Culture Briefs

Freak show

“Forget Janet Jackson’s notorious Super Bowl ’wardrobe malfunction’; forget the soul-deadening sexuality constantly displayed on MTV; Exhibit A in the argument that television is a purveyor of rotten values remains the longtime champ: ’The Jerry Springer Show.’ Only, here’s the weird thing: In its current incarnation, Springer’s latter-day freak show also provides evidence of a growing resurgence in this country of higher standards of decency and morality. …

“Truly, there is no rational defense for this festival of perversity, and one can only guess at its effects on those who view it day after day after day — many of whom reportedly are college students, who regard it as a goof. …

“How then could anyone regard Springer’s circus as a reason for optimism? Well, for one thing, it used to be even worse. Until 1999, guests would actually brawl on Jerry’s stage. …

“Springer ends every broadcast with a brief segment called ’Jerry’s Final Thought,’ in which he pretends to wring some social, even moral, meaning from the insanity just concluded. …

Never mind that … Springer radiates smarmy insincerity. Given the context, it says quite a bit that vice goes out of its way to pay tribute to virtue.”

—Harry Stein, writing on “Daytime TV Gets Judgmental,” in the spring issue of City Journal

Not forgotten

“’The Alamo’ opened in theatres … dogged by some of the worst pre-release buzz since Titanic. … [M]any Texans and conservatives are worried that Disney does not have the guts to make an accurate movie about Mexicans behaving badly. …

“While Santa Anna was a uniquely awful leader in Mexico’s history (and that’s saying a lot), it’s important to note that Santa Anna’s career says something important about the difference between American and Mexican culture. He ruled Mexico five separate times. That’s like Dennis Kucinich being president five times. …

“Mexican culture’s inadequacies at self-rule help explain Santa Anna’s bizarre, tragicomic career. …

“Americans were able to carve a Republic of Texas out of Mexico in just a couple of decades because of their talent for self-organizing, a knack that Mexicans seldom have down to this day.”

—Steve Sailer, writing on “Thinking About the Alamo,” April 11 at www.vdare.com

Castro’s stooges

“Film director Steven Spielberg called his time with Castro ’the eight most important hours of my life,’ and said of Cuba: ’I feel so much at home here. I hope to come back many times in the future.’ …

“Director Oliver Stone intoned that ’We should look to [Castro] as one of the Earth’s wisest people, one of the people we should consult.’ …

“The supreme liberal fantasy is this statement from Stone: ’Castro is a very driven man, a very moral man. He’s very concerned about his country. He’s selfless in that way.’

“That is the left’s view of a ruthless dictator who has inflicted untold misery: He is moral and selfless.”

—Dennis Campbell, writing on “Hollywood liberals’ fantasy world,” Saturdayin WorldNetDaily at www.worldnetdaily.com