Keep It Pithy (15 page)

But life is complicated.…

No one should long for “the good old days” of news controlled by the powers of Washington, New York, and Hollywood. Thanks to increased competition, you are now much more likely to hear all sides of a story. Sometimes that’s more information and more scandal than you might want to hear, but it’s your right and your job as a citizen to face up to it. The news choices of today are an important change in your life. They help you decide what kind of country you want.

According to the polls, most Americans know the press is not looking out for them, since journalists are ranked near
the bottom of all admired professions, right between lawyers and car salespeople. (By the way, nurses are ranked first.) The reason that we wretches are under so much suspicion is that we are perceived as being arrogant. That charge is tossed my way often. I’ll let you make the call.

But there is no question that journalists, especially TV media people like me, are frowned upon by many Americans, and I understand. Despite my job, I am one of those Americans disgusted with a powerful press that refuses to report on the reality of everyday life in the USA. We have an obligation to demand accountability from big corporations that sell trash to kids. We have an obligation to report on school principals like the one in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, who refused to publicly discipline two students who engaged in oral sex on a school bus in full view of other young students. I mean, what kind of message does an educator send when he believes disgraceful public conduct is a private matter?

The fourteen-year-old girl and the sixteen-year-old boy who humiliated themselves and corrupted other children most likely got their oral sex education from the entertainment media (or President Clinton). We have an obligation to scrutinize show business and so-called “celebrities” who behave disgracefully. We have an obligation to hold the corrupters personally accountable.

But we are not doing it. And because of this cowardice and apathy, the forces of darkness are allowed to go to the bank unchallenged and, at times, even glorified. Worse still, when some of us in the press do object to the corporate
assault on our culture, we come under attack ourselves because the elite media never, ever want to be shown up.

I’m not exaggerating; if you follow
The Factor
, you know that I am reviled in many media quarters and also in Hollywood. You will rarely see an article written about me that does not describe me as “contentious,” “bombastic,” “a blowhard,” or “bullying.” While that assessment may be accurate, couldn’t they throw in an “incisive” or “courageous” or something like that once in a while?

Anyway, those adjectives are used only after the writer confers the label “conservative” on me. Why? Because in the world of the elite media, a conservative is someone who can be airily dismissed as a narrow-minded, predictable thinker. There are certain code words in the elite media’s lexicon, and “conservative” leads the list.

Dealing with fear should be considered a traditional value, but few people actually do the work required
.

I believe that overcoming fear is an essential key to living a useful and honorable life. Taming fear also trains a person to stand up to injustice. This is very important. When it is all over, when you are dead in the ground or in an urn, your legacy will be defined by two simple questions: How many wrongs did you right, and how many people did you help when they needed it?

That’s it. Nothing more. No one will care how much money you made or what kind of car you drove. Those things don’t inspire memorable eulogies.

So you can go ahead and hose people all day long, amassing great wealth and power, but what, exactly, does that mean? Nada, that’s what. Note to the greed-heads and evildoers: You may be remembered for your misdeeds, but only as objects of ridicule or revulsion. On the other hand, the person who makes things better in this world will not be easily forgotten; his or her legacy will likely carry on. The good that you do in your life remains in the world.

But make no mistake: To attempt to right wrongs means conflict, and you will suffer. Most people are afraid of that suffering, so most people sit it out. My father was a role model in this regard, a good man afraid to stand up.

My core belief, as stated in my book
Culture Warrior
, is that life is a constant struggle between good and evil. That each person has free will and must choose a side. Refusing to choose puts one in the evil category by default, because bad things will then go unchallenged. The German people during the Nazi era demonstrated this better than anyone else. Most Germans were not Nazis, but most stood by and allowed incredible atrocities because they were either afraid or apathetic. Then they were forced to defend those atrocities by fighting World War II. Germany is still branded by that disgrace to this day.

But most evil is not as obvious as the work of Hitler and his pals, who flat out told the folks they were murderous
racists. No, most bad people, out of cowardice or self-interest, attempt to disguise their evil. Some get justice, but some do not. For me, that’s the most frustrating part of life: seeing evil individuals continue to harm people with impunity.

Keeping It Pithy

NINE

GETTING BACK TO TRADITIONAL VALUES

“The Code of the Traditional Warrior” and Other Top Hits

In my writings, TV talking points, and other bloviations over the years, I’ve often referred to traditional American values
.

Just to be clear, I’ve broken my ideas on the subject down to ten
pithy
subjects. They define, I believe, a code for us to live by, if we choose
.

       1. Keep your promises.

       2. Focus on other people, not yourself.

       3. See the world the way it is, not the way you want it to be.

       4. Understand and respect Judeo-Christian philosophy.

       5. Respect the nobility of America.

       6. Allow yourself to make fact-based judgments.

       7. Respect and defend private property.

       8. Develop mental toughness.

       9. Defend the weak and vulnerable.

     
10. Engage the secular-progressive opposition in a straightforward and honest manner.

Almost 230 years ago the American Constitution enshrined these concepts—every one of them, if you look—in different words. (Thomas Jefferson might have had a paroxysm, a thing people used to do, over a term like “fact-based.” But I think he’d get the point.)

I don’t expect you to tape these ten subjects to your bathroom mirror
.

But you could certainly do worse
.

Speaking of traditional values …

Sex is supposed to be a private activity between consenting adults who are honest with each other, sharing pleasure and affection, and then shut up afterward.

Men, if a woman shares her body, take it as a gift of affection, not proof that you’re stud of the month.

Ladies, if you said yes without being forced, then don’t brag to your coworkers or your homegals.

By the way …

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have found that straining too heavily during sex can induce six to twelve hours of amnesia.
This effect is called the Valsalva maneuver. So Clinton had a good medical excuse for his, uh, foggy grand jury testimony about his relations with Monica Lewinsky? And they weren’t trivial, anyway. No. Under oath, there are
no
trivialities. By the way, what was the name of that maneuver again?

As you’ll read in the last chapter, I’ve changed my mind about several different issues over the last few years
.