The other day, CNN's "Reliable Sources" show sought to explore Hillary's Sunday morning interview blitz of September 23. Why do the media pine for her so? Michelle Cottle of the New Republic gave the typical liberal answer: "She's a celebrity. She and Bill have passed some point where they're no longer just politicians. They're rock stars." There is absolutely no doubt that liberals really do think of the Clintons in rock-star terms, and the "objective" media have not merely treated them that way with a long-running assembly line of dazzled profiles and shoe-polishing interviews. Their royal treatment of the Clintons... continue reading
The new fall season of television has begun. Oh, joy. What creative license has Hollywood taken now? How will this industry top - because it always must top - last year's shock? You're a parent. You come home, open the TV book and see listings like this: "BONES (Season Premiere) A skull smashes through the windshield of a car driven by a group of teenagers on the freeway; a trail of suspects leads Brennan and Booth to a strange cannibalistic society." A late-night offering for adults? Think again. Fox airs this gruesome twosome tracking the cannibals at 8 pm Eastern... continue reading
When the news broke that Dan Rather was suing CBS News for $70 million for somehow destroying his reputation, the most noticeable reaction came from the media establishment itself. From the first story in the New York Times, it carried a different tone between the lines of the breaking news. Rather's former colleagues think he's lost his marbles. The Times story by Jacques Steinberg said Rather's career came to an "inglorious end" and now he's taking "vehement issue" with CBS's soft-scrub internal investigation. Rather claimed "to be reduced to little more than a patsy" in the story, and now works... continue reading
Rutgers University is known as the birthplace of college football, but in the last few weeks it's seemed more like the deathplace of sportsmanship. On September 7, Rutgers hosted Navy's football team. What respect was shown in the wake of the Midshipmen's forthcoming service to the country and the approaching September 11 anniversary? The rowdy student fans of Rutgers hurled obscenities at Navy, thoroughly embarrassing their college and their town. Rutgers won the game, but lost any sense of honor and decency. Navy was booed and peppered with "You suck!" chants when they stepped on the field to start both... continue reading
Howard Kurtz, the longtime Washington Post media reporter and CNN media-show host, inadvertently defined exactly what's wrong with our political culture when he was asked in an online chat about actress Sally Field blurting out in her Emmy victory speech that if women ruled the world, there'd be no [expletive deleted] wars. Kurtz said awards shows might not be the best slot for political analysis, "but she said it at a live news event, so in a way Fox was censoring the news." This is "news"? Sally Field's incoherent rant, delivered after a series of stammers, is somehow on par... continue reading
Nearly everyone with a television can make jokes about TV awards shows, especially the speech-making. How many times have people made the hoariest jokes about thanking the "little people," or mimicking Sally Field's Oscar speech: "You like me! You really like me!" But Kathy Griffin, the comedienne with the self-satirizing "My Life on the D-List" show on that D-list network Bravo, took the ritual to a new low when she won an Emmy for Outstanding Reality Program. She mocked Jesus Christ. "A lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award," she declared. "I want you to... continue reading
As America headed into the weekend before the sixth anniversary of the horrific September 11 terrorist attacks, the latest purported video from Osama bin Laden reminded the country that the war on terrorism is still a real and persistent battle. But some people despise the whole war-on-terror concept. They believe that commemorating 9-11 is getting tired and dated and even psychologically harmful to the country. As hard (or as easy) as it may be to believe, The New York Times, situated just miles from Ground Zero in Manhattan, published a typically portentous Sunday article asking: "As 9/11 Draws Near, a... continue reading
Historians have discovered that Dante actually envisioned a tenth circle of hell, with sinners condemned to spend their eternities traveling from one destination to the next on any one of America's insufferable airlines. It appears that the people running this industry have found a way to make every single aspect of this form of travel an experience in misery. The latest casualty is to be found in the in-flight movies. Most offerings these days are monumental cinematic embarrassments, movies that would never rise to the level of the $1 stack at Blockbuster's, and probably cost the airlines even less. So... continue reading
It was not exactly a plum assignment for a Republican to go on network television to discuss the alleged foot-tapping ways of the soon-to-be former GOP senator from Idaho. But Republicans also could easily see the delight in the eyes of the liberal media when word of Sen. Larry Craig's Minneapolis airport arrest broke. The press went right back to last year's smash-mouth Foleygate talking points about how this wasn't just about the moral turpitude of one member of Congress, but it was about the impending end of the Republican Party, and potential doom for American conservatism. On Tuesday, NBC's... continue reading
After reading this piece you may be tempted to think that Bozell finally has lost his marbles, simply because what is presented just cannot be true. If you will trust me that everything I'm going to present you is very real, you may instead conclude it is La-La Land that has gone completely Ga-Ga. Channel-surfing with your remote you've doubtlessly come across the E! cable network - and clicked right past, for good reason. E! is owned jointly by Disney, Comcast and Liberty Media, making you wonder where all the adult supervision went. With the exception of the original "Talk... continue reading