![]() PUSHING BACK LIBERALLY! Anita Dunn pushed back against Fox. Herbert follows suit against Conan: // link // print // previous // next //
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2009 We were grateful: We were grateful this weekend to Francine Prose, for her new book about Anne Frank. Why were we grateful? Explanation below. But first, a few remarks about what is found in Proses new book, Anne Frank: The Book, the Life, the Afterlife. We think Janet Maslin does a good job describing this book in her New York Times review. Prose believes [Anne Franks] book to be a masterpiece written by a complicated artist who died too young, Maslin writes. Prose does indeed refer to Franks geniusher literary geniusat various points in her new book. We had not known, till we read Proses book, that Anne Frank, in her last year of life, went back and rewrote her entries from two years before, turning the diary of a 13-year-old child into something quite differenta skilled writers memoir. Anne Frank self-consciously wanted the world to read her workand she may have had a glimmer of her own genius. (God knows everything, a friend used to joke. But Anne knows it better.) Prose shows, in some detail, the way the 15-year-old deepened and illuminated the passages she had written two years beforein some cases, before her family was forced into hiding. Maslin mentions this point early on, when she summarizes the contents of Proses new book:
When Ms. Prose writes about the book, she pays careful attention to Anne's set of revisions and to what they reveal about her writerly choices, Maslin writes a bit later. She admires the diary's way of using small household details to reveal each resident's character and underscores how ably she transformed those around her into larger-than-life personalities. We were struck by something else as we read Proses workthe remarkable number of antique stories present in the history of Anne Frank and her family. This precious jewel hidden among us? When the Franks were arrested, their banal arresting officer naturally wanted to transport their cash and jewels to his superiors. Finding the satchel which held Anne Franks work, he dumped its contents out on the floor so he could replace it with trinkets and cash. The heros return? When Anne Franks father miraculously returned from the camps, he learned that Miep Gies, who had hidden the Franks for two years, had gathered his daughters discarded work and kept it in her office desk, hoping for his familys return. We started reading Proses book on Saturday afternoon. That same morning, we had read the latest consummate drivel from the empty mind of Gail Collinsthe kind of drivel which has done so much harm to this countrys interests in the past twenty years. That afternoon, we were grateful that Prose had actually given us something worth readingand thinking; and caringabout. We were deeply struck by the contrast. The next morning, there was Maureen Dowd. More links: For Joshua Hammers review from this Sundays New York Times Book Review, click this.
For excerpts from Proses book, just click here.
PART 1WHERE DO OUR NARRATIVES COME FROM: Anita Dunn did the world a favor when she challenged Fox this weekend. But first, Bob Herberts column todaywhich starts with Conan OBrien. It isnt just the Fox News Channel which is suddenly being challenged. People are even asking questions about our comedy elite:
Today, Herbert starts a column about urban misery with a slight side shot at OBrien. OBrien has been on a jag of late, telling jokes about crummy old Newark. Herbert lists a string of the jokes, then pushes back with this:
Herbert seems like a nice fellow tooand God knows that people like Herbert never really criticize folk like OBrien. Later, Herbert semi-excuses Conan again. (Conan was just trying to be funny, but the reality behind his late-night humor is horrifying.) But we were glad to see that Herbert was actually annoyed by Conans light-hearted humor. Later in the week, well also say its worth considering the Monica jokes that Letterman and Leno both told. In some ways, this is a typical Herbert column. The author lists a string of major problemswithout making the slightest attempt to say how they might be addressed. But in suggesting that our major comedians might give some thought to their subject matter, we think Herbert offers a public servicejust as Anita Dunn did on Sundays Reliable Sources. Ever since the press waged war against Clinton, then Gore, the liberal and Democratic worlds have done a very poor job pushing back against this type of misconduct. Granted, it was harder to do in the Clinton/Gore years. On Sunday, Dunn went after Fox alone; it the 1990s, the bull-crap was much more widespread. It was hard to distinguish the mainstream press corps Clinton/Gore-trashing from that of its conservative counterparts. (On at least two major occasions during Campaign 2000, Bill OReilly took the lead in defending Candidate Gore. Chris Matthews, Jack Welchs best boy, took the lead in the insults and slanders.) But in Dunns remarks on Reliable Sources, the Democratic Party has finally made some full-throated claims about somebody in the press corps. Voters have heard conservative claims against the press since Hector was a liberally-biased pup. In pushing back liberally against the press, Dunn served the public interest. Last night, OReilly devoted several segments to pushing back against Dunn. Needless to say, Juan Williams was utterly baffled by what Dunn had said; so was Bernie Goldberg in a later segment. Earlier, Special Reports all-star panel had been utterly bollixed by Dunns remarks too. (In that instance, Williams was joined in his incomprehension by Charles Krauthammer and Steve Hayes, a pair of conservative stalwarts.) We were glad to see Dunn pushing backjust as we were glad to see Herbert clearing his throat at Conan. Can we talk? Narratives enter the publics mind from a variety of sources. Due to the weakness and failures of the liberal world, the public has very few tools with which to evaluate the ideas it gets from its punditsand from its comedians. Should we fact-check comedians? Of course we should, though many have rolled their eyes at the notion. Meanwhile, Fox apologists draw bright lines between their news and their opinion programsas if people who offer opinion should never be criticized either. Duh. Comedians and opinion commentators should both be fact-checked when their facts are wrong. Beyond that, both groups should be critiquedand criticizedfor the topics they choose to stress. But alas! Over the past twenty years, liberals and Democrats have often left this sort of thing to those on the right. The public has been handed conservative frameworksvery few from those on our side. In the past week, pundits have rolled their eyes at the thought that comedians should be fact-checked. As they do so, our weak-minded pundits show us, again, the weakness of the analytical tools now driving our public culture. What types of critiques should be brought against Fox? What critiques should be brought against our comedians? Pundits have fumbled both questions in the past few weeks. But then, you live in an unintelligent landa land which may already have become a full-blown idiocracy. TomorrowPart 2: Dunn on Fox Why we laugh: Conan was just trying to be funny, Herbert writes, but the reality behind his late-night humor is horrifying. Why do we laugh at what is horrifying? Uh-oh! Immediately after reading Herbert, we read David Brooks new column. In an interesting piece about brain research, he describes the ways of the tribe:
Conan seems like a nice fellow, Herbert says. But when we laugh at his Newark stuff, were laughing at members of another group. Let them eat cake! Let them endure pain, our cingulate cortices tell us.
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