Howard Stern

After the Parents Television Council (PTC) denounced NBC's appointment of shock jock Howard Stern as a judge on "America's Got Talent," Stern issued his response on Thursday's Piers Morgan Tonight.

"I guess they get their printer out and they make a letterhead and they start to complain that I'm some sort of weird pervert who's going to convert Americans into some kind of zombie sex fiends," Stern mocked the PTC. The ever-controversial entertainer assured viewers that he would be a "good judge" on NBC's prime-time performance show. [Video below the break. Click here for audio.]
 

It's hard to imagine a scenario where one would be sympathetic toward former "dean of the White House press corps" Helen Thomas following her videotaped remarks that Israeli Jews "should get the hell out of Palestine" and go back to Germany or Poland.

However, in a June 7 column on Salon.com, Anna Clark wrote that Thomas deserved leeway, since some talk radio personalities say "controversial, even despicable comments," but manage to keep their jobs.

"I don't like how Thomas voiced her opinions in this video; it was sloppy and hurtful," Clark wrote. "But her views aren't exactly news; the gist of them are evident from her past columns. Meanwhile, Thomas joins a long line of opinion-makers who have uttered controversial, even despicable comments. Rush Limbaugh, anyone? Glenn Beck? Howard Stern? Sean Hannity?"

Fox is having its usual smash with "American Idol," with this season’s latest offering beating the Winter Olympics in the ratings. Paula Abdul walked off in a money dispute, Ellen De Generes is unexpectedly flat, and the show overall is starting to sag, but it’s still just about the best thing on TV. Now there’s a buzz about the best judge, Simon Cowell, leaving after this season.

Cowell is constantly booed and attacked as the nasty judge, the one who crushes young singers’ dreams his patented cutting remarks. It’s also true that he is painfully honest.

Almost every "Idol" watcher looks forward to hearing Simon offer those blunt and honest opinions every bit as much – or even more than – the actual performances. The other night, he responded to boos after one stinging analysis by shooting back at the audience, "I’m only saying what you’re thinking." That’s instantly a classic line, and very true.

It’s common now to hear viewers suggest they might just stop watching the show once Simon is gone, that the quality of the judging just will not be the same. That is definitely true if one believes the rumors circulating about the sewer where Fox is fishing for Simon Cowell replacements.

Fox's family-friendly "American Idol" is headed down the tubes if Howard Stern and Perez Hilton have anything to do with it.

Stern, while now on XM Sirius Satellite Radio, dominated the public airwaves for more than 20 years as a shock jock. Regular discussions on his show revolved around celebrities' sexual proclivities, complete with explicit language. Strippers and porn stars were regular guests. As of 2005, the FCC had fined him more than any other radio broadcaster to the tune $2.5 million. He migrated to satellite radio to escape FCC rules.

Gossip blogger Hilton built his career by enhancing paparazzi shots of celebrities with crude white drawings of genitalia and bodily fluids and posting them on his site, PerezHilton.com, and outing gay celebrities. He injected politics into the Miss USA pageant last spring as a judge when he asked about same-sex marriage. He continually harassed former Miss California Carrie Prejean on his Web site after she expressed a belief in the traditional view of marriage in response to his question.  

After "Idol" judge Simon Cowell, known for his brutal honesty, announced on Jan. 11 that this would be his last season as part of the wildly popular singing competition, Stern and Hilton both pitched themselves as his replacement, and entertainment journalists applauded. 

Norah O'Donnell just can't stop condescending to supporters of Sarah Palin.  Appearing on Morning Joe today, the MSNBC correspondent rehashed a line she has used before: that fans of Sarah Palin are just too darn busy to know what's happening in the world.  According to O'Donnell, Sarah supporters don't have "30 minutes to an hour to read the newspaper."

As I reported here, O'Donnell sounded the same theme a couple weeks ago, when interviewing Palin fans waiting on line at a book-signing in Michigan.  By coincidence, Jackie Seal, a high school senior and Palin supporter whom Norah had ambushed with some prepared notes, was a guest last night on Right Angle, the local TV show this NewsBuster hosts.  We discussed O'Donnell's condescension, Jackie making the point that most supporters are well-informed about Palin's positions.

View the Right Angle segment after the break.

When O'Donnell began dispensing her slur on Sarah supporters, Mika Brzezinski tried to warn her of the reaction sure to come . .  .

Chris Matthews, on Monday's "Hardball," threw out a couple of crazy comparisons as he likened the socially conservative Sarah Palin to shock jock Howard Stern and the rakish Bill Clinton to God. First up, in his "Hardball Sideshow" segment, Matthews claimed the reason the former Alaska governor was so popular on the lecture circuit is because, "just like Howard Stern the reason people will pay to hear her is that they have no idea what she's gonna say next." However Matthews outdid himself, just a little later, as he declared listening to Clinton's strategic advice for Democrats on passing health care reform was like hearing, "The Voice of God." [audio available here]

The following Matthews observations were made on the August 31, edition of "Hardball":

Times have been tough financially for media companies across the board and satellite radio has been no exception.

On Aug. 6, Sirius XM Radio (NASDAQ:SIRI) posted a second-quarter loss and the company hasn't lived up to expectations after Sirius and XM completed a merger a little over a year ago. According to "CNBC Reports" host Dennis Kneale, part of the satellite radio's problem is shock jock Howard Stern's compensation and the company's debt.

"I feel so, bad - there's, being run by one of what I think is the best executives in media, Mel Karmazin, a great salesman," Kneale said on CNBC's Aug. 6 "Power Lunch." "But in the end, does it turn out they just overpaid for Howard Stern and they have too much debt? I wonder if John Malone bailed them out temporarily hoping that they kind of go belly-up so they can get a hold of those assets really cheap."

Although I imagine most conservatives aren't fans of radio shock jock Howard Stern, the following must-see video (must-hear audio, really!) exposes the dirty little secret about why so many folks are supporting Barack Obama (hint -- it has NOTHING to do with his policy positions, h/t Larwyn):