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Path: utzoo!hoptoad!ihnp4!chinet!rhonda
From: rhonda@chinet.UUCP
Newsgroups: alt.flame
Subject: the Morton Downey show
Message-ID: <1747@chinet.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 20-Oct-87 13:10:13 EDT
Article-I.D.: chinet.1747
Posted: Tue Oct 20 13:10:13 1987
Date-Received: Thu, 22-Oct-87 05:32:35 EDT
Organization: Chinet, Chicago Ill.
Lines: 62
Summary: a flaming jerk worthy of alt.flame on "national" TV

I just finished watching the premiere of "The Morton Downey Show," a
"talk" show hosted by one of those flaming jerk hosts who is rude
and obnoxious to his guests, cutting them off at every opportunity,
calling them childish names, and other clever things.  The premiere
topic was women in pornography, and he had as guests people like Gloria
Leonard and other women in the pornography industry who don't buy into
the "women are exploited by porn" line.  He didn't let them get a word in
edgewise.  He practically refered to them as prostitutes, refused to let
them speak their piece.  When one of the women (I think it was Gloria
Leonard) mentioned that HE was the one exploiting women by having them
on his show only for the purpose of baiting and belittling them (not to
mention his remarks about how he wouldn't "let" his wife appear in porn!)
he responded that he didn't need them to get ratings (despite the full
page ad in TV Guide about women in porn on his show).  After a few more
extremely obnoxious abusive remarks by him, the woman walked off, giving
the finger to him as he continued his baiting remarks.  His closing
comment as she left with that gesture?  "She's letting us know her IQ
and the number of friends she has."  Obviously a real champ and a great wit.

I'm mentioning this first because it seems readers of alt.flame in
general might get a kick out of seeing this jerk.  (He appears on WWOR
which is a superstation available on many cable systems all over the
country and broadcast locally in the New York metropolitan area.)  But
the second reason I'm mentioning this is because I thought a specific
group of alt.flame readers, namely those people who think of the "writing"
of Matthew Wiener and Gene Ward Smith as an artistic apogee of cleverness
and creativity in the way they use four letter words and taunt people ad
nauseum, would think of this jerk as a hero while their One True God hides
out in exile, as his only begotten son (of a something or other) defends His
Holy Name along with other Brahms Gang groupies.  Perhaps this TV show can
serve as a substitute for the faithful as they wait for the Second Coming of
their Lord.  To be honest, I think this guy Downey is much better than
Matthew could ever dream of being, partially because I think he knows that
most people consider him self-parody.  Matthew was apparently never smart
enough to understand that part of his "appeal."  Then again, I just never
appreciated Matthew as a paragon of wit and wisdom.  I always thought
foulmouthed bullies who harrassed people with insult and innuendo were
just that, foulmouthed bullies, and nothing more.  I guess some people see
it very differently.  

I'm sorry, it just seems very funny to me that there are actually people who
see obnoxious behavior as "art" or "craft."  People who are members of a
nationwide Brahms Gang fan club.  (Do they sell buttons you can wear on your
jacket that squirt sulfuric acid into the face of anyone looking at them? :-) )
I mean, after all, we're talking about a guy who uses the net as a vehicle
to insult people he's never met just because he disagrees with them or
doesn't like them.  Not someone whose eloquent writing is being suppressed
by nasty people because his opinions are politically controversial or
anythying like that.  And we're talking about a guy who once threatened
someone else with exactly the same thing Maroney threatened him with,
a libel lawsuit, over what was apparently exactly the same sort of thing!
This makes him a bigger hypocrite than Maroney!  (I suppose that's saying
something, given some of the things Maroney has said lately about a lack of
"permission" to re-post already posted articles.)  While Maroney was a
hypocrite for trying to have someone's account trashed after his own was
trashed (despite the just cause in the case of Matthew), Wiener and Smith
denounce Maroney for daring to even think about a libel suit after Matthew
himself had done the same thing!  I'm sorry, people, these two guys are two of
a kind, and deserve the same treatment.  Matthew is no more of a "hero" than
Maroney is.  Unless you see being crass and obnoxious as a valiant cause
worth striving for.
								--Rhonda