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January 6, 2006

Howard Stern, Censored Again Because of "Let Freedom Ring," The Dude's Mom is Worried About "Dancing With the Stars," and a Weekend Dilemma.

By: The Dude on the Right
I'm still a little perplexed as to when to write a blog, and when to do a podcast, mostly, because, in the grand scheme of things, the podcast is just so much simpler.  All I have to do is flip a switch, start a couple of programs, talk about what I'm thinking, and "Bam!!!", I'm done, other than getting things posted.  But sometimes I just seem to be in the mood to type, and this seems to be one of those times, especially adding links to things that I am writing about.  Anyway, let's go.

First off, and I guess I missed the bulk of the story when I was back in Ohio around Christmas, but I didn't realize Howard Stern created such a hubbabaloo with his latest billboard campaign until a few days ago.  It seems that Howard and the folks at Sirius Satellite Radio launched a billboard campaign with the tagline "Let freedom ring.  And let it be rung by a stripper." When I first heard the tagline I found it kind of funny, and thought to myself "Self, wasn't that in a Martina McBride song?  I remember that line from somewhere?"  And then it occurred to me, it was from the song "My Country 'Tis of Thee."  That doesn't seem to be where the controversy came from, though.  It seems Dr. Martin Luther King incorporated the phrase into his "I Have a Dream" speech, even referencing the song.  At least two billboards were put up along Chicago expressways, meant, pretty much, to try and catch the glimpse of those driving into downtown Chicago, probably on their way to work, stuck in traffic, and maybe create a smile in the heart of every dude and a little bit of disgust in the heart of every dudette.  Except, according to a Reverend in Chicago, the phrase "Let freedom ring" was made "popular" by Dr. King, and it is disrespectful to the African-American community to trivialize it, and since the billboard locations were in African-American communities, that made it even worse.

The protest wasn't started by the Reverend you might thing it would have been started by, namely Reverend Jesse Jackson, but by a Catholic Priest, Rev. Pfleger, who lost all respect by our own Stu Gotz when he threatened to leave the Church if he was transferred from his parish.  In any case, it seems the Reverend Pfleger got his wish, and both Viacom and Clear Channel bowed to his pressure and removed the ads after protest threats.  I hope Sirius got their money back.  But that isn't even my real problem with this.  My problem is that both the Reverend and, yes, Reverend Jesse Jackson did chime it later, made this thing about race and the location of the original billboard, when the billboard's location is meant for one thing, and one thing only - to catch the glimpse of those driving into Chicago on the Dan Ryan Expressway.  They use the fact that the billboard structure is located in an African American community as their sounding board, that somehow this ad is meant to trivialize Dr. Martin Luther King, and that's bad.  Had this ad been on a local billboard, at ground level in an African American community, I might, sort of, agree with their argument, but I have to wonder, if the first billboard got put up off of the Ronald Reagan Tollway here in Illinois, if they would have even noticed, or cared.

On a lighter note, my mother wonders about "Dancing With the Stars," and how did Jerry Rice and his partner get the score they got the other night.  Mom says, and I quote "what’s with Jerry Rice getting 3  7’s when actually all he did was move around while she did all the shaking and I mean SHAKING!!!!!!!!!"  I had to agree with my Mom, although I did admit to her that I was watching his partner a hell of a lot more than the greatest wide receiver ever in the NFL.  I really hope there isn't a fix.

Well, I've got to wrap up this blog and plan my weekend.  It's looking like I'll catch the movies "Match Point," where I'm bound to fall back in love with Scarlett Johansson, and either "Grandma's Boy" or "The Ringer" for me being of the easily amused and looking for something to be easily amused by.  And, oh yea, I have one more dilemma to work out this week, namely do I buy another Sirius receiver for my home or just listen to Howard in my car come Monday, January 9th, when freedom rings, and I, personally hope it will be rung by a stripper.  From the replay of the test show on Howard 100 today, there looks to be many a technical difficulty come Monday, enough which might actually make Howard's head explode.  I'm sure this would be much more entertaining on video, but even on the radio, I'm thinking Howard can still make that pretty funny.  But Johnny B. is back in Chicago, and I started here listening to him when I first arrived here back in 1985, even awakened one morning hearing our own Stu Gotz talking with Johnny about things and a bunny rabbit, and I have been listening to him since Howard has been off the air, and have found the Brandmeier-meister just as amusing in a different way.  I'm so torn.  I guess the weekend, and my compulsive disorder, will tell how this all works out.  I think I need a couple of TIVO's for my radio personalities now, but when would I listen to them when I'm still watching my replays of "Dancing With the Stars?"  I'm so screwed.

That's it for this one!  I'm The Dude on the Right!!  L8R!!!

Posted by Rightdude at 8:18 PM | Comments (0)