Maybe that wasn't on Dole's mind, but what was Patrick Buchanan thinking of
when, in an appearance on Nightline (6/1/95), he twice reminded Norman Lear
(who is Jewish) that Jesus Christ was "the greatest man who ever lived"?
Immediately afterward he accused Lear: "You folks have control of the minds
of children. And you are corrupting these children." We have to wonder whom
he means by "you folks."
True Confession
"I admit it -- the liberal media were never that powerful, and the whole thing
was often used as an excuse by conservatives for conservative
failures." -- William Kristol, editor of The Standard, Rupert Murdoch's
soon-to-be-launched conservative weekly (New Yorker, 5/22/95)Dole's True Lies
Sen. Robert Dole condemns Hollywood for producing "nightmares of
depravity," yet
he's a regular guest on the talkshows of G. Gordon Liddy and Bob Grant --
hatemongers who don't produce fictional depictions of violence, but
encourage real violence against real people. Many people have noted that
the misogynistic, Arab-bashing gorefest True Lies, cited by Dole as part
of a group of family-friendly films, stars Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger
and is produced by the Fox movie studio owned by Republican ally Rupert
Murdoch. Some critics have also suggested that Dole's singling out of Time
Warner, headed by Gerald Levin, was an attempt to capitalize on stereotypes
of Hollywood Jews (Frank Rich, New York Times, 6/4/95).Triumph of the Wills
"There are some people in Washington whose entire life consists of raising
questions," George Will complained (Washington Post, 5/23/95). "To me, it's
beyond boring. I don't understand the whole mentality." Will was
complaining because some of these people -- they're called reporters,
George -- were wondering whether his repeated attacks on President Clinton's
trade sanctions against Japanese car imports had anything to do with his
spouse's job as a registered agent for the Japan Automobile Manufacturers
Association. In a May 19 column, for example, Will blasted Clinton for
using "trade-annihilating tariffs to coerce another government into
coercing its automobile industry" -- without disclosing that his wife, Mari
Maseng Will, received some $200,000 last year to lobby for that same
industry. In response to charges of conflict of interest, Will told the
Post's Howard Kurtz: "I was for free trade long before I met my wife. End
of discussion." (Mari Maseng Will has since gone on to work for Senator
Dole's presidential run, and reportedly wrote Dole's anti-Hollywood
speech -- but then, George Will was probably attacking popular culture he
didn't understand long before he met his wife, too.)Thy Neighbor's Radio
"I may turn it off at my house, but my neighbor may not. The radio may be
telling my neighbor to go kill the liberal next door." -- James Latham of
Radio for Peace International's Far Right Radio Review, explaining why he
doesn't "just turn off" right-wing programs (New York Times, 4/30/95)
Ignoring the Bold Print
When Rush Limbaugh complained that the New York
Times never covered the Contract With America until after the '94 election,
he was, as usual, wrong (EXTRA! Update, 6/95). But mainstream media, which
are more interested in horserace stories and personality profiles than in
policy proposals, did fail to give proper attention and scrutiny to the
Republican blueprint. Now they're doing the
same thing with the Christian Coalition's "Contract With the American
Family," a
similar blueprint for the Christian right. On the day the Family Contract
was unveiled (5/18/95), a short, unspecific report appeared in the New York
Times -- on
page B13. It didn't mention most of the Contract's provisions -- for example,
the provision that would make it easier for parents to beat their children.
On the front page that same day was a profile of the leading U.S. and
Japanese trade negotiators, which revealed that when the two are alone,
they "talk about everything from Shintoism to baseball to their college
days." Is that really as important as the Christian Coalition's plans for
the country?Right and Righter
CNBC is planning to launch a new program on the media -- entitled Beat the
Press -- but it's not clear if the point is to criticize media bias or to
demonstrate it. On the right will be Arianna Huffington, new-age
conservative and wife of the failed California Senate candidate. "Fierce,
funny and savvy, Huffington's show is gearing up to assault the U.S. news
media," the Washington Times reports (4/5/95). But what's really funny is
the choice of Huffington's balancing co-host: It's Camille Paglia,
described as a "left-wing libertarian rabble-rouser" by the Washington
Times. Left-wing? Paglia's the "feminist" who said (in her book Sexual
Personae) that "feminism, arguing from the milder women's view, completely
misses the blood-lust in rape, the joy of violation and destruction." And
that "if civilization had been left in female hands, we would still be
living in grass huts."
[ Next |
July '95 |
FAIR |
Mail/Suggest |
Index ]