As shock jocks go, Howard Stern belongs in the pantheon. That said, I was never really a fan. There was a stretch of time, maybe the late 90s, when I occasionally listened to his show, primarily because that’s what was on, and I didn’t feel like changing the station. I do recall seeing his biopic, “Private Parts,” and finding it surprisingly good. But, to be honest, I haven’t thought about Stern in years.
So I found his recent denouncement of Congresswoman Lauren Boebert’s frisky theater escapade surprising on a couple of fronts: First, because I’d pretty much forgotten about him, but more importantly, because I’m now consumed with curiosity as to when the raunchiest of raunch monsters became The Church Lady. I did NOT have Howard Stern clutching his pearls over someone getting handsy in a theater on my Bingo card.
In fact, I’m going to go out on a limb and bet that no one did. Because his reaction is totally out of character for him — or at least the Stern of days gone by. That Stern would have been drooling over Boebert’s dress (or, rather, what it revealed), not condemning it. Which tells me everything I need to know about his branding Boebert “a disgrace” — that it’s pure politics.
Well, isn’t that special?
This “Moore to the Point” commentary aired on NewsTalkSTL on Wednesday, September 20. Audio included below.