So Many Morons, So Little Time

The Chicago Tribune reports today that Mike North, one of the most unlistenable personas in all of broadcast media, may move his show from the afternoons to the mornings come September. Big deal, right? Yeah, but he’s gonna change his format. Instead of just tasteless racial jokes, endless self promotion for his house, money and celebrity friends, 73 uses of the phrase, “let me say this” each hour, and, oh yeah, some sports, he’s gonna add a new topic.

Politics.

It seems WSCR will pair “Hot Dog Boy” with Rick Telander for the show. Now, Rick has a pedigree in writing and a degree from Northwestern. Hot Dog Boy knows that some people can write and he’s ridden the Northwestern train line. So how will Mike keep up? How will he prepare?

He’s been watching Don Imus on MSNBC.

Now, you may not like Mike Murphy and Fred Huebner. But at least they are sports fans that try to find a daily angle. North reaches for a least common denominator in listener. And adding politics to the mix? What’s next? Ditka for Senate?

And let’s not forget Carol Sleestak. In today’s Sun Times she goes after Pat Tillman and Tom Cruise. Cruise will present a tribute to Pat Tillman during this year’s ESPY Awards. Tillman quit the NFL, and millions on a contract, to join the Rangers and died from friendly fire in Afghanistan earlier this year. You remember Cruise, who in lieu of a box-office hit will happily reach millions of homes via ESPN. What does Carol the Hack say?

“Words I expect Cruise to use during the Tillman tribute: hero, courage, warrior.
Sentiments I don't expect Cruise to express during the Tillman tribute: unjust war, his poor widow, what was he thinking?”

Listen, Carol. I may not agree with the reasons for the war. I may not agree with the way in which it has been fought. But I understood what he was thinking quite clearly. Some very sick people have threatened our way of life. Some of us decided that the best way to ensure the safety of our families was to go kill them before they could kill us. Pat decided that he could better provide for his wife and family if he prevented those people from trying to kill them. Pat decided that keeping his family alive was worth more than a few million dollars.

Now, you and I may not have agreed with Pat on the potential danger his family faced. But if you don’t understand what he was thinking, spend some time talking to people who lost loved ones on 9/11. Talk to people who lost loved ones in Netanya, Israel. Talk to people who lost loved ones on the USS Cole. Talk to people who lost loved ones in Bali.

And don’t bash ESPN and Cruise for highlighting an example of courage and self-sacrifice. If there were fewer people like Pat Tillman, the Third Reich would rule the world and my ethnic group would be buried under the asphalt at Aushwitz-Gary, IN Division.