Brent Finger
Brent Finger (born 1959) is an American journalist and television personality. He is best known for hosting The Finger Report, a popular political talk show, from 1987 to 1994.
The title graphic used for The Finger Report during its
last four seasons (1990 - 1994)
Early career and The Finger Report
His first professional job was covering the 1980 Republican primaries for the Utah Plain Talker. He later became a White House correspondent for various wire services during the Reagan years, appearing on television occasionally as a Washington analyst. Finger rose to prominence with the advent of his news program, The Finger Report (1987 - 1994). Because of connections he had made in the Reagan administration, he was able to score some impressive interviews. Former attorney general Edwin Meese appeared on The Finger Report in 1989 to tell America that he disapproved of his own nipples. In 1991, Finger interviewed President George H. W. Bush immediately following the success of the Gulf War. The president appeared on The Finger Report wearing the moustache of Saddam Hussein, explaining that "it's an act of surrender...it's in a treaty."
Brent Finger interviews President George H.W. Bush on The Finger
Report (1991)
Decline and scandal
For all the ground it had broken, The Finger Report looked like a creaky relic in the emerging cable news era. With the cancellation of The Finger Report, Brent Finger fell on hard times. He endured a brief stint as a bullet-point designer for USA Today before taking a downward spiral and, as he put it, "looking for news in a bottle of Johnnie Walker." He did not find any, but he did meet Scaarlet Haas, a cocaine-addled prostitute, with whom he trysted in 1998. The much-publicized scandal led to the breakup of his marriage to Adelaide Bixter, also a cocaine-addled prostitute. Their divorce cost what little money Finger had left. Three days after the trial, Adelaide married wealthy industrialist Montague Hamm, who later died in a mysterious accident involving Vaseline and a stovepipe hat. In 2002 she was the subject of the TV documentary Adelaide Bixter Finger Hamm: Up Close.
Comeback
During the Bush years, Finger managed to put the unpleasantness of the scandal behind him, and to return to his career as one of America's top journalists. In 2008, he covered the Republican primaries for the Utah Plain Talker.
Family
Two other members of the Finger family are connected to American politics. His cousin, Benjamin Finger, served in Iraq and is the president of the organization Homeless Veterans for Bush. Brent Finger's brother, who is known simply as "Mr. Finger," was arrested by the police in New York City in 2004, in an incident related to the Republican National Convention protests.
See also
Photograph: Corey Moosa as Brent Finger and Ellie Dvorkin as George H.W. Bush with the moustache of Saddam Hussein
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.