Three members of Bucknell College’s Conservative Club were dressed down for their use of “offensive” language. Their offense? In an e-mail promoting a speaker, they wrote, “Where were you during the months following September 11? Major John Krenson was hunting terrorists” in Afghanistan. The offending part isn’t immediately clear, but it turns out that in the cosseted world of Bucknell the phrase “hunting terrorists” is verboten. University president Brian C. Mitchell called it “unfortunate language” and said that he wished to “prevent this from happening again.” Got it: Next time, make it, “Krenson was trying to start a useful dialogue on sensitive issues with freedom fighters subjected to U.S. imperialism.”
An interesting example of cultural cross-fertilization showed up on our TV screens the other day when Martha Stewart, our national icon of middle-class domesticity, played hostess on her talk show to rapper and pop-music entrepreneur — he is the founder of Bad Boy Entertainment — Sean Combs, a.k.a. “Diddy.” Mr. Combs taught hip-hop slang to Ms. Stewart, and watched with approval while she rapped: “It’s Miss Martha from Jersey City / I’ll bake you a cake and make your crib look pretty . . .” Ms. Stewart’s venture into street culture seemed to us to fall into that category of performances famously remarked on by Doctor Johnson: It was not done well, but one was surprised to find it done at all. We doubt Ms. Stewart will have much of a career as a rap singer. The other side of the exchange was more promising. Mr. Combs learned how to make Chinese dumplings, how to personalize wrapping paper, and the proper way of watering house plants, accomplishments that will no doubt enrich his future life, broaden his horizons, and elevate his standing among his peers.
On October 3, 1995, O. J. Simpson was acquitted of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman. On September 30, 2005, Simpson was back in Los Angeles, autographing sports memorabilia for a horror-movie convention. “I don’t keep these dates in my head,” Simpson remarked of the near-coincidence, no doubt because his pursuit of the real killers has been all-consuming.
From National Review, OCTOBER 24, 2005, VOL. LVII, NO. 19
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