Street Jazz

A wonderful editorial in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette this morning, entitled “Too good for this world: Of waterboarding and its discontents.”

I say “wonderful” only because I am filled with wonder every time an American writes or speaks in defense of torture or utterly inhumane treatment like forced feeding. I used to be filled with a sort of rage, that American commentators  with our proud history of fighting injustice, could resort to discussing torture in a civil debate, as if we were discussing election primaries, or deodorant brands.

But then, some time ago, whenever someone came on my TV screen - or I would read their words - I would imagine them dressed in a Gestapo uniform, and my rage began to subside, just a little. These are just people born a little too late for their liking, and are just trying to make up for lost time. The world is just a little too nice for them, a little to civilized for the savagery in their hearts.

It still makes me angry, though. I imagine that if Nazi Germany had a version of FOX News - well, every radio station in the country, probably - the proponents of torture would have sounded just as reasonable as these genial men and women.

Except that even then, I think, torture was something that wasn’t discussed widely. It was just conducted by the men who have always conducted torture, the morally depraved individuals who have found an outlet for their ugliness.

What is just as ugly, though, are those oh-so-polite folks who would explain the need for torture to us, the unwashed masses, those who took what we  learned in Sunday School a little too seriously.

Shame on you, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. And shame on you, Paul Greenberg, not only for having lost not only your sense of shame, but your sense of history, as well.

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Journalists or Groupies?

I watch CNN, FOX and MSNBC and in all too many cases, a lot of the talking heads seem to act like cheerleaders, rather than analysts.  Of course, speaking of groupies, local TV news folks are acting like Mike Huckabee is the Prom King, every time they mention his name.

The Joy of Cavett

What a great pleasure it was to discover a few years ago that TCM was running classic episodes of the old Dick Cavett show, featuring interviews with actors and directors like Alfred Hitchcock, Katherine Hepburn, among others. When I first began doing my own talk show 17 years ago, Dick Cavett was my role model; he showed us that a talk show could be both intelligent and entertaining.

With that in mind, fans of Cavett may want to locate the book (“Cavett”) he co-wrote with Christopher Porterfield. It's a fascinating look "behind the scenes" of the best talk show America has ever produced, bar none. Yes, it's long out of print, but that's what libraries and used bookstores were made for.

Every so often, TCM still shows an occasional Cavett show. They still hold up well.

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On the Air with Sky Blaylock

This week we’ll be running an interview I did a while back with Sky Blaylock, manager of Community Access Television in Fayetteville. For anyone interested in pursuing public access in their own community, this might be a good program to get a copy of. It is an excellent primer of all things access, and what access can do for a community. C.A.T.’s phone number is 479-444-3433.

Show dates and times:

Monday - 7pm
Tuesday - noon
Saturday - 6pm

 
rsdrake@nwark.com