I went to high school with and was pretty good friends with Aaron McGruder’s brother. Aaron and I were never great friends, but I’m quite sure he’d remember me.
I’m mostly just surprised to see him on that list.
I helped Bill Moyers (34) find a bathroom once. (He was visiting my college.)
Bernie Goldberg is an idiot. I saw the Stewart interview, and Stewart did indeed tear him to pieces. I mean, I’m not a big Courtney Love fan, but how in hades is she “Screwing up America?” Jane Smiley? Jimmy Carter? Whaaa?
I met #37 at a fundraiser for Kerry in Mpls. He’s a nice guy.
What’s the deal with Barbara Kingsolver? 
Come to think of it, I’ve spoken to him, too. (Although again, he wouldn’t know who I am.) He was nice, although he did shoot me down at a Q&A.
Is Howard Stern one? I wrote a letter to him once.
I met Gloria Steinem at a book signing and political rally. She did a lot to unscrew my life. I’ve been in the room with Ted Kennedy, but not met him. I shook hands with Bobby. I’ve met Rose Kennedy, Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Sargent Shriver.
Shirley Franklin is my newest hero after hearing her speak at Mrs. King’s funeral (though not in person).
This inclusion from Goldberg’s book just wiped me away. This person is screwing up the country?:
On rereading, I think I see why Goldberg included her if he really believes that the money goes to anti-Irael projects. Since the Ford Foundation is anti-war, we might differ about what is actually anti-Irael.
Goldberg didn’t like The Vagina Monologues? Surprising. (Exit grinning)
No Rush? No Dr. Laura?
#62 (the complete list is in the Wikipedia link).
We are talking about Bernie Goldberg here, remember? The guy’s a wanna-be right-wing shill who wishes he was as famous as the other right-wing shills who eclipse him.
I don’t know Robert Byrd personally, but I did write him a letter to thank him for the honors scholarship with his name on it, and he wrote me back.
I hate the KKK past, but I think he’s atoned for it.
I have known some scummy politicians personally, though I don’t know anyone else on that list. I do recognize most of the names.
I could find only a half-dozen conservative names on the list (and that’s including Ken Lay and Dennis Kozloski as conservatives). There were that many liberals in the top 10.
So it’s ‘balanced’ the way Fox News is ‘fair and balanced.’
Mostly, it’s just ridiculous. #1 Michael Moore’s a polemicist with a middlin’ amount of influence on public opinion. #2 Arthur Sulzberger is turning a great newspaper into one of erratic quality; I guess he should be on the list somewhere. #3 Ted Kennedy, as a U.S. Senator, actually has some clout, but as a member of the minority party, it’s rather circumscribed. #4 Jesse Jackson is a has-been; he had real influence 20 years ago, but not now. And so it goes.
If nobody’s screwing up America any more than these guys are, then we’re in the Golden Age.
I don’t know any of them personally. I emailed Wolcott once but didn’t get a reply, I’ve posted to threads at Daily Kos that Markos started, I was in the room along with 100+ others when Carter gave a speech at my college in the fall of 1975, and one of my closest friends had Chomsky on her dissertation committee when she got her Ph.D. in linguistics from MIT.
I’m really disappointed that I still haven’t made that list. Jimmy Carter’s the only person I’ve met on that list. I was an honorary page at the capital when he was governor of Georgia. I didn’t care for him much as governor, but didn’t know much about politics at the time. Also saw him speak as a former president.
There are a lot of people on that list I’ve never heard of… and I can name 5-10 people in the current administration doing more damage than any of the ones on that list.
I once met Gloria Steinem at a reception, and she gave me advice on getting a job in journalism.
He attended Georgia Tech, but he received his B.S. degree from the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis.
Karen Hughes
Alberto Gonzales
Paul Wolfowitz
Donald Rumsfeld
Condoleeza Rice
Dick Cheney (one shot at a time)
Karl Rove
That’s a good start.
Goddamn it, Matthew Lekso! (#99) Stop destroying America with your crazy suits, out of control eyebrows and hair, and your fake get-rich-off-of-government-programs-that-you-probably-aren’t-eligible-for schemes! Stop distracting people from the true path, as practiced by Tommy Vu, to get prime real estate with no money down.
beckwall beat me to it, but what’s the deal with Kingsolver? Why would she be on the list?
She snubbed Goldberg for a date once?
I heard him on the radio. He said he was liberal his whole life, but feels that the Democrat party has abandoned people who disagree, but don’t hate, Geroge W. Bush.
He said the other day that he told someone, “Well, say what you will about his policies, but Bush is a decent person.”
The replied, “Are you kidding? He’s evil.”
He feels what used to be extreme left-wing views are now the mainstream.
He seemed very reasonable and actually quite correct on the radio. I haven’t read the book, though.
When asked why so many liberals are on the list, he said they are just dropping the ball. If he made the list 20 years ago, it would have had mostly Repubilcans.
I saw this book at the library, checked it out, and read it.
One can agree, disagree, or care less about Michael Moore. Michael Moore makes movies. Still, the person who is making a child porn film is doing far more real damage to America than Michael Moore.