Reno hits Florida campaign; stops with actor Martin Sheen [Megabarf]

South Florida Sun-Sentinel ^ | 06/08/02 | ADRIAN SAINZ

[JulieRNR21]

Found this in today's Sarasota Herald Tribune. When the liberal SH*T prints something like this....the RATs are definitely in trouble!

Article published Jun 10, 2002
PROMOTING JERRY SPRINGER Are Democrats this hard up?

The last time I saw Jerry Springer in action, he was standing outside a bookstore in downtown Sarasota on a Sunday afternoon, smiling and chatting with several well-dressed couples who appeared to be admirers.

The scene was quite demure and civilized -- no eye gouging, hair pulling or chair chucking -- but I shielded my little girl's eyes and scurried past them just the same. She's only 3. There will be world enough, and time, for freak shows. But not just yet.

I haven't tuned into Springer's program in a long, long time. I was never a regular viewer -- I always preferred the bathos of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker (before the fall), the ramblings of the cigar-chomping Rev. Gene Scott, and the woo-woo weirdness of "The 700 Club" -- but I did pause the remote control now and then to see Jerry's circus.

I mean, who can resist sampling "My Geometry Teacher Trapped Me in An Isosceles Love Triangle" or "I'm Sleeping With the Pool Boy, Who Turned Out to be the Boyfriend of My Husband's Girlfriend's Other Lover's Mistress"? (OK, so I made those up. But you know I didn't have to.)

After a few viewings, though, the unpredictability of his show became rather predictable. Springer, try as he might, just wasn't showing me anything new under the sun.

The show eventually turned me off in a different way. It disturbed me. It made me sad. The more I surfed in by remote control, the clearer it became that Springer was exploiting people for fun and profit, just as Jim and Tammy Faye were. Under the pretense of bringing people together to talk about their problems and maybe solve them, Springer and his staff were stirring their guests -- and the audience -- into a mindless, destructive frenzy.

This exploitation was never more apparent than in the case of Sarasota's Nancy Campbell, who was lured onto Springer's show thinking she was going to make peace with her ex-husband Ralf Panitz. Instead, she found Panitz and his new wife, Eleanor, delivering the news that they wanted her out of their lives for good.

Just hours after the show aired, Campbell was beaten to death. Panitz is now serving life in prison. Eleanor still maintains his innocence. And Springer? Well, he's still in the center ring, smiling and chatting with well-heeled admirers.

A couple of weeks ago, Springer joined Florida Democratic Party Executive Ana Cruz and others as the guest of honor at a dinner at the home of Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth. Springer, we're told, wants to "give back" to his adopted state of Florida by helping focus attention -- and maybe shower some money -- on problems like the high-school dropout rate.

Butterworth, who's been rather aggressive in protecting Floridians from fraud, startled me with his effusive praise of Springer.

"He's tried to be as careful as possible on his show," the attorney general said. "Obviously, certain things have happened. It's a different type of show."

Butterworth went on to explain that Springer is an actor "no different than Dustin Hoffman." He's just performing, Butterworth said. "That's his job, and he does it very well."

Dustin Hoffman? Tell us you're kidding, Bob.

Is the Florida Democratic Party so desperate for campaign cash that Bob Butterworth has to butter up Jerry Springer?

Is the party worried it's losing the "My Girlfriend's Two-timing Me with My 18-Year-old Daughter's Ex-Boyfriend" vote?

Jerry Springer certainly knows how to write a check. And there are plenty of charities in Florida ready to accept one.

But spare us the tributes, please. Spare us the rationalizations. Spare us the image rehab. The man trafficks in human misery, plain and simple. If he were to appear on one of his own theme shows, it would be titled, "People Who Got Stinking Rich Doing Little or Nothing Worthwhile."

Daryl Lease is an editorial writer for the Herald Tribune. E-mail: daryl.lease@heraldtribune.com.