The American Spectator

Washington Prowler

(Page 2 of 5)

p> Down and Out (posted 4/16/03 4:08 p.m.) br> Baseball's Hall of Fame committed a grievous error when, for patriotic reasons, it struck out at Susan Sarandon and canceled a planned fifteenth anniversary showing of Bull Durham in which she and her young mate Tim Robbins starred. There were, after all, other ways to retaliate against Sarandon. For instance, the folks at Cooperstown could have run a more recent Sarandon flick, Igby Goes Down , in which she plays as a character modeled on Mme. Ceausescu, Mrs. Milosevic and Leona Helmsley. How fans in baseball land would have cheered as Igby and his brother poison their mother, played by Sarandon, and finish her off by tying a plastic bag over her head. In finest liberal fashion, that moment was supposed to come off as an exercise in dark humor. The only thing missing was a "V" sign from Sarandon. Next thing you know she'll be playing Martha Burk in an upcoming biopic. /p>

Much as most devotees of culture would rather never write about Burk again, the New York Times leaves them with no choice. Today it was Times sports columnist George Vecsey's turn, in the sort of column CNN might have required of its correspondents in Baghdad. How drunken and drugged was Vecsey when he rose to Burk's defense? It's the most over-the-top performance since Susan Sarandon drove over the edge in Thelma and Louise's happy ending. So Burk attracted only 40 protesters to her side at the Masters? Vecsey begins. Numbers, schnumbers. The goal was to get "people talking." She discomfited the powerful. She got the process going. Soon enough the whole world will be watching. As Vecsey writes about one of Burk's predecessors, "Before long, Martin Luther ing Jr. was preaching to millions at the mall in Washington." It's too late to ask if the Times has no shame. Just enjoy the ride.

Vecsey gives new meaning to Current Wisdom. He writes: "Martha Burk served as a prophet. And we all know that prophets are not necessarily heard or respected in their time. They are seen as loonies or harpies. The public scolds."

Then, seriously, hilariously, deliriously, pathetically, he quotes from a Simon & Garfunkel song:

p> em>The words of the prophets br> Are written on the subway walls

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