, and nothing is going to change that now? Am I just a fringe lunatic that thinks this is inherently wrong and dangerous? I don’t know anymore. It seems as if conservatives and the general public are content to let this blatant violation of the Constitution go unchecked, as long as it is their party doing the violating.

Howard Stern, you can love him or hate him. You can find him entertaining or a vulgar malcontent. But, what you should not be able to do, is shut him up and have him fired because you do not agree with what he says.

And yes, if a Democratic administration were doing this to Bill O’Reilly, I would scream the same thing.

Dean Creekmore dcreekmore@earthlink.net is currently employed in the television broadcasting industry outside of Los Angeles, in Orange County.

Payback: The Bush Connection to Clear Channel Firing Howard Stern; It's Worse than You Thought.
By Dean Creekmore OpEdNews.Com
http://www.opednews.com/creekmore030804_stern_clear_channel.htm

:clap: :clap: :clap:

Howard Stern, you can love him or hate him. You can find him entertaining or a vulgar malcontent. But, what you should not be able to do, is shut him up and have him fired because you do not agree with what he says.

And yes, if a Democratic administration were doing this to Bill O’Reilly, I would scream the same thing.http://www.opednews.com/creekmore030804_stern_clear_channel.htm

This is a crock of shit.

Anyone recall the glee these people showed when they got Dr. Laura pulled from the air because of "what she said" about gays?

The hypocrisy from the Left is deafening.

That about sums it up. Great article. Best I've read yet. I gotta send that to my dad. I explained to him what was going on and he couldn't believe it. As his girlfriend laughed in the backround over the phone that Howard Stern was going to be fired. Yeah, keep laughing genius. Laugh as free speech goes out the window.

This is a crock of shit.

Anyone recall the glee these people showed when they got Dr. Laura pulled from the air because of "what she said" about gays?

The hypocrisy from the Left is deafening.


Right on Fah Cue. And if I remember correctly, Howard was overjoyed when Dr. Laura was forced off the air.

Right on Fah Cue. And if I remember correctly, Howard was overjoyed when Dr. Laura was forced off the air.

He was, and for much the same reasons as his own current situation.

But he is such a fucking hypocrite that he won't acknowledge this, nor will his Lemming fans.

If they really believed this was a Free Speech issue and not merely a business decision, they would have protested the Dr. Laura firing but no, they disagreed with her views so she had to go.

How does that hypocrisy sandwich taste, Howard? Bet you can't order that on the menu at Nobu.

I've found that any opinions I have (that I've had for years) concerning Bush, the born agains, censorship, free speech, abortion rights, gay rights, etc aren't worth a shit any more. Though people know that I've always felt this way, they now lump me into so dumb ass howard stern category and assume that I'm some blind lemming that has these opinions just because Howard has voiced similar ones. When speaking up about any of this, it's all treated as some kind of goof.

I told my dad about the site being hit, and he told me that I better quit it. when I asked him what I better quit, he replied whatever your up to. talk about support. he'll be a great interview when I go to jail.

interviewer - Mutt Sr, did you know what your son was into?
Mutt Sr - I told him to quit it, but he wouldn't listen. He's been brainwashed by that Howard Stern.

I think the born agains have him too. it's like a fucked up cult with their evangelism classes. Any religion that tells you you have to go to special classes to learn how to convince people that they should drop their existing religion and join the new better one or suffer the conciseness is a cult plain and simple.

Yeah, Mutt, you have a self-pity party going on, but all that whining doesn't address the sheer hypocrisy of Howard's current "free speech" problems and the glee he and his fans showed when Dr. Laura was fired for saying what was on her mind.

Can't have it both ways, so which is it?

Why is it that when some of us aren't 100% behind Howard on this issue, we are lumped into the 'ultra-religous' fanatic group.

Clinton was filmed every Sunday going to church carrying a big bible in his hand. Not so with Bush.

There is a bit of hypocrisy going on when looking at the Dr. Laura discussion. In some ways it falls into the & then they came for me school of thought. I am not sure of the entire reason for Dr. Laura losing stations & will certainly not just take Fah Cue's word for what happened. Could someone provide more detail.

I do know that it is not exactly the same situation as Howard. I am reasonably certain that Dr. Laura was not forced out by the Govt. If I am correct Dr Laura's bosses succumbed to pressure from private citizen groups who were very vocal about their opposition to her comments. I don't beleive that the Govt or FCC got involved in her dispute. Her employers made a purely business decision based on avoiding a backlash from consumers. I also know that this decision was made at a time when her ratings were in decline. Viacom has faced similar threats from the right as long as Howard as been with them. Viacom chose to risk continued offense towards these groups because they felt the reward outweighd the risk. It was a pure business decsion based on Howards great ratings & ability to continue attracting clients. This is not the case anymore. Viacom is having their hands tied by the Govt. The Govt is shutting Howard down, not private citizens. That is, as Mutt, detailed in his posting, the scary part about this whole mess. And yes Mutt, it is damn fucking scary.

