The tyranny of the sound
bite has been universally denounced as a leading cause of the low state of America's political dis- course. "If you couldn't say
it in less than 10 seconds," former gover- nor Michael Dukakis declared after the 1988 presidential campaign, "it wasn't heard because it wasn't aired." Somewhat chastened, the nation's television networks now are suggesting that they will be more generous in covering the 1992 campaign, and some candidates have already be...
An autumn episode of America's most consis- tently intelligent and fiercely realistic prime- time television series opened with Homer Simpson watching the news. "And, to con- clude this Halloween newscast on a sca-a- ry note," said the anchorman, "remember, the presidential primaries are only a few months away. Heh-heh-heh."
There is no escaping now. Since mid- January, the Washington Post and New York Times have allocated at least one full inside page to the 1992 campaign...
THE MEDIA MAKE THE CAMPAIGN
Milton Berle once said that criticizing tele- vision was like describing an auto acci- dent to the victims. With all due respect to Berle, one might argue that the journalistic and scholarly media analysis spawned by the vast expansion of TV coverage of politics since 1960 is more like preventive medicine.
The news media have been objects of al- most constant controversy since the late 1960s, when they were accused of turning the Ameri- can public against the Vietnam W...
Two years ago, the young son of a British friend of mine asked a question that aston- ished and delighted his mid- die-aged father. "Daddy," the boy inquired, "can a man ever become prime minister in this coun- try?" From the boy's standpoint, it was a perfectly valid inquiry. A child of the 1980s, born after Margaret Thatcher's first elec- tion in 1979, entering nursery school around the time of her second electoral tri- umph in 1983, and old enough to scan the newspapers...
misunderstanding. Many supposed "breakthroughs" are only beginnings, and some have Iikle -more substance than cold fusion. Our authors explore the science behind the head- lines, assessing the specter of eugenics and pondering the impact of genetic research on our understanding of human nature itself.
WQ SPRING 1992
Joel L. Swerdlow
0ver the centuries, medi- cal progress has eased human suffering and prolonged human lives without asking much in return. Vaccinations, antibiotics, and o...
0ver the centuries, medi- cal progress has eased human suffering and prolonged human lives without asking much in return. Vaccinations, antibiotics, and open-heart surgery, to name a few advances, have not generally posed significant moral problems. Today, however, the dawn of an era of gene-based medicine holds out tantalizing promises that carry with them a growing list of new and often disturbing choices for individ- uals, for physicians and researchers, and for society at large.
Some dilemmas...
In April 199 1, an exposition opened
in the hall atop Paris's great arch of La Defense under the title, La Vie En Kit (Life in a Test Tube)- ~thi~ue
et Biologic. Along with the
displays about molecular genetics and human genome research were a cata- logue and placard by psychoanalyst Monette Vaquin. The latter captured many of the anxieties aroused by this subject:
Today, astounding paradox, the generation following Nazism is giving the world the tools of eugenics beyond the wildest Hit...
Howard L. Kaye
Applause and a collective sigh of relief greeted the announcement in 1990 that a portion of the U.S. Human Genome Project's budget would be set aside each year for studies of the social and ethi- cal implications of genetic research. Mind- ful of past experience with the atom and other revolutionary research put to uses that were not fully anticipated, scientists and administrators now seemed prepared to grapple with the possible uses and abuses of their work while it was underway.
Yet...
The remarkable advances in genetics during the last 50 years have prompted an out- pouring of books and articles about the sci- ence. Along with journalists, many of the more prominent researchers have weighed in with books for the general reader. This has proved to be a mixed blessing. While throwing consider- able light on a complicated science, the array of books can be bewildering. While a number of these may seem to be about genetics-in- eluding Francois Jacob's The Logic of Life (Pantheon,...
It has become a tiresome subject, and I feel more than a little perverse
bringing it up. Still, there is more to
be said-much more-so let me be-
gin. American fiction, the genre, is
in a muddle. I specify "genre" be- cause the problem does not have to do so much with the individual works, which are various and often excellent, but with the form itself. And to contain the generalizing impulse, if only slightly, I will specify still further: It is the American novel that is in a...