I meant to link several days ago to John Nolte’s thoughts on what constitutes Treason in Hollywood.
Somehow or other, possibly because I am still in post-retreat lalaland, I mentally connected Nolte’s post to these confessions of a Hollywood Movie Star by Robert Avrech. (Via Bookworm)
And that - with Avrech’s confession about being that most unthinkable of creatures, a “conservative Jew in Hollywood” - linked in my mind with a piece about Anti-Semitism in the Democrat party, in which Ed Morrissey wonders How many times can the DNC mention that Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) is a Jew?
All of which led me, somehow, to Ed Driscoll who - discussing some of the above - linked to an old, old piece of mine wherein I did jabber on and on for a while, but did use a rather keen boxing metaphor:
The mainstream media have a strong left hook, and they have used it to bludgeon the sensibilities of a trusting, agreeable and curious public for decades. But in the weeks and months after 9/11, the public saw the gods and goddesses of television wonder if their Emmy awards should not be held at a military installation, because, of course, the terrorists would want to hurt our prettiest people. They listened to so-called comedians like Bill Maher suggest that a celebrity pedophile “servicing” a young boy sexually was not as bad as a beating by a schoolyard bully. They watched an old-guard news anchor, on the eve of a national election, promote demonstrably faked documents questioning the military service of one candidate, even as he resolutely refused to ask a single question about the credibly-doubted service of another candidate, and they realized that the towering heavy-weight they had long supported was nothing but a chump who perhaps, finally, needed to be brought down with a good uppercut from the right.
What has happened to the mainstream media, in all of its incarnations, is this: The champion, the Mighty Pop Culture, has taken a hit and gone down. It will probably rise again, but never with the same mythic status of a favorite. Once humbled and brought down, its weaknesses have been exposed; the crowd will watch knowingly, just as ready to jeer as to cheer.
Whether the giant egos who manage from the corners can handle the laughter remains to be seen.
Wow. Three years ago the blog had a much sharper tongue! Nice to see I’m evolving, if that’s what it is.
Anyway…anti-semitism seems alive and well, as do blacklists. Something to ponder?
This weekend we’re taking Buster back to college, and we’re hitting the road early, but I’ve scheduled a few things I hope are interesting for the next two days, so please check back!
August 23rd, 2008 at 4:12 am
Anti-Semitism is a phenomenon that recurs whenever a large enough group of people decides that: 1) they don’t have what they “deserve,” and: 2) it has to be someone else’s fault. Because the Jews have always been a small minority, easily identified, isolated, and attacked, the sort of demagogue who profits by inciting strife will readily focus on them, and direct the blowlamp hatred of the unreasoning crowd toward them.
But one must not identify anti-Semitism itself as primary. The primary is militant envy. In India, the Sikhs have filled the “Jewish” political niche. In Rwanda and Burundi, the Tutsis have been the “local Jews.” In Malaysia, the “Jews” are the Chinese immigrants. When envy gets its spurs on, it seeks out a small, vulnerable, easily identified target, and then it’s off to the races.