Artie wants to be a self-fufilling prophecy....the next Belushi, Candy, Farley (fat guy dies young). He is whacked out about living past 42, the year his old man became a parapeligic. The Artie Lange story isn't going to end good.......the gambling, drugs, hookers are all downward spirals that he uses to fill the huge "hole" he has inside himself. No matter how much he indulges, the hole never gets filled.
I recently saw his "Beer League" movie and it was funny but a lot of the material is the same jokes/one liners from the daily radio show and he really just plays himself in the movie (drunken wannabe softball player from NJ).
Chris is right (as usual) that someone that wants to kill themself doesn't stab themself (guns, hanging, car in garage all have a higher success rate). Howard gets to thrive off this "drama" good or bad it is ratings gold. I think he cares about Artie but I think he is going to be done with the show for good (sleeping on air, physical fight with assistant on air, missing work are all signs he doesn't want the job or stress that comes with it).