Next Monday [note to editors: October 15] marks the fiftieth anniversary of the premiere of "I Love Lucy." Each night that week, TV Land will run "Lucy" minimarathons (fans of the Lucy-and-Ethel-work-at-the-candy-factory episode should know that it's scheduled for Tuesday). How in the world can something so old still be so popular? "Lucy" is one of the best sitcoms ever. Madelyn Davis and Bob Carroll Jr., both of whom had a hand in writing every episode, recently declared in an Electronic Media article that "some of the nicest compliments come from fans who tell us how, when they are blue,... continue reading
In the world of public policy there are liberals, there are hardened leftists, and then there's the hate-America crowd. In ordinary times it's sometimes difficult to separate these camps, or, to put it more bluntly, not enough is done to distinguish one from the others. To suggest there is a hate-America crowd out there is a distasteful exercise. For one, it's clichéd; the term has been used for so long by so many that it's lost its punch. For another, it's vitriolic; it's been used to malign people whose politics may be on the fringes but who love their nation... continue reading
Despite the outpouring of media patriotism these past two weeks, nobody expected that the long march through the terrorist menace would commence without some journalists sounding disturbing old notes of moral equivalence. The crews are still clearing debris in New York and Washington, yet already the Reuters wire service has declared there's no moral difference between the hijackers and the hijacked. Someone inside Reuters who's truly appalled sent the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz an internal memo from Stephen Jukes, the wire service's global head of news: "We all know that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter and that... continue reading
Much has been written about the terrific job done by so many in the wake of the September 11 horror. Now Hollywood is weighing in, and it's played it well so far. The star-packed fundraising telecast last Friday was splendid, and America responded both in terms of watching (more than 89 million viewers) and pledging (more than $150 million). Julia Roberts, who appeared on the program, also donated $2 million to relief efforts. Paul McCartney intends to hold a concert benefiting the families of the firemen who died at the World Trade Center. Whitney Houston is re-releasing the single of... continue reading
The unprecedented attack on New York and Washington has caused some extraordinary media patriotism in the last week. As we rub our eyes with disbelief and appreciation when Peter Jennings announces that Bush's speeches quoting the Psalms will resonate strongly with many Americans, and on David Letterman's show, Dan Rather pledges to line up in support of President Bush, we see how America has suffered a massive blow that's galvanized nearly everyone. But America is a democracy with a diversity of opinions. While the vast majority rally around the flag, there are still those who seemingly would rather burn it... continue reading
I devoted this space last week to an unequivocal praise of our national media for their handling of the September 11 tragedy. I got a lot of feedback from my fellow conservatives. Most were in agreement, but there were some who disagreed; some, in fact, disagreed furiously. Well, this conservative is going to say it again: the work done by our national press corps in the wake of the horror has been, overall, magnificent. Much has been said and written about Peter Jennings - how he questioned President Bush's leadership and how he was defending anti-American revelers overseas. There's only... continue reading
It's been a regular staple of Hollywood for science-fiction writers to pen screen plays conceptualizing hostile superpowers of Earth coming together to face a deadly alien enemy. The video of the astonishing attacks on Washington and New York, with commercial airplanes turned into Kamikaze killing machines, was something out of a Bruce Willis blockbuster. This time, however, the violence was very real, and in a moment our nation was transformed entirely, utterly united in defense against this attack on our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. At a time like this, with so many mourning families, with national treasures... continue reading
Earlier this month, the New York Times ran a front-page story about the erosion in prime-time television's language standards that's expected to occur during the upcoming season. We won't know exactly how serious that erosion will be until it happens, of course, but it's among the safest of bets that it will take place. Early indications are that many, if not all, of George Carlin's infamous seven dirty words will soon be acceptable on prime-time broadcast television. Even more poignant: Television will begin taking the Lord's name in vain. It was bound to happen, I suppose. For more than a... continue reading
As the children head back to school in our nation's capital, one hopes they have good teachers to school them in the basics of civics and simple arithmetic. Apparently these are things many of their parents don't understand. We're heading into another autumn of appropriations, and the debate is taking on that entirely too familiar tone. Once again, there is simply not enough money in Washington to do what is good and right and decent to do. Despite being wrong on nearly everything, leftist economist John Kenneth Galbraith's mantra of "public squalor," a government forever impoverished of its truly deserving... continue reading
"A pornographic culture," wrote author and columnist Maggie Gallagher some years ago, "is not one in which pornographic materials are published and distributed. A pornographic culture is one which accepts the ideas about sex on which pornography is based." This past spring, the Los Angeles Times reached that level of acceptance when it created "the first known pornography beat at a major American newspaper." That description belongs to the media website Inside.com, which late last month ran a story about the Times' stepped-up porn coverage and two of the reporters responsible for it. "We couldn't ignore it anymore," one of... continue reading