Who’s scared of the big, bad Fox?
The Story: The Congressional Black Caucus is co-sponsoring two presidential debates on the Fox News Channel and two on CNN. In an attempt at political fairness, Republican and Democrat contenders will be facing off once on each network. John Edwards, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton are refusing to attend the Fox debate.
The Diss: So the two Democrat front-runners, and global warming scaremonger John Edwards, are afraid of the big, bad Fox News. Just how will these civic “”leaders”” be able to stand up for American interests against hostile foreign regimes armed to the teeth – should they, God forbid – actually get elected? The Democrats are pouting because Fox doesn’t share the same spin as CNN, NPR, et al. Boo hoo. The American people deserve candidates with at least enough backbone to debate the quality of their ideas on the news channel with the most viewers. Democrats – grow up or go home.
– Kara Karlson is a journalism senior.
Ivy takes on tobacco
The Story: The Harvard School of Public Health is recommending that the Motion Picture Association give any movie that depicts characters smoking an “”R”” rating.
The Diss: I understand why anti-smoking groups want Hollywood to stop showing characters smoking in G, PG and PG-13 rated films, but I completely disagree. First, there are far more nefarious things to show kids – extreme violence, for one. Second, corporations pay to have their products inserted into films, such as cars, Pepsi and Coke. Soft drink consumption has been connected with childhood obesity, but Harvard isn’t lobbying against that. Third, cigarettes already have mandatory labels proclaiming their dangers. I’m pretty sure most people know that smoking isn’t healthy by now. Fourth, Hollywood is a private industry that produces films, which people choose to watch, and pay to consume. Harvard specifically wants to protect kids from seeing people smoking, but parents pick the films their kids watch. I hope parents choose carefully and aren’t showing their 5-year-old “”Full Metal Jacket,”” but the anti-smoking lobby’s request is ridiculous.
– Allison Dumka is a political science senior.
A clean break
The Story: Radio personality Don Imus referred to the Rutgers women’s basketball team as a bunch of “”nappy-haired hos.”” Now, the comments are being used to corner potential presidential nominees Giuliani and McCain, both frequent guests of Imus’s show.
The Diss: Seriously? I can’t believe this is getting as much publicity as it has. But what is more astonishing is that Giuliani and McCain haven’t made the smart political move and vowed never again to appear on Imus’s talk show. I don’t think that either of the presidential nominees have any idea what nappy-haired hos are (or more importantly, which party they vote for), but they should be able to tell when someone has way crossed the line. Guiliani – I like you too much to associate you with Imus. Please jump ship.
Stan Molever is a philosophy senior.
