Great sadness came with Rush Limbaugh's announcement that he needed to take a break from his wildly successful radio career to conquer a prescription-drug addiction. Few things can be more humiliating than to have to admit in front of an entire nation, that you are ... a junkie. And yet that's exactly what Rush did - with no excuses. Humiliating, maybe. But also highly courageous. From coast to coast, the Limbaugh Nation is hoping and praying that after taking 30 days off for rehabilitation, he'll be bouncing back, liberated from his demons, sharper and happier. A few hours after Rush... continue reading
Arnold won and Davis lost, as did Bustamante, as did Huffington. But no one was more rejected in this 61 percent Republican tidal wave in an overwhelming Democratic state than the liberal press. Consider the media recalled. From the first signatures on recall petitions, the press was huffing and puffing with hysteria. Newsweek said the state "was in thrall to an earnest crank...in the grip of what can only be described as a civic crackup." The New York Times called it a "throbbing political hangover." Peter Jennings warned "the recall is on the verge of unleashing a political tempest. Some... continue reading
Talk radio used to be a forum for public service. Now, too often in America, talk radio is a forum designed to turn men on with a level of sexual raunch unimagined 15 years ago. In the increasingly daring attempts to shock and titillate, the only obstacle is public protest, and the only agency to address those protests is the Federal Communications Commission, a bureaucratic dinosaur that crawls at a glacial pace. On October 2, more than 13 months after shock jocks "Opie and Anthony" were fired by Infinity Radio, the FCC finally found that a radio show encouraging sex... continue reading
The media frenzy that pressed Rush Limbaugh's resignation from ESPN's NFL pregame show has been amazingly intense when compared to what was actually said. The entire sports/political culture ought to take a deep breath... and relax. Rush said that he thought Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb has always been overrated because liberal sports reporters are blinded by a desire to see a black quarterback succeed. Forget the first part of this statement: Many (including me) would disagree that McNabb has been overrated. If Rush had said only that, he would have triggered a good old ESPN shouting match, presumably what... continue reading
Holly Patterson died two weeks after her 18th birthday. Blonde and beautiful, graduating high school after three years, this young native of the San Francisco area had her whole life in front of her. But then she entered a Planned Parenthood clinic without her parents' knowledge and took the abortion-drug cocktail known as RU-486. Within a week, she was dead of septic shock, infected by pieces of the baby she was trying to expel. The heartbreaking human interest of Holly's story did break through the national media's usual political defenses at least for a story or two. Morning shows on... continue reading
Everyone wants to love the comedian. Everyone likes a good laugh. But most comedians aren't entertaining a generic audience of 7 to 77 these days. We've transformed culturally from the whole family tuning in three fuzzy networks with rabbit-ears antennas, to 57 channels of cable and comedy around the clock, with a specialized slice of giggle-baiting for each family member. As humor specialized and audiences became more fragmented, the jokes grew nastier. Planting his flag at the top of the best-seller list is Al Franken with his book "Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them." He's been a darling... continue reading
Morning after morning and evening after evening, the wrecking crews of the TV news have their brass knuckles out for the Bush administration's handling of Iraq and the war on terrorism. The starting point of any conversation is the assumption that at best, we've made no progress at all, and at worst, everything the president has done has only made terrorists stronger. So where was this frenzy of "accountability" during the eight years of the Clinton administration, where every foreign policy failure, every diplomatic vacillation and empty military gesture, was greeted with either a hallelujah chorus or a defensive group... continue reading
It was only a matter of time, I suppose. Comic-book superheroes have gone into the liberal political indoctrination business. The September issue of the DC Comics book "Justice League of America," or "JLA," presents Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman as U.N.-promoting paper dolls for a thinly disguised propaganda play against President Bush's war on Saddam Hussein. The story begins with a "napalmetto" attack on home soil. President Lex Luthor - how nice, a supervillain standing in for President Bush - connects the terror attack to "Qurac" and says the "Joint Chiefs are recommending military pressure." Wonder Woman protests: "International law... continue reading
On the second anniversary of September 11, there wasn't half as much solemnity and national unity on network TV coverage as last year. Bush administration officials were hammered by the TV interviewers for somehow straying from the war on al-Qaeda into Iraq. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton was being served cups of homage along with the coffee. CBS's Hannah Storm cooed: "You've fought so much for the heroes of 9/11...Has enough been done for the heroes, the people who fought so bravely on that day?" In other words, we're back to normal. The imbalance was not only stunning for Team Bush, it... continue reading
Are you ready for some football? That's the usual ABC question kicking off "Monday Night Football," but this year ABC and the NFL should have first asked, "Are you ready for some lip-synching ex-teen queen in black and white leather?" Real pro football junkies were probably taking in Rush Limbaugh and the other pre-game analysts on ESPN. But I'm sure there were many young men who found a new dream job: being one of the two male assistants who removed Britney's pants in the middle of a song on national TV. The concert was ostensibly held to honor the sacrifices... continue reading