HOWARD STERN:
Road-Kill on Bush Crusade To Christianize America? Or Will Stern Be the tipping point that sends Bush slithering back to Crawford
by Frank Pitz
Ever since Janet Jackson's boobilicious breast baring of Super Bowl Halftime fame the Christian Right wing nuts have been going ballistic. Not one to let a political opportunity slide by, Karl Rove and his boy in the White House - along with a few hand-picked moral nuts at the FCC - have ramped up the assault on the First Amendment by doling out exorbitant fines for "obscenity." Clear Channel Radio - one of the larger Bush contributors - joined hands with a vocal minority of Washington obscenities (known as lawmakers) and fired Stern. Stern is not folding his tent and going away quietly into the night. The campaign being mounted via his web
site - is drawing the attention of a vast, and diverse audience. Stern's attacks against Bush could have an effect at the polls in November, this given the fact that the overwhelming majority of Stern's reported eight million listeners are white males, and just happen to be part of that white voting bloc which is "cooling" towards Bush. The media pundits - and the Bush camp - tend to discount this as just so much rhetoric, but Governor Pataki, Christy Whitman, Rudy Guiliani, Arnold Schwarzenegger and other politicians know how much clout Stern can wield with the white male voting segment.
It may not be as large a group as those "NASCAR Dads," however it is a large enough crowd that if this Presidential race is as close as the polls suggest Bush might just find himself on the proverbial "shitty end of the stick." And that is one obscenity I would pay to see - or hear.
This rush to legislate morality - as we all know - is just one small part of the larger agenda to "Christianize" this country; (and in no small part the world) "one nation under God" and all that jazz. It is just one element of the right-wing crusade - both domestically and internationally - hatched by Bush's neocons and their Christian Taliban to place their God stamp on all policy emanating from Washington. Bush's waging war against the Muslim world - depending on one's view of history - could rightfully be called (a) either the 7th Crusade; or (b) the 13th Crusade. Since the cowboy from Crawford (or his neocons) have no clue about history, they most assuredly do not know that the crusades - no matter the number - failed. (Historians may fault me on that as most agree the First Crusade in 1096, launched by Pope Urban II was the most successful. It did establish the Latin Kingdom in the Middle East). Ironically enough, the Sixth Crusade of Frederick II in 1228 was a "moral crusade," and he had to settle for a negotiated settlement; what we are seeing in Iraq is like de'jà vu?
People went on crusades out of religious and moral convictions. Kings (as well as Presidents) viewed it as an opportunity for glory at home; as well as amassing
landholdings (oil?). Merchants perceived a chance for quick gain (Haliburton, et al?)
But the crusades failed, and according to historians what follows are but a few reasons:
"Poor tactics and strategy and the inability to adapt to military methods suitable from the region and the enemy. Lack of geographical knowledge, and never incorporating the allegiance of the local people." Perhaps someone needs to get George Bush to a history teacher?
Those leaders who waged the crusades recruited, or forced the "lower classes" into their scheme with promises of reduced taxes, education, and other benefits; sound familiar yet? As that great philosopher Yogi Berra once said: "de'jà vu all over again." There are no benefits Bush can offer to the well over 700 American men and women who have died for his crusade. And King George has as well, cut the benefits which the thousands of wounded - that our government keeps hidden away - would normally expect as they try to adjust to life as walking - or wheelchair bound - combat veterans. As the Kings of the past have failed, so also will King George, the tragedy of his folly is manifested in the death and destruction he is perpetrating upon the innocents he slaughters daily. Illegal crusades have never stood the test of time - or the people - and George W. Bush will reap also as he sows - to quote that Bible he is so seemingly fond of.
I'm not quite sure just how this piece segued from Howard Stern, and the First Amendment into a history lesson and an indictment of George Bush - but it has; and that's a writer's prerogative. This writer has lived long enough to see this great country survive the likes of Joe McCarthy, as well as J. Edgar Hoover and other tinhorn despots; the people of this nation eventually awaken from their stupor and take back the rule of law from the fascists. Come November, George W. Bush will be returned to that slime from which he oozed forth, I have faith in America.
Peace
Frank Pitz
Note: I wish to attribute some of the information on the Crusades comes from
Age of Faith - The Crusades at http://killeenroos.com
Frank Pitz fpitz(at)comcast.net is a 66 year old iconoclast, writer, poet, cynic - and on top of all that a Buddhist as well. He lives year-round in Pompano Beach, Florida, is an alumnus of the glorious "cut and paste" newspaper days - Lancaster Independent Press, has also worked for a living from bricklayer, to truckdriver to Housing and Urban Development Professional. He's a grant writer, and has been known to run a political campaign on occasion.More Articles on OpEdNews.com about Howard Stern
Payback: The Bush Connection to Clear Channel Firing Howard Stern ...
Fear Channel" and the FCC Silence Howard Stern's Anti-Bush Speech ...
The FCC's Indecency Witch Hunt; A Dangerous Threat to Free Speech
