Anyone who's ever seen Jay Leno do one of his "Jaywalking" segments on NBC, locating average Americans and asking them factual questions on street corners, knows there are far too many Americans who know next to nothing about just about everything. They can't name our first president, or don't even know what the phrase "founding fathers" means. Ask them to name our current vice president and watch the brain waves flatline. Newsweek magazine recently announced its disgust after it offered the government's official citizenship test (the one we require immigrants to pass before being naturalized) to 1,000 Americans. Thirty-eight percent... continue reading
Watching video clips of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the aftermath are well, shocking, even to a media-overstimulated world. It almost needs a disclaimer. "These are not disaster-movie special effects. This is real." For everyone in public life, the reaction should be one of horror and sorrow. But in recent years, the definition of "public life" has expanded dramatically with the rise of social and electronic media. It now includes a class of people that has no class. Dan Turner, the allegedly savvy press secretary for Gov. Haley Barbour, resigned after sending an e-mail news digest with a... continue reading
In the public policy conversation today, there is nothing funnier than hearing the leadership of National Public Radio deny there's a liberal bias at play over there. Even when the Daily Caller posted sting video of their top fundraiser Ron Schiller describing America as remarkably under-educated and the Republicans as ruined by racist, gun-toting, phony Christians, NPR's reaction was repeating Sentence One: Who, us, biased? Schiller resigned, and then the NPR Board ousted CEO Vivian Schiller (no relation), who hired him. She was only a sacrificial lamb. Nothing has changed, policy-wise. The new interim CEO, Joyce Slocum, picked up exactly... continue reading
Today's installment of the Decline and Fall of Western Civilization comes from Hollywood - as if that's a surprise. Tinseltown is demeaning Christianity again - as if that's a surprise, too. But this time, it's not some gutter-mouthed punk. This time it's a network doing it, formally. ABC has approved a pilot with the title "Good Christian Bitches." Is this what Christian women - especially the good ones - deserve? The first credit for this decision to offer offensive titles actually goes to CBS, which began this stupid trend with its awful sitcom "$#8! My Dad Says." Now one of... continue reading
On March 2, two U.S airmen, Nicholas Alden and Zachary Cuddeback, were gunned down at the airport in Frankfurt, Germany. Two other Americans were wounded. The assailant was a radical Muslim. This was a huge story to most Americans - but, naturally, but not to our news media. If the amount of air time is any measure, the assassination of our troops drew a yawn. That night, ABC's "World News" offered a full report, but CBS and NBC each gave it less than 30 seconds. "Troops under attack in Germany, targeted by a gunman shouting in Arabic about jihad," reported... continue reading
Most parents think of video games as a child's pursuit, especially the innocent ones. Many people who bought a Nintendo Wii video game system would consider this the most innocent of them all. They watch their children play Super Mario Brothers on it, or join the family in playing tennis or golf or baseball with their little childlike"Mii" characters on Wii Sports. I never imagined this game system would also be an orgy enabler. A new ad by the French game manufacturer Ubisoft advertises a new game for the Nintendo Wii suggestively titled "We Dare," describing it as "a sexy,... continue reading
When President Obama's budget came out in February, with the greatest expansion of federal spending in American history, some sycophantic media outlets like The Washington Post ridiculously tried to sell the concept that Obama was pushing "deep cuts." It was a publicity line that collapsed on itself within 24 hours. The Democrats are doing nothing to rein in the spending that is leading America into bankruptcy. What the Republican leadership is proposing, with its minuscule cuts, is a small fraction of a huge deficit. Freshman Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky is about the only one proposing significant cuts, and for... continue reading
It's so easy to look at teenagers in general today and sigh. They're more than a bit lazy, a bit spoiled, and more than a bit morally compromised. Two teenagers made national news. One showed common decency and sportsmanship, two virtues seemingly uncommon in that generation. Hope is restored. Fifteen-year-old wrestler Joel Northrup faced a dilemma when he was scheduled to wrestle Cassy Herkelman, one of only two girls to make it to the state tournament. Even though he entered with a 35-4 record, Joel forfeited rather than violate his religious principles. Cassy's father, Bill Herkelman, praised the Northrup family:... continue reading
The battle in Madison, Wisconsin between new Gov. Scott Walker and the public-sector union hacks offers an amazing study in journalistic double standards. The same national media that have spent the last two years drawing devil's horns and Klan hoods on the Tea Party protesters have switched sides with lightning speed. In the Wisconsin protesters, they find sweetness and light, "hope and change." From her Sunday soapbox, ABC host Christiane Amanpour snobbishly deplored the Tea Party as not conservative, but "extreme" last fall. In a special "town hall" episode of her show on the Ground Zero mosque debate, she accused... continue reading
The 911 call went out on January 27. Charlie Sheen was unconscious after another wild 36-hour bout with alcohol and drugs. People magazine reported paramedics found him unresponsive, drooling blood. He looked like death. He was rushed to the hospital, and there the family gathered, expecting the worst. Again, he survived. Nobody seems able to stop this train. No one can force him to change. And CBS will stop at nothing in its willingness to dote on its superstar, offering no "judgmental" analysis of his behavior. In this business, profitability comes before respectability. Sheen, star of the filthy sitcom "Two... continue reading