Commentaries
October 2003

Vietnam's Postwar Legacy
The father of commentator Karen Spears Zacarias was killed in the Vietnam war, so she had always thought of Vietnam as a violent place -- until she visited it earlier this year.

Analyzing Visions of Virgin Mary
Recently, people gathered in a parking lot in Milton, Mass., to look at a hospital window. People in the crowd said they were looking at an image of the Virgin Mary. Hospital officials said that all they saw was condensation on the window. Commentator Heather King takes all witnesses at their word.

Bush's New Line on North Korea
Commentator Daniel Schorr says that the Bush administration's cautious handling of nuclear-armed North Korea suggests that the "axis of evil" doctrine is being re-examined.

Boxing in Africa
Cape Town, South Africa, is a long way from Boston, when commentator Joe Wright is in school. So when he went to Cape Town recently, he did a lot of things he doesn't normally, including going to a boxing match.

Behind 'The Man'
Commentator Jeremy Richards exposes the identity of "The Man." The murky figure at the heart of such sayings as, "The Man is keeping us down," and, "It's time to rise up against The Man," has long been a mystery -- until now.

John Paul's Activist Legacy
Commentator Gustav Niebuhr says that Pope John Paul II is being celebrated for many accomplishments, but he would like to highlight one specific incident. In 1999, the pope convinced the governor of Missouri to commute a death sentence to life without parole.

Pre-Emptive Strikes a Must
Commentator Ken Adelman argues that regardless of the evidence of banned weapons in Iraq, the Bush administration should continue its policy of pre-emptive military strikes. Ken Adelman is a member of the Defense Policy Board in Washington.

Bush is Back
NPR's Daniel Schorr says that it has been a good week for President Bush, as his job approval rating is on the upswing and his Iraq resolution is once again under consideration in the United Nations.

White House Spin
White House press secretary Scott McClellan often holds a question and answer session with reporters at noon. Commentator -- and Washington editor of The Nation -- David Corn sat in on a recent session.

Taking Boston's Biggest Stage
Commentator Jim Infantino and his band, Jim's Big Ego, sang the national anthem at Fenway Park this year. It was a dream come true for Jim, who describes singing on the field with 30,000 people watching and listening. We'll hear the performance and learn how difficult it was to do.

Daniel Schorr Commentary: Bush's Image of Disarray
NPR's Daniel Schorr says that despite last week's public relations efforts, the Bush administration's backstage quarrels and bureaucratic wrangling still project an image of disarray.

Kobe Bryant
For commentator Marion Winik, the public's fascination with the on-going rape case against Kobe Bryant is not a so much about celebrity, but rather an age-old fascination with finding true justice.

Andrei Codrescu Commentary: Messing with Texas
Commentator Andrei Codrescu visits a Texas history museum and recounts his version of the founding of the state in terms that are very un-Texan. He counts up the number of minorities flattened to make the state a state.

Commentary: Farmer Time
Teacher and commentator Daniel Ferri realizes that he's found the connection between his English class and biology.

Navajos in Tibet
When some Native-American friends visited commentator Anne Norton-McBride in Tibet, she noticed that the cultures of her guests and her neighbors were similar and perhaps have an ancient connection.

L.A. Haircut
Picture the stereotypical Los Angeles woman. She probably has some kind of artificially enhanced beauty: Botox, highlights, maybe a chin-tuck. Not commentator Heather King. When she goes to get a haircut, she can't even tell the hairdresser what she wants. So she finally gave up on expensive cuts and went to the Marinello School of Beauty -- and got the best haircut of her life.

Bush Increases Accountability
NPR's Daniel Schorr says that President Bush is reacting to waning public confidence in his foreign policy decisions by making his administration more directly accountable for its responses to problems in Iraq and the Middle East.

Options
Commentator Marion Winik has never been one to agonize over making a decison. In fact, she rarley considers her options, which may not be such a bad thing.

My Maid Ola May
Commentator Elissa Ely remembers being a happy, self-centered child who didn't realize how mean she could be to a woman who'd been a maid in her home.

Getting Around the Do-Not-Call List
Satirists Bruce Kluger and David Slavin predict in a sketch that telemarketers are likely to take advantage of loopholes in the Do-Not-Call list policy by disguising sales pitches as religious or political speech or polling.

Limbaugh's Remarks
Conservative radio commentator Rush Limbaugh resigned Wednesday night as an analyst on ESPN's NFL Sunday Countdown television show. His resignation came three days after he made controversial racial remarks involving Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb. Commentator Bob Cook says Limbaugh got into trouble not because he talked about race but because he related race to athletic ability.

The White House and the CIA
NPR's Daniel Schorr says that a White House leak that exposed an undercover CIA operative is a typical example of how presidents and their staffs tend to regard the CIA as an agency whose job it is to support White House policy.

West Virginia Church
Commentator Meredith Gudger is in her first semester of seminary this fall, and she spent all of last year preparing -- by driving around the country and visiting as many churches as she possibly could, including one small congregation in West Virginia. There were only three old women in the congregation the morning that she visited.

Meeting George Plimpton
Commentator Andrei Codrescu recalls his meeting with George Plimpton, who died last week. As a novice writer in the 1960s, newly arrived on these shores, Codrescu sent a long manuscript to The Paris Review. At first he was told that Plimpton, the editor, loved it but thought it too long. Codrescu convinced Plimpton to come downtown and meet him in a bar. They hit it off, and the whole novella was published uncut.

Indoctrination
Commentator Aaron Freeman sent his twin daughters off to San Francisco for a few weeks... to be indoctrinated by the lesbians.

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