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PDF versionProfessor George, what were you thinking?
by Michael Sean Winters on Jul. 30, 2009
I can’t improve on my colleague Thomas C. Fox’s takedown below of Glen Beck’s outrageous comments calling the President a racist. But, the controversy caused me to watch Beck’s show last night. It is truly shocking that someone is allowed a prime time television slot who brings precisely no analytical capabilities to the task of reporting the news, who rants instead of argues, and who distorts history and the news in equal measure in fits of tortured logic that are pitiful even by the low standards at Fox News. I wondered to myself, “Why would anyone consent to be on such a show?”
And then, like a bad nightmare, along comes the next guest, Princeton Professor and rightwing darling Robert P. George. I have no way of knowing when Professor George’s appearance was scheduled. I do know that you pretty much had to avoid every news website yesterday to miss coverage of Beck’s outrageous comments about the President. Many of us in the media appear on shows when we don’t agree with the host on this issue or that problem, although according to the on-air banter, this was not the professor’s first such appearance on Beck’s dreadful show.
But I wonder why Professor George did not see fit to cancel his appearance or at least address the host’s comments, seeing as they were so public and so outrageous. It is not like Princeton is desperate for the coverage: One of their most prominent alumna is about to join the Supreme Court. Professor George is quick to call others to account when they fail to distance themselves from the policies of someone with whom they are affiliated, despite the fact that our political system, of which he is an expert, was designed precisely to create such floating alliances of people who disagree on some issues but not on others. Such shifting alliances are one of our principal guarantors of liberty if I recall the arguments of the Federalist Papers. Does Professor George apply the same standard to himself? I look forward to a statement from the professor, and from many whose conservatism is too honorable to be associated with the likes of Beck, disassociating himself from the calumny of his recent host.
Fox News made a choice after
Fox News made a choice after the election of President Obama; the choice to abandon all pretense of objectivity. Sean Hannity going solo on his show and Glen Beck are just two examples. Simply put, Fox News has chosen to pander to the lowest common denominator of the conservative sdie of the political spectrum. Respectable conservatives are in the postion of appearing on Fox, or not having a voice, and Fox is just as quick to crush those who don't toe their political line as any other opinion based organization.
solution: kill thy
solution:
kill thy television
and radio
pick up a good book
converse
pray (in other wordS)
hear the eternal
overcome this background noise, these temporalities in the sense used by the great Fordham professor Terrence Tilley quoted in the Reverend Father Richard P. McBirne's brilliant new column, from which I here steal without permission:
===================================================
Therefore, the way through our impasses, according to Terrence Tilley, is "not for theologians to repeat the formulas of the past … not for authorities to insist on one model for the mystery nor for theologians to close their ears to criticisms but for all to work to communicate the tradition in the present using many models understandable in the present. ..."
We can thereby "continue to practice the faith despite ideological diversity, and thus to allow these impasses, like all temporalities, to pass."
" . . .you pretty much had to
" . . .you pretty much had to avoid every news website yesterday to miss coverage of Beck’s outrageous comments"
That's precisely why Beck--and Rush and Coulter and Savage--make outrageous comments. By the next day it's picked up everywhere, boosts ratings and attracts more advertising cash. Instead of ignoring them as they deserve, everyone plays into their grubby hands. Personally, I've never seen anything all that "honorable" about the conservativism of Robby George or any of the other self appointed keepers of the orthodoxy.
No, Michael Sean Wynters, you
No, Michael Sean Wynters, you can't improve on Thomas Foxx's takedown of Glenn Beck's comments calling the President a racist, because you are blinded to the truth by your liberal thinking. It was easy for me though to show that your friend and fellow NCR columnist was wrong and that Glenn Beck was correct when he called Obama a racist. You want further proof? How about Obama's justice dept dropping charges against the Philadelphia Black Panthers who intimidated white voters in the last election?
I join with you in wondering, although not to myself, "Why would a Catholic website (even if in name only) allow someone like you or Mr. Foxx to post at this website?"
Mr. Winters, You make an
Mr. Winters,
You make an interesting point that brings to my mind an even more egregious example.
We should also wonder why it took President Obama more than twenty years to cancel his appearances at the Reverend Wright's Church, where by all accounts racism was regularly spewed from the pulpit.
This latter case is even more significant. Professor George is a private citizen making a one-time appearance; Mr. Obama is our President and spent 20 years in that church. Moreover, President Obama was very close to Rev. Wright and considered him a spiritual mentor (a scary thought isn't it?).
And, for the record, I do NOT consider President Obama a racist. I do believe he is an opportunist, who seeks political advantage where he can find it.
Hilarious post MSW. From the
Hilarious post MSW. From the man who just over a year ago denounced Catholics (well, Catholic Democrats at least) as racist because they favored Hillary over Obama (see here and here) now regards the charge of racism as invalidating an argument.
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