No holiday humor in radio pair’s jollies over degrading homeless

No holiday humor in radio pair’s jollies over degrading homeless
By Michele McPhee/ The Beat
Boston Herald Police Bureau Chief
Monday, December 18, 2006 - Updated: 01:19 PM EST

Some people may have giggled at the idea of a gaggle of homeless men taking over the upscale Short Hills Mall in New Jersey, a stunt staged by radio shock jocks Opie and Anthony and heard by WBCN [website] listeners all weekend. It was tantamount to bringing a bus filled with the bedraggled from Boston Common to sit on Santa’s lap at the Chestnut Hill Mall.
“This so-called ‘shopping spree’ is a sick and twisted exercise that degrades the most vulnerable members of our society. This is an outrage. This is wrong, and we need the public and our partners who care about the homeless and about basic human decency to stand up and tell them so,” Menino said, adding that the broadcast came on the same day that the city began counting the Hub’s homeless.
“The homeless people who will be used for this event are human beings who may have been struggling for years with the adversity and problems that come with alcoholism and addictions, or with mental illness and other disabilities,” Menino said.
“The fact that WBCN has chosen the homeless and the holidays to present this humiliating and shameful attempt at humor is inhumane and shameful.”
Of course, Menino has his own problems with the shock jocks.
The pair was already infamous for inhumane behavior - such as airing a couple having sex inside St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, enraging Catholics nationwide.
But no prank is worse than the one they pulled on April Fool’s Day in 1998, the one that got the duo fired by WAAF [website].
They went on the air and told listeners that Menino had been killed in a car crash, terrifying his wife, children, grandchildren and loved ones.
Call me humorless, but who could find that funny? Apparently, a lot of people, because the two knuckleheads moved to New York and their show became syndicated.
In this weekend’s highly publicized trip, “homeless and lunatics” were brought to the fancy mall in New Jersey and treated to Christmas presents, makeovers - and booze.
And there were girls - I’m certain they were decked out in $200 Juicy sweatpants and armed with their daddy’s Amex cards - who called the show to complain that Opie and Anthony were ruining their shopping experiences.
They were called over-privileged “whores” on the air.
And all this Christmas cheer comes just days before National Homeless Persons Memorial Day.
OK, maybe creating a memorial day to the country’s homeless population is a bit too crunchy granola, but I’m also opposed to using down-on-their luck folks who could be mentally ill, or desperate alcoholics for financial gain.
Remember “Bum Fights” - those atrocious videos that show teenage punks beating up homeless people and then urinating on them? Those uplifting clips provoked the beatings of at least a half-dozen homeless people across the country.
At least the homeless brought to the Short Hills Mall got a few beers, pictures with Santa and maybe even some Gap sweatshirts, rather than a beating.
And then they were dropped off back on the streets they were rousted from in the name of fun.