Dr Laura's TV show was canceled but her radio show wasn't. No one is trying to silence her. Just like before they canceled Oxy-head Limbaugh's TV show... they were airing it at like 3am anyways.

If I am correct Howard Stern's bosses succumbed to pressure from private citizen groups who were very vocal about their opposition to his comments.

If I am correct Howard Stern's bosses succumbed to pressure from private citizen groups who were very vocal about their opposition to his comments.

Too bad you're not correct.

If I am correct Howard Stern's bosses succumbed to pressure from private citizen groups who were very vocal about their opposition to his comments.

You are incorrect... Howard Stern's "bosses" we're called before the congress of the United States of America, and you may not know this, but the Congress is part of the government. They have been given an ultimatum that there is an effort to "clean up the airwaves" , but they have not defined what is considered to be clean. They have also taken steps increase the penalties for these infracions that they haven't defined. If you don't call that government pressure, you should hae your head examined.

Dr Laura's TV show was canceled but her radio show wasn't. No one is trying to silence her. Just like before they canceled Oxy-head Limbaugh's TV show... they were airing it at like 3am anyways.


Howards radio show, nor his TV show haven't been cancelled, either. And untill he is ever forced off the air by the government, you guys are all blowing smoke.

If I am correct Howard Stern's bosses succumbed to pressure from private citizen groups who were very vocal about their opposition to his comments.

Which private citizen group are you talking about...Congress or the FCC? As usual you are not correct.

Please cite for me the specific House or Senate Bill Number or Presidential Executive Order mandating the removal of Howard Stern from the airwaves.

I'll wait.

insert jeopardy theme song

Please cite for me the specific House or Senate Bill Number or Presidential Executive Order mandating the removal of Howard Stern from the airwaves.

I'll wait.


And you'll wait and wait and wait.

If this is some big Bush crusade to deny Howard his 1st amendmant rights, then surely the dems in Congress (who are anti-Bush themselves, and must be on Howards side since only the Republicans are the 'religious wacko's') would come to his defense. So far, I don't hear a big outrage from the dems in Congress.

First of all, Clear Channel is an evil company especially if you know how they use their radio station and their ownership of Ticketmaster to unduly influence music acts and bands.

However, this conspiracy theory has Clear Channel doing 2 favors to Bush for none in return. That doesnt make sense.

But then again people are basically stupid and gullible.

Which brings me to another point. Bush's detractors usually talk about how stupid and uneducated he is and that he is an idiot. But then again, the same people accuse him of all these elaborate plans to steal Iraq's oil, conspire with Clear Channel, the religious right, and the FCC to single out and destroy poor multi multi millionare Howard Stern, and to plot with all the CEO's to steal the rest of the money in the country.

Even the most evil criminals are usually really intelligent. So which one is it? As Democrats and liberals feel free to waffle back and forth.

First of all, Clear Channel is an evil company especially if you know how they use their radio station and their ownership of Ticketmaster to unduly influence music acts and bands.

However, this conspiracy theory has Clear Channel doing 2 favors to Bush for none in return. That doesnt make sense.

But then again people are basically stupid and gullible.

Which brings me to another point. Bush's detractors usually talk about how stupid and uneducated he is and that he is an idiot. But then again, the same people accuse him of all these elaborate plans to steal Iraq's oil, conspire with Clear Channel, the religious right, and the FCC to single out and destroy poor multi multi millionare Howard Stern, and to plot with all the CEO's to steal the rest of the money in the country.

Even the most evil criminals are usually really intelligent. So which one is it? As Democrats and liberals feel free to waffle back and forth.

I for one never thought Iraq was about oil. I remain convinced that the neo-cons like Wolfowitz truly believed that Sadam was evil & have made his removal an agenda since the days of Clinton, whom they also almost convinced to bomb Iraq. As far as an elaborate plan.....it isn't all that sophisticated. Send a message of support to Bush & the religious right by eliminating their relationship to enemy NO. 1 Howard Stern. You can't deny the relationship between clear channel & Bush. That is fairly well documented, but this is bigger than Howard. This is about the religious right taking control of our Country. Barry Goldwater said that the GOP would regret the welcom mat given to the fundamentalist Christians & I believe he will be proven correct.

Also, I doubt Bush is stupid. He instead has a very simplistic viewof the world. His world is very balck & white-clear definitions of good & evil. Jesus good-Howard evil. My inlaws are not dumb but they ahve the same views. I often sit back in amazement that a man as smart as my Father in Law in business can be so fcuking simple.

Corporations and State are one now. Free trade, NAFTA, GATT: If my company pays fifty cents an hour, doesn't worry about OSHA, min.wage, environmentalal issues,unions,overtime and workman's comp. why would I not move to the Phillipines? I'll pass laws encouraging that. If I stay here,I have to employ you jerk-offs $10/hour and the rest of the shit. GROW UP (it's over)