Howard Stern accused Secretary of State Colin Powell of getting his son hired as FCC chairman.

Powell's response: "...(T)his is all just so much nonsense."

The secretary refused to say anything personal about the person who made the accusation, when he gave an interview to Ron Insana of CNBC.

Elsewhere, the reviews of the Howard Stern-Michael Powell radio debate (where the nepotism allegations were front and center) are decidedly mixed. This from Alan Sniffen, who runs the New York Radio Message Board:

I've now listened to Howard Stern's attempted ambush of Michael Powell several times and it is clear that Stern is so much less than he thinks he is. He blew this one big time and, to be fair, when it comes to self promotion he rarely blows it.

I think his biggest error was in thinking that the whole broadcast world works like his show does...The level playing field of being on someone else's show turned Stern into a frustrated caller with an agenda.

Without Robin clapping and his staff heaping accolades on him, his charges of nepotism and lack of qualifications were so thorougly countered by Powell's responses that Stern had no where to go but waffle around about how he was the victim of a conspiracy.

It might not have been that one-sided (Powell didn't "thoroughly counter" as much as he simply "denied" nepotism charges). It was interesting radio but, like political debate these days, don't count on it having changed any minds.