Just before the 2010 midterms, Comedy Central star Jon Stewart drew a large crowd to Washington to celebrate a “Rally to Restore Sanity.” He gave a closing speech, intended to be inspirational and not comical, on how “we can have animus and not be enemies.” The same man who succeeded in convincing CNN to cancel “Crossfire” in 2004 because its squabbles were “hurting the country” felt the need to sermonize about overdoing caricatures of our political opponents on television. This raises the question: Does this man watch his own show? “The country’s 24 hour political pundit perpetual panic conflictinator did... continue reading
You can always tell when a network legend is retiring. His/her network blocks out most of a Friday night so they can remember all of the legend’s glory days. At 84, ABC’s Barbara Walters is taking a bow, and she’s certainly as synonymous with television as Johnny Carson or Walter Cronkite. Walters was a pioneer for female journalists on TV. She’s also an archetype for our liberal feminist media. In recent years, she’s competitively elbowed out other contenders in providing leading Democrats with the most comfortable of softball interviews. A holiday tradition at the Obama White House is a visit... continue reading
Those who attack the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Mark Levin – as too conservative, too vitriolic, or simply unhinged – have that right, even if, as is so often the case, they rely on others rather than listen to the shows themselves. That’s what liberals do. There are pretenders to the throne of conservative talk radio who claim to be so much less “poisonous” and stupid than Limbaugh, Hannity, Levin et al – and travel the same character-assassination route. Congressman Mike Rogers told The New York Times he’s retiring in January to join Cumulus Radio for a... continue reading
In August of 2011, the former child actor Corey Feldman made a stunning assertion to ABC News: "I can tell you that the No. 1 problem in Hollywood was and is and always will be pedophilia. That's the biggest problem for children in this industry ... It's the big secret." The rest of the media said nothing. Almost three years later, it’s happening again. The Los Angeles Times reported on April 18 that "X-Men" director Bryan Singer “has been accused in a federal lawsuit of drugging and sexually assaulting an aspiring teenage actor in the 1990s.” Michael Egan III claims... continue reading
In March 2006, CBS News announced that President George W. Bush had stumbled into a “record low” approval rating of 34 percent. All the other networks jumped on the poll. CNN was reporting the number every hour on the hour. The survey confirmed their suspicions. The wheels on the Bush presidency had come off. Last week, ABC and The Washington Post found Barack Obama is "facing the worst poll numbers of his presidency,” with an approval rating of 41 percent, and 52 percent disapproving. It's another administration on political life support. ABC offered its own survey a mere 18 seconds... continue reading
.jpg?itok=U0ouPHpB)
Buyer beware those promising a “Catholic education.” St. Mary’s Institute (SMI) is the Catholic grade school in my wife’s New York hometown, Amsterdam. It is affiliated with St. Mary’s Catholic Church, whose pastor Father John Medwid pens the opening to the Saint Mary’s Institute annual newsletter. “In September at the opening Mass I officially announced that this was going to be the Year of Our Lady at SMI,” the letter began. How nice. Except that’s not what he wrote. There was someone else he had in mind to honor besides the Virgin Mary. “In September at the opening Mass I... continue reading
The times they are a-changing in ways even Bob Dylan didn’t foresee. I have an early childhood memory riding my bike and coming across a discarded booklet on proper social etiquette. It had the perfunctory rules. Gentlemen always open doors for ladies. Stand when a lady comes in the room. And so on. But the one that I remember vividly is this: A lady always extends her hand first in greeting. Why? Fifty years ago I could understand the concept, but even then, I thought it was a bit much. Today that rule’s been abandoned. Who decides these things anyway?... continue reading
The accountants in Hollywood don’t have to believe in Heaven to notice the box-office numbers on recent movies with religious themes. “Heaven Is For Real” opened in the days before Easter and grossed more than $22 million, coming in second for the weekend, just $3 million behind the latest “Captain America” blockbuster (in its third week). The movie‘s per-screen average — $8,895 — was far above the rest of the top five. “Heaven Is For Real,” like many movies, is based on a best-selling book. It’s a real-life story about four-year-old Colton Burpo and his visions of Heaven after an... continue reading
Chelsea Clinton announced she’s going to be a mother this year. That should elicit the same reaction reserved for the daughter of any former president: a polite ... how nice. But this is a Clinton; everything with the Clintons gets filtered through politics. It is fitting (and equally crass) that this news is met with this reaction: "Hillary in 2016, does it help or hurt?” Indeed that is precisely how pro-Hillary pundits reacted, leaping to profess this will succeed in adding warmth and humanity to Hillary’s image in the years to come. But put the celebration on hold. This was... continue reading
For its second season, the creators of the FX series “The Americans” have chosen a new source for insight into the Cold War during the Reagan years – one Lt. Col. Oliver North. It's a dramatic reversal from the first season and it has infuriated some hard-leftists. The show began with the shocking promise from creator Joel Weisberg that the show’s heroes would be KGB agents: “We’re making them the sympathetic characters. I’d go so far as to say they’re the heroes.” It quickly became apparent that these characters could be unsentimental killers of innocent Americans, so perhaps that triggered... continue reading