Fox in the Hen House
One of the recurring themes at Perrspectives is the growing Achilles Heel of the conservative movement. Dormant for two presidential elections, the yawning chasm between economic and social conservatives is reemerging, and with it, a serious threat to the Republicans' majority status.
In the wake of its Schiavo disaster and the revolt over the Harriet Miers nomination, conservatives are coming to blows yet again. This time, the battleground is television content. The family values merchants at the Parents Television Council (PTC) issued their list of the 10 Worst Shows for family viewing.
The PTC's biggest offender? The Fox Network. The same people who bring you Fox News, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and the rest of the culture warriors who serve as the media appendage of the Republican Party. It was O'Reilly after all, the accused sexual harrasser and falafel fetishist, who proclaimed:
"Children are exposed to a constant media barrage of degenerate behavior, and if they want a break, commercial television now offers them a variety of 'reality' programs where they can watch people eat bugs and demean women...call me crazy, but I don't think porn stars are great role models for American kids."
Fox itself shows all the fissures of the coming conservative crack-up. Four of its shows top the PTC's list. And its earlier hit Melrose Place featured porn star Traci Lords on the show. At the same time, Bill O'Reilly concluded of the Janet Jackson Super Bowl breast display, "our popular culture has collapsed."
In a repeat of last year's Terrell Owens Monday Night Football imbroglio, the Religious Right sees a culture at risk; the laissez faire free marketeers want media markets, concentration and ownership unfettered by the heavy hand of the government.
Unfortunately for them, they can't have it both ways.
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