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For better or for worse, Howard Stern has been one of the most influential figures in American culture for the past 15 years. Each day, more people listen to his show than watch Leno, Letterman, Conan and Kimmel combined. A lot of shows, especially reality shows, had their roots, explicitly or implicily, on his show.
A former Libertarian candidate for governor of New York, Stern has had an influence in politics. He has been credited with helping the following politicians get elected/re-elected: Al d'Amato, George Pataki and Christy Todd Whitman. Whitman even fulfilled a campaign promise to Stern, naming a rest stop along the Jersey pike after Stern. He also helped the following politicians get defeated: Mario Cuomo and David Dinkins.
Stern has been a major hawk since 9/11. Were he President, the entire Middle East would have been a mushroom cloud on 9/12. He has been supportive of Bush and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The day before Clear Channel took action, however, he announced he was now supporting ABB, anybody but Bush. He extensively praised Al Franken's book, despite the fact that on the first couple of pages, Franken takes a few shots at Stern himself. Stern has been critical of W's ties to the Radical Religious Right, especially about his policies on abortion, stem cell research and gay marriage. He has recently been critical of corruption in the Bush administration, from Halliburton to Cheney's playing golf with Scalia who is refusing to recuse himself form ruling on Cheney's cases. The recent FCC hearings regarding the Janet Jackson boob exposure tilted the scale. Stern has spoken highly of Kerry, and now says he'll support Kerry assuming he is the Dem nominee.
Maybe Stern's change of heart and Clear Channel's decision to FINALLY take action against him is coeincedence. Maybe not. It definitely makes one wonder...
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