The Democrats have no tangible achievements to speak of as they campaign for the mid-terms. Hence, they focus on the symbolic and the intangible. They also resort to exaggeration.

The narrative they are pushing is that “democracy is in peril” unless they are re-elected.

This is disgraceful, but politicians will do anything they can to cling to power, and this is a display of desperation on the part of the Democrats.

Joining the Democrats are many, usually minor or faded, showbiz starlets who are probably hoping to gain pecuniarily by being most vocal about the Democrat talking points.

This too is most disgraceful, but that is how it is.

Now for Howard Stern.

Stern who once ironically called himself ‘King of All Media' gained fame and an equal amount of notoriety by being a pioneer of sorts on the radio.  He said what was never, ever said before.  He talked about his bathroom habits, his method of self-gratification, his sex life, his wife's miscarriage, his marital problems, his mental health and so much more. He broke many taboos by interviewing porn stars and sex workers.

Howard Stern (Photo by Gage Skidmore CC BY 2.0 license)

Sterns was unsparing in his derision of the pretenders and the pretentious.

He frequently played audio clips of film stars appearing on talk show where they amply demonstrated their lack of gravitas. He often scoffed at politicians for changing their colors like chameleons and spouting party talking points. He was also brutal in his assessment of the media in general, including the news media.

The establishment didn't take kindly to this.

The Federal Communications Commission fined owners of a radio station that carried The Howard Stern Show a total of $2.5 million for ‘inappropriate’ content.

His risqué content meant that he would never, ever be considered to be one of the elites, he would never receive flattering reviews in prestigious magazines, that there were few awards and in fact, ‘polite’ society scoffed at him.

This drove him crazier and he often rebelled without a cause.

Sick of being censored and fined, The Howard Stern Show moved to satellite radio.

Stern did some very insightful interviews with Larry David, Sting, Sylvester Stallone, Paul McCartney, Jerry Seinfeld, Francis Ford Coppola, and many more. This continues to be his USP.

Alas, the passion that once set the airwaves on fire is flickering like it may blow out any moment.

Stern was an equal opportunity offender in politics, never really taking sides.  During the 2016 Presidential election Stern supported Hillary Clinton but never really joined the irrational confederacy of Trump-hating 'comics'.  

The Howard Stern of the 80s would have supported Donald Trump’s candidacy and would have cheered him for being plainspoken and challenging the establishment.  In fact, Trump made many lively appearances on Stern’s show where Trump made ample demonstration of his aptitude for comedy and his ability to connect with regular people.

But during the 2016, campaign Stern never really spoke much about Trump. He could have re-released interviews of him with Trump where they engaged in locker room talk, but admirably he did not.

Perhaps it is natural to yearn for respectability after one has archived fame and money.

Stern had claimed to be the rebel, one expected him to show some spirit of individuality.  But things were changing.  Stern had made new inroads by developing friendships with the ‘elites’ in showbiz, the media, and politics and needed to prove his commitment to the ‘cause’.

When Trump was elected, Stern began making a demonstration of his loyalty to the establishment.  In 2019, Stern did a fawning interview with Hillary Clinton where Hillary blamed everyone from Bernie Sanders to Russian interference for her defeat in 2016 and was never challenged by Stern. Hillary's failures or corruption or demonizing of Bill’s victims never even received a perfunctory question. This was a PR exercise that was meant to appease the establishment and make Stern's membership possible.

This is the kind of interview he would have ruthlessly derided during the 80s.

Next Stern became an aggressive proponent of the COVID-19 vaccine. He even claimed that unvaccinated should be denied access to hospitals.

Speaking about the Mar-a-Lago raids by the FBI, Stern claimed that Trump was trying to hold onto top-secret papers to impress the Russians.  Stern claimed that Trump may sell the nuclear secrets of our Western allies to the likes of Russia and Saudi Arabia. He also branded Trump supporters as morons.

Stern recently erupted into a foul-mouthed rant  about the midterms.  His target was Hershel Walker, a self-made man who rose to the top playing sports, who has had great success in business, and who had done a lot for charity.

"Some of these candidates that people are actually — f---ing Herschel Walker. Holy f---, they’re saying he’s gonna win in Georgia. Are you f---ing dummies?"

"You know how they always talk about another Civil War? I think there is gonna be one. I mean, how could the f--- you elect that guy? You gotta be outta your f---ing skull."

"I gotta say, I mean, are you f---ing kidding me? I don’t care what party, what you believe, what you think would be good for America, would you really vote for this f---ing — I don’t know what the f--- he is. I was gonna say like ‘mental case,’ but I don’t even know if that’s fair to mental cases. I just don’t know,"

Finally, he parroted the Democrat campaign narrative.

"To me, there’s no more important issue on the table for these elections than saving democracy."

Stern is wealthy and will not suffer the consequences of Biden’s appalling misgovernance.

He won’t suffer due to inflation or sky-high gas prices. He won't suffer due to the crime wave or gun confiscation laws or defunding the police. He lives in an affluent localities that are adequately protected. He won't suffer unemployment or any other risk due to the influx of illegal migrants. He didn’t suffer due to the COVID-19 lockdowns.

Apparently, he never stepped out of his house for two years following the COVID-19 pandemic, which means he is both literally and metaphorically insulated from the outside world.

Stern was once a man of the people who connected with working-class people because of his ability to communicate and empathize. But now Stern is totally devoid of human consideration for those less fortunate, perhaps many among them were once his listeners.

But Stern doesn’t care, he made his money and no longer bothers to look back at the bridges he previously crossed that enabled his prosperity

It is said that those who claim to be rebels are actually brimming with bitterness and jealousy for being rejected by the elites; they disguise their resentment as wrath against the status quo and the establishment.

But once these ‘rebels’ are given entry into the club, they behave like recent converts to a cult; they become the most fanatic proponents of the groupthink and never leave an opportunity to prove their loyalty to the cause. 

Stern has now devolved into the force he once claimed to despise – an arrogant, entitled, insensitive lackey of the establishment and a disgraceful charlatan.