Burning Bush

Illustration by Bob AulCaving to pressure from Republicans exercised about obscenity, radio conglomerate Clear Channel pulled The Howard Stern Showfrom several stations across the country last week. On Feb. 26, Stern declared that he had changed his mind about the president he once proudly backed. "This regime—and I will now call it a regime—has gotten absolutely bizarre. Between Ashcroft and Cheney . . . and their puppet Bush and Powell and his son [FCC chairman Michael Powell] . . . I mean, this has gone berserk. I mean, I'll be off the air, and I won't be able to talk to you about it anymore, but, listen, it's bad. This is the most unbelievable thing, what's going on, where people are being thrown off the air without a trial. . . . These fascist, right-wing a-holes are getting so much freaking power, you gotta take back the country. [Those are] my last words to you. I don't know how many more days I have [left] on the air."