How do we deal with public failure? Dwight Howard missed two crucial free throws at the end of regulation in Game Four of the 2009 NBA Finals. For the previous 47 minutes, he had been scintillating in the game: Nine blocked shots 20 rebounds, 16 points. And yet, the world has a right to focus and does focus on the missed free throws. And I am sure that Howard is devastated. It seems inevitable that the Magic will lose the championship.
We all live with failure, though most of our failures are not public. I turn to my latest obsession, radio talk show hosts. Particularly Dennis Prager, Michael Medved, and Hugh Hewitt the most intellectual hosts I know about. Each has authored books that are not about being a talk show host. Both are in the business of bashing the current president and lionizing their two favorite presidents of recent years, George Bush and the iconographic Ronald Reagan.
Prager paints a picture of an America in serious decline. The sky is falling on America fast and the only thing that will save it is married heterosexual men and women who take organized religion seriously and pass on their traditions to their children. He is so dedicated to heterosexual marriage that he has done it thrice. And he is dedicated to children: he had one with his first wife, got a second one in the deal when he married his second ex, and they adopted one together. So... he is doing his part. Has he had any public failings? According to him, no. He is right about all of the following issues, which he believes are bunk or worse: global warming (there is none), second hand smoke (not harmful), cigarette smoking (not healthy, but fun and possibly even increases life expectancy for some individuals), homosexual marriage (gays are allowed to marry right now, just not a member of their own sex, so why change tradition). President Obama is doing the exact opposite of what he should be doing: he's increasing taxes, increasing the deficit to mind-numbing heights, closing Gitmo, saying the wrong things, doing the wrong things. The president is performing horribly in all areas. And if he continues, he will destroy what is already broken.
What has Mr. Prager been wrong about? According to his own accounts, nothing. By my score, the Y2K computer scare, which he endorsed, baby Richard, to whom he was going to spend the rest of his life defending, singles seminars that he sponsored, flooring companies, gold-selling companies, painting companies, air filter companies, and the like. Although he is virulently against academia, he trots out his Master's degree from Columbia University on virtually every show. Several years ago, he was considering a senatorial campaign to defeat Barbara Boxer. He gave that up because of the strain it would have put on his second marriage. His sacrifice in not running probably did give that marriage an extended life, though it did not last.
Mr. Medved, the erstwhile movie critic, focuses like a laser beam on all sorts of issues, has basically the same stand as Prager on all things, and has been right about many things: Senator McCain was a great candidate for president, Sarah Palin was the perfect choice for a VP candidate. Foreign aid should be abolished. Down with the Department of Commerce, Education, and seven more at least. No foreign aid, no school lunches, no freebies for anyone. Seattle-based, he moved out of California to the land of a soggy Bigfoot. Fortunately, given his lecture and book-signing schedule, he escapes from Seattle every chance he gets. We get to hear him from Israel, from Hawaii, California, Texas and the like quite frequently.
More to come
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