WHO IS IN THE FAB FIVE OF JERKS? VOTE HERE!!!

[Texecution]

Oh my God.
I can't believe I missed it...

John Lydon.

[Spoony]

I would say Dave Berry is a nice guy who is unfunny, except he's been married maybe eight times now.

In Jeremy Piven's defense, I met him once, and he was a real sweetheart. I was the goon in that interaction, but he rose above it and came out the better man.

Let's put me on the list. Spoony is a jerk.

[dave from knoxville]

Michael Moore is also a supreme jerk. He's on my fab five of jerks list.

False.

Dittos, Omar-bo!

[Pete Velcro]

Matt Taibbi is a jerk on the Bill Maher show. He obviously got all A's in Harvard or wherever, but he insists on writing and speaking like a commoner--lots of awkward cursing.

I also think that Jack Cafferty is a jerk on CNN, not because he's mean or stupid, but because he's been reduced to reciting emails for a living and because he gives off such a defeated vibe.

[JP]

Philip DeFranco has changed my life for the better/worse.  He's Dane cook jr.

[jbissell]

Tyra Banks is pretty much the height of the self-important, blowhard jerk these days.

[Stupornaut]

Matt Taibbi is a jerk on the Bill Maher show. He obviously got all A's in Harvard or wherever, but he insists on writing and speaking like a commoner--lots of awkward cursing.

What about Mark Ames, that other guy from that Russian newspaper he wrote for? I remember this hamfisted, rage-filled article he wrote for the New York Press, the gist of which was "Chuck Klosterman is an ass-face! He has a face like an ass!" and I actually found myself in the inexplicable position of feeling sorry for Klosterman. Also according to Wikipedia, Ames wrote a book claiming that school shootings are actually acts of political insurgency. I think he's one of those Vincent Gallo-type "edgy" conservatives.

Also, I don't care if King Khan thinks he's cool and he's DJed the WFMU record fair or whatever: Tim Warren and his "everything that is not garage punk should be destroyed" fanaticism is pure 100% jerk caliber.

[Bryan]

I don't know about Mark Ames' defence of school shootings, but I fully suuport his Klosterman character assassination. From Ames' political writing, I've never gotten the sense that he's any kind of conservative. He wrote a lengthy essay in 2004 (I think) on what he called "Spite Politics" which was a nasty critique of contemporary conservative politics in the USA.

[Stupornaut]

I don't know about Mark Ames' defence of school shootings, but I fully suuport his Klosterman character assassination. From Ames' political writing, I've never gotten the sense that he's any kind of conservative. He wrote a lengthy essay in 2004 (I think) on what he called "Spite Politics" which was a nasty critique of contemporary conservative politics in the USA.

Ah, OK. I just saw a couple of those Wikipedia quotes when I set about trying to remember his name and got the wrong impression about his politics. I'm not a big fan of Klosterman's writing either, mostly because I live in perpetual fear that I will wake up one morning and realize I have somehow, on some Gregor Samsa shit, actually become him, but the "ass-faced child molester" stuff is kinda unnecessary.

[Bryan]

the "ass-faced child molester" stuff is kinda unnecessary.

You're 100% right. He's probably just trying to be "gonzo" or something.

[Matt]

I'd like to write in Anton Newcombe if I could. Anytime you go to a BJM concert, you risk getting kicked in the face. What's more jerky than that? And that scene in Dig! where everyone's dicking around on sitars - skin-crawling.

Not to mention his music's terrible.

[jamesp]

So I was listening to Tuesday's show while unpacking my apartment and laughing out loud at the Fab-Five of Jerks (or the Traveling Wilbury's of Jerks) when somebody called in about Philip DeFranco. Based on Tom's reaction I HAD to see a video of this guy.
I watched this one: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8gjTKB_aVg[/youtube]

I was not prepared for it. He's the kind of bad where you don't even know how to explain it. How is he awful? I can't even try to summarize it. There's no way. It's almost like the belief in God. There's no way explaining how you have faith, it's just that you do. Accordingly, there's no way to explain how awful he is you just have to watch it. I think Philip DeFranco is the Jesus of jerks.

He even ended it by saying "...and you've just been 'Philled' in." Amazing.

You're a lot braver than I am. I can't get past 40 seconds without pulling out my hair.

[jamesp]

Penn Jillette is a total blowhard, and I think he plays it up, but I like it when he goes after pseudoscience and quacks and feng shui and whatnot.  It'll take a lot of jerkiness to overcome the bottled water episode of Bullshit, and however flawed that show has been (particularly when they delve into political or value-based judgements instead of unmasking fraud), they plan to devote an entire episode to errors they have made in the course of the series-- admirable intellectual honesty.

But, I prefer my magicians more arcane and scholarly like Ricky Jay, and not all in your face.  Never trust a man whose favorite band is the Residents.

ugh shit show makes me so angry. it's just so crass and condescending and annoying.

I agree. I also feel like they've had some pretty dumb arguments. They didn't believe second hand smoke was harmful. I believe they were global warming skeptics too.

[iAmBaronVonTito]

I'd like to write in Anton Newcombe if I could. Anytime you go to a BJM concert, you risk getting kicked in the face. What's more jerky than that? And that scene in Dig! where everyone's dicking around on sitars - skin-crawling.

Not to mention his music's terrible.

i second this anton nomination, ten fold.


as for klosterman, i cant stand him (he makes me grind my teeth) but i felt sorry as well.  i can appreciate his existance if only for the hope of meeting him at a party so i can spend the entire nite arguing.

[jamesp]

Matt Taibbi is a jerk on the Bill Maher show. He obviously got all A's in Harvard or wherever, but he insists on writing and speaking like a commoner--lots of awkward cursing.

I can't even read a sentence of his stuff without becoming infuriated. He just drops fuck into a sentence randomly and it takes away ANY credibility.

I like Klosterman. His voice is annoying (I heard him on a podcast with The Sports Guy - Bill Simmons once) but he's still a fun read.