Re: Paul Harvey, An Unapologetically "Ugly American"

Last week, upon hearing of the demise of Paul Harvey, the iconic righty/conservotard asshole broadcaster who expired on Feb 28, at the age of 90, I posted and distributed elsewhere an "obit" which some readers called 'ungenerous' and 'mean' (among the politer terms).

In it I exorcised my long-time and deep distaste (ok, loathing) for the man who was the 'prototype' of and inspiration for right-wing radio as it has metastasized into Rush, Hannity, O'Reilly, "Savage"/Weiner, "Dr." Laura, et al. Folks full of memories of riding to school in the car with their parents' listening to "The Rest Of The Story"--and therefore, almost by definition, too young and naive to tumble to Harvey's surreptitious, but none-the-less triumphalist fascism--reproved me for being impolite, uncivil, and too disrespectful of the dead when I proclaimed that death hadn't come a moment too soon to the chipmunk-eager, sharp-voiced, and frequently if not always mendacious pundit/proselytizer of Murkin Exceptionalism.

Then, this morning, whilst listening to FAIR's Counterspin, the hosts--who apparently had also been rebuked for being insufficiently honorific on the event of the slimy, sneaky little fascist fuck's expiration, referred to the following incident, back in 2005, when Harvey used his radio time to extol the all-American virtues of "slavery, genocide, biological warfare, and nuclear destruction" in the construction and maintenance of the Murkin nation. Here is a link to the media watchdog group FAIR's report on the screed at the time (July, 2005). Here's how they reported it:

Harvey's commentary began by lamenting the decline of American wartime aggression. "We're standing there dying, daring to do nothing decisive because we've declared ourselves to be better than our terrorist enemies--more moral, more civilized," he said. Drawing a contrast with what he cast as the praiseworthy nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II--a war which he conveniently avoided by being bat-shit crazy and collecting a Section 8 discharge--Harvey lamented that "we sent men with rifles into Afghanistan and Iraq and kept our best weapons in their silos"--suggesting that America should have used its nuclear arsenal in its invasions of both countries. Harvey concluded:

We didn't come this far because we're made of sugar candy. Once upon a time, we elbowed our way onto and across this continent by giving smallpox-infected blankets to Native Americans. That was biological warfare. And we used every other weapon we could get our hands on to grab this land from whomever.

And we grew prosperous. And yes, we greased the skids with the sweat of slaves. So it goes with most great nation-states, which--feeling guilty about their savage pasts--eventually civilize themselves out of business and wind up invaded and ultimately dominated by the lean, hungry up-and-coming who are not made of sugar candy.

Harvey's evident approval of slavery, genocide and nuclear and biological warfare would seem to put him at odds with Disney's family-friendly image. (Disney, Inc.) syndicates Harvey to more than 1,000 radio stations, where he reaches an estimated 18 million listeners. Disney recently signed a 10-year, $100 million contract with the 86-year-old Harvey.

This was not the firsst, nor the last time Harvey's rhetorical excesses marked him as a fool and a tool. He also railed against the people of New Orleans for their "inability" to rebuild speedily after Katrina, attributing it to their racial character.

So, no, I don't spologize for my characterization of him or for my glee at his past-timely passing. And the image of his corpse slowly dissolving to ooze is one in which I find some satisfaction. Eat shit and die, bubba. Good riddance!