Commentary Update for September 16, 2003
1. This week's show: Our first show of the 2003 fall semester features regular guest Jim Simmons, chair of the UW Oshkosh department of political science. We talk about a variety of local, state, and national issues, with a recurring theme of how *%#*$^# up government is at every level these days.
2. Senate Rebufs FCC: Just when I was getting ready to argue that this year's United States Senate would go down in history as "The Gutless Coterie Of 2003," today they FINALLY did something useful, rejecting the FCC's attempt to further enhance corporate control of the media. Here is a statement from Common Cause regarding the Senate's action.
3. RIP Man in Black: Johnny Cash was one of the rare examples of an entertainer with a very liberal set of politics who was respected on all sides of the aisle. John Nichols' memorial piece, I think, captures the value(s) of Cash quite well. I actually played Cash's "Man In Black" for students in my "Rhetoric of Popular Music" course on what turned out to be the day he died. What's weird is that I had not originally intended to talk about Johnny Cash in the course, but for some reason on that day was inspired to do so and play "Man In Black" as an example of the concepts we had been talking about. Later that day I found out he had in fact passed away, and it just felt like one of those experiences that makes you believe in "forces." In my lower level classes we ended up talking about how in the post-Columbine USA, a young Johnny Cash decked out daily in black would probably be suspended from school and maybe even shipped off to Folsom prison just for his wardrobe and/or just for writing a song about killing a man in Reno to watch him die. All would be done in the name of "zero tolerance." Note how the gothpunks admire Johnny.
4. Walter Ong in the Rant Zone: Father Walter J. Ong, S.J., one of the most important media scholars of the last 50 years and the topic of my 1987 doctoral dissertation, passed away recently at the age of 90. Like Cash, he too wore black daily, though for him it was an occupational requirement. My September Media Rants column attempts to summarize some of his major ideas.
5. Clark's in--could he be the Clarkson?: General Wesley Clark will in fact enter the Democratic primaries for president. He has mobilized a substantial amount of grassroots support; even left-populist filmmaker Michael Moore leans toward supporting him. A few months ago I argued that Clark might have the best chance to beat Dick Cheney's spokesman.
When I heard that Clark was in, I immediately thought of Kelly Clarkson. She is the "American Idol" who emerged with a record contract after gaining the approval of obnoxious judges and a star struck public. If you think about it, the process of becoming the American Idol is not substantially different from the process of becoming president. In fact, one could argue that modern presidents are the ultimate "American Idol," with ability to entertain the masses now a prerequisite for effective campaigning and governing. Add to that the fact that they are usually limited talent mediocrities and the analogy fits like a glove. I think one of the reasons the Republicans fear and detest Hillary Clinton so much is because they know full well that she has that touch of "star quality" that has always been important in politics, but perhaps more so now in the era of the American Idol Presidency.
6. . How Chernobyl of Him: Former Soviet Union premier Mikhail Gorbachev will be speaking in Appleton on October 1st. Here's more information. Gorbachev is one of the original signers of the Earth Charter, a document that is the foundation of the second annual summit we will be having on the UW Oshkosh campus (I will talk more about this in a future update). Gorbachev apparently fancies himself now as an environmental activist and works global care themes into all of his speeches these days. I think that's very Chernobyl of him.
7. 2003 Nero Awards: The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign for the second year in a row has given out Nero Awards to those Wisconsin elected officials who continue to fiddle while the capitol dome burns. At the top of the award list are Republican assembly speaker John Gard and governor Jim The New Democrat Doyle. At least Gard can say that he has always been lukewarm to reform. Jim The New Democrat Doyle, on the other hand, campaigned actively on the theme of making political reform the foundation of his administration. Did he lie? Or is his administration Wisconsin's gutless coterie of 2003? Probably a little of both.
8. Simile of the Week: Mike McCabe in the Nero Awards press release, on the relationship of the recently passed and largely symbolic "pay to play" legislation to the wider problem of political corruption in the state: "It’s like treating glaucoma with Visine."
9. What purpose do counties serve?: Ray Barrington gives us this thought provoking piece from last Friday's Green Bay News Chronicle. I personally would feel much better about shrinking government if big corporations shrunk along with it.
10. Corporate Tax Breaks: Confirming what readers of these updates have know for a long time, the Associated Press reported recently that corporate taxes as a share of total state collections have been reduced significantly in the last 20 years. The problem with this is that the tax breaks were given without receiving in return any promise of job creation, retention, or anything else that would be of value to the average citizen.
11. Trade Talks Fall Apart: The WTO trade talks in Cancun failed miserably, another sign of the growing anger among the majority of the world's population at deals that are sold on the basis of raising the standards of living everywhere, but so far appear only to have raised them in the wealthy shareholder ranks.
12. Martin Marty at UW Oshkosh: From the UW Oshkosh Bulletin: "Internationally renowned theologian and National Book Award-winning author Martin Marty will speak on Religion and Terrorism in the Post-9/ll World at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25, in the Music Hall. Marty, the Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago and a former Lutheran minister, will also participate in a panel discussion on Teaching Religion after 9/11 at 2 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26, in the ballroom (room 227A) of Reeve Union .Ed Linenthal, Jeffrey Kaplan, Kathleen Corley and Dennis Lishka, all members of the UW Oshkosh Religious Studies and Anthropology Department, will be on the panel.Both events are free and open to the public."
13. Drums and Whistles: A public reading of Richard Kalinoski's new play, Drums and Whistles will be held on September 18th at 8:00 PM in the UW Oshkosh Experimental Theater located in the Fredric March Theater building. The play centers around an old man who, when he was quite young, assassinated an Ottoman Turk governor after World War 1. The reading features UW Oshkosh Theater program professor emeritus Don Burdick. Also in it are Merlaine Angwall from the Theater program, John Koker from Math, recent Theater graduate Andrea Richardson, and current Theater students. I even have a small part to read, believe it or not (I play the assassinated Turk governor!).
Richard's play is extremely important, as it powerfully brings into public consciousness the Armenian genocide of the early 20th century. As regards this "forgotten genocide," the West has engaged in a real form of "holocaust denial." So notes British author Robert Fisk in his own effort to bring the horrific event to light. Richard Kalinoski's best known play, "Beast on the Moon," addresses the genocide from the standpoint of its affect on a family of survivors. The play has a real chance of being produced on Broadway.
Best,
-Tony