Yesterday, Howard Kurtz wrote a sad-sack column about the death of the legitimate entertainment critic.  “It can be revealing to find out what people like you, uncredentialed as they may be, think about the new Meryl Streep movie, Philip Roth novel or noodle joint down the street.  But why does that supplant the need for full-time reviewers?”  

Kurtz’s column follows hot on the heels of a smiley-weepy piece by A.O. Scott in the New York Times, entitled “A Critic’s Place, Thumbs And All.”  His conclusion is that arts criticism will always be around, since “The future of criticism is the same as it ever was.  Miserable, and full of possibility.  The world is always falling down.  The news is always very sad.  The time is always late.  But the fruit is always ripe.” 

It is linguistic Hegelian dialectics like that A.O. Scott paragraph that tell us why “mainstream” criticism is dying: who the hell wants to read that crap?  Kurtz’s piece is whinier, but at least it has the merit of clarity.  He hates the common man, and he thinks that even though the common man may give you better advice on whether or not to see a movie, that common man is still common. There’s a refreshingly honest elitism in Kurtz’s commentary.   (more…)

So, Howard Kurtz, no relation to Tippy the Turtle, had talk show host and Playboy grotto ghoul Bill Maher on his show Reliable Sources over the weekend, and here’s a piece of it.

(ROLL SOT)

Another Fox host, Greg Gutfeld said, “One of the great things about Obama…”

MAHER: Who?

KURTZ: Greg Gutfeld. He’s on…

MAHER: Greg Gutfeld?

KURTZ: He’s on late at night.

MAHER: Is that a real name? Is this a trick question?

KURTZ: No, no, no. I wouldn’t do that. (more…)

When writing my book Censorship: The Threat To Silence Talk Radio, I included one of the Obama campaign’s most hypocritical moments.  After reading this, you’ll have no question why the “Teleprompter of the United States” needs one.  John McCain was no challenge in the debates but Obama avoided this confrontation. An excerpt from my book which Simon & Schuster will publish May 5th:

In late August, 2008, Obama supporters unleashed their venom on Chicago’s WGN radio for allowing a critic of Barack to come on the air.  The station had scheduled an interview with Stanley Kurtz, author of an article that linked Obama to 60’s radical William Ayers.  (Ayers – now a professor in the College of Education at University of Illinois – was co-founder of a radical left-wing organization called the Weather Underground that was responsible for bombings of public buildings in the 60’s and 70’s, resulting in injuries to and deaths of several people.)  (more…)