I've never been a Howard Stern listener. I may have missed my chance.

I tuned in on a lark this morning to see if I could catch one of the anti-Bush rants I've been hearing about -- and heard a glum Stern talking about the indecency bill working its way through Congress, which sets him up for a fine of $500,000 per ill-defined offense, to the point of suggesting -- I don't know how seriously -- that if Dubya signs the bill, he just won't show up for work. (Next stop: satellite radio, with a possible side trip through the internet, with some minor complications because he is, well ahem, under contract to his current employer).

Fun fact: Howard Stern paved the way for talk-radio folks like Rush Limbaugh giving their opinions on the radio. He also put himself in the tradition of Edward R. Murrow, who brought down Joe McCarthy, though apparently without putting opinions on the air like Rush Limbaugh and Howard Stern. To be fair, the comparison isn't as outlandish as I first took it for -- he had a legitimate point about McCarthy, like our current crop of bluenoses, going after the entertainment industry.

He explained this for a while. Then he invited a guest into the studio to try to pick the straight guy from a trio in which two were gay, and gave a detailed critique of her breasts. He's not gone yet.

You know, it doesn't sound like he's been reading blogs much...