I 4 - The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, October 8, 2003 OP/ED I Ulb& £d1§uu 13f 420 MAYNARD STREET ANN ARBOR, MI 48109 letters@michigandaily.com EDITED AND MANAGED BY STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN SINCE 1890 LOUIE MEIZLISH Editor in Chief AUBREY HENRETTY ZAC PESKOWITZ Editorial Page Editors Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of the majority of the Daily's editorial board. All other articles, letters and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily. NOTABLE QUOTABLE '( Even if you're frustrated, a frustrated chicken should not vote for Colonel Sanders." - The Rev. Jesse Jackson, urging voters to support Gov. Gray Davis at a campaign stop in Oakland, Caif, as reported Sunday by the Alameda Times-Star. II STEVE COTNER AND JOEL HOARD OPERATION PUSYCAT Rush Limbaugh and the modern-day freak show JOEL HOARD COLD LAMPIN' 4 SPN, easily the most dependable network on television, was an important part of my life when I was a youngster. If ever I found myself bored or in need of a sports fix, I could turn to ESPN. I grew up on Chris Berman, Craig Kilborn, Keith Olbermann and Dan Patrick, often watching the same edi- tion of "SportsCenter" three or more times a day. It was funny and entertaining, but at the same time professional and informative - call it a perfect blend. To this day, I still begin every morning with SportsCenter. While the new class of anchors and commentators isn't quite as talented or engaging as those of yesteryear, there's still something familiar and comfortable about ESPN. But I was a little worried when the network announced that Rush Limbaugh would be join- ing the crew of ESPN's football preview show "Sunday NFL Countdown." Certainly Rush knows his football, and his politics are irrele- vant. Rush's problem lies in the fact that he can't keep his political opinions to himself. Watching Rush Limbaugh on "Sunday NFL Countdown" was like watching someone play Russian roulette (more on that later) - it was only a matter of time before Rush said some- thing insanely stupid and the gun went off. The end came sooner than even I expected, when last week Limbaugh said, while com- menting on Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, "I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quar- terback do well. There is a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the per- formance of this team that he didn't deserve." You didn't really expect Rush to play nice and simply talk football, did you? Facing discontent among his "Countdown" cohorts, Limbaugh resigned his position at ESPN shortly after mak- ing the comment. I watched Limbaugh on ESPN for the same reason I watch George W. Bush's speeches: to see him screw up. Of course he'll have nothing insightful to say, so I just lay in wait for that inevitable snafu. It's unfortunate that my beloved ESPN had to be the vehicle for such perverse pleasure, but not even ESPN can escape the vicious cycle cre- ated by reality TV; we as an audience delight in the misery and endangerment of others. This mentality gave rise to the Jerry Springers and "Fear Factors" of the world, providing a never- ending stream of suffering and peril to revel in. Until recently, the particular brands of mis- ery and endangerment that we so enjoy have been comparatively insubstantial. The situations presented on "Springer" and "Fear Factor" are wholly concocted for entertainment purposes. But with the application of the reality TV audience's mentality to events that are really real, a terrifying new type of audience is born. The line between reality and "reality" becomes obscured. It's easy to watch and laugh as some toothless wonder embarrasses himself on "The Jerry Springer Show" - the worst that can hap- pen to him is he gets scratched by his catty ex- wife. But Rush Limbaugh's career could very well be over in light of recent events. It all sounds so hilarious until you remember that an actual person's well-being is at stake. Even some perceptive enough to grasp the reality of the situation want to see Rush in even more pain. ESPN com Page 2 columnist Ralph Wiley wrote upon Limbaugh's firing, "I didn't want Rush to quit. I wanted him to stand in there and be forced to take it for the full 12 rounds. See how bad it would get - like when your friend keeps double-or-nothing raising against your pat straight flush." With real people like Limbaugh inadvertent- ly stealing the spotlight, entertainers are forced to take their performances to absurd heights just to get a rise out of today's audiences. Last Sun- day night, Britain's Channel Four showed self- described "psychological illusionist" Derren Brown playing a game of Russian roulette. A randomly selected person loaded one bullet into a revolver, which Brown then put to his head. He squeezed the trigger four times before removing the gun from his head and firing a live round into a nearby wall. Meanwhile back in the United States, "Hell on Earth," a small-time industrial rock band planned to have a terminally ill fan commit sui- cide onstage during the band's show in St. Petersburg, Fla. When the St. Petersburg City Council stepped in to prevent the show from going on, band member Billy Tourtelot issued a statement saying, "This is about standing up for what you believe in, and I am a strong supporter of physician-assisted suicide." How bohemian. Publicity stunts or not, these two events illustrate the perverse heights to which modern- day freaks are willing to go. Bearded ladies and sword swallowers just can't cut it anymore. Pretty soon, if people aren't actually dying, we won't be watching. Hoard can be reached atl.ho@umich.edu. . 4 4 Electronic concrete-reinforced fences HUSSAIN RAHIM NARCOLEPTIC INSOMNIA srael must not feel Iran, Pakistan or even Saudi Arabia be next? Palestinians' struggle for their freedom and constrained in The simplicity of a two-nation solution that more innocent Palestinians die than defending the becomes a multinational dispute when other innocent Jews in Israel." homeland." nations can cite self-defense as an interest in the I later realized the sad truth that this fact This was the Bush region. Israel's actions can and will be labeled doesn't even matter. The manner is which the response to Israel's attack as those of a dangerous and paranoid Zionist suicide attacks occur are much more power- on Syria for the alleged government by captious Muslim extremists. ful than the casualty numbers will ever be. harboring and encourage- . What is does more embarrassingly than The power of images and ideas are much ment of terrorist training anything else is put the Bush administration more vivid and easily overwhelm statistics. It camps. Couple this phrase in the last place it wants to be, out in the doesn't say "These people are serious, let's with veiled condemnation open where it has to make definitive policy bargain with them." It says "Even their lead- and apparent threats from America to reduce declarations and risk contradicting a ership helps with these attacks; these are ani- the three-year $9 billion loan guarantees for beloved and powerful ally. Upon escalating mals not to be trusted." The reality of the Israel's continued construction of a glorified international warfare in the region how does situation and the disparity between the two wall/security barrier separating the West Bank America say it only wants to root out terror- powers must be acknowledged over the from mainland Israel and you have one ism when whole nations are pulled into con- ideals. Equal media representation is a cute ambiguous message from the United States on flict, and how effectively can it help with idea, but the reality is the Palestinians must its stand in this conflict. forces already spread paper thin between behave in all the eyes of all; the Jews, the Continuing in a well-worn cycle of unpro- two wars? media, America, and the world for them to be voked futile action and reckless excessive reac- Also called to the front is a pathetic seen as people to bargain with. tion, a suicide bomber killed 19 in a cafe before Palestinian leadership and culture of vio- While frivolously expanding the scope ene- Yom Kippur commenced and Israel in turn lence that needs to be addressed before any mies in this conflict, the government may have bombed Syria to help Syria recognize Israel's real changes are to be made. The crux of the to expand the size of its wall to envelop all sovereignty. How much of the reaction was due issue is that suicide bombings don't look sides of their country from new threats. Israel to the coincidence with the religious holiday or pretty in the newspaper, nor do they engen- has proved throughout history that it is thor- just unfettered animosity towards Syria is hard der any feelings of sympathy to the Palestin- oughly capable of defending itself from its to determine, but the result is an unnecessarily ian cause. Arousing ire from Palestinians are detractor but there is no need to refresh the his- increased complication in the situation in the emotional pieces in the paper about David tory books. How do you build a wall to keep Middle East. Many Arab countries ostensibly Applebaum, the head of a hospital emer- out your neighbors when some of them live in contribute to the funding and training of terror- gency room for suicide bomb victims. He your house and some of your people live in ist groups that do their damage in Israel, but by and his engaged daughter were killed by the theirs? Relax, don't feel constrained, build a directly attacking one tangible nation out of same bombs he dedicated his profession to wall or two, but make them long. many, the vacuum effect is increased as this healing. I was once told that "Nat Turner action potentially draws additional countries didn't invalidate the struggle for black free- Hussain can be reached into open conflict with the Palestinians. Would dom nor does a suicide attack invalidate the at hrahim@umich.edu. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR 0 0 4 a Democratic voters best served by voting Democrat, not for Green party To THE DAILY: Aubrey Henretty's column, Forget 'awful' Democratic Party: Vote Stewart/Vedder in '04 (10/07/03) is a godsend to Republicans. The Democratic Party sucks? If you are a Repub- lican speaking those words, that is perfectly fine with me: To each his own. But, to call yourself a liberal and then waste your vote on the Green Party is absolutely disgusting. more years with Dubya. REKHA NATH LSA senior Diversity more than skin deep; revisions of Honors program misguided To THE DAILY: In light of the recent criticisms of the LSA Honors Program's lack of diversity (Honors program criticized for shortage of diver- sity, 10/03/03), I would like to ask who we most, if not all of them, are from the same comfortable socio-economic class that I am from. So besides the color of skin, what diversity are we promoting? While there is nothing wrong with helping ourselves, let us not constantly pat ourselves on our backs, believing that our diverse admission policies are a reflection of our liberal benevolence. According to the Daily's staff editorial With honors (10/06/03), the underrepresenta- tion of minorities is a product of the Honors Program's "reliance on standardized test scores and high school grade point aver- ages," which, "often works to the disadvan- tage of minority students." Did I read correctly - the LSA Honors Program 0 I 14A L 4 .U 41A L'~ ~I.P~UJ. LU 4U~ 4Aj ~ LU4~. i~. L~ flt4LUA. ...m....... .. < Aii