"What is 'moral panic,' Alex?"
Even if witches actually exist, that doesn't mean every suspect is a witch.
There is a very fine line between concern about a real, pressing social issue, and a paranoid witch hunt, and it’s been crossed many times.
We know sexual assault of children, sometimes in our most trusted institutions, is all too real. But the “Satanic panic” of the eighties, which sent people to jail based on fantastical claims of ritual abuse children were coerced into making, was a moral panic.
We know that the Soviet KGB did indeed have infiltrators at high levels of the American government. But the “Red Scare” and McCarthyite witchhunt of the fifties, which ruined the lives of many innocent people, was a moral panic.
And so it is with racism and white supremacy. The rise of Trump, Capitol insurrection of January 6, prevalent conspiracy theories and race hatred spread online, and systemic police brutality are very real problems.
This, on the other hand, is pure, unadulterated moral panic:
A growing list of more than 450 former Jeopardy contestants are calling for action after a recent winner allegedly flashed a hand gesture that has become associated with white supremacist hate groups, and, in another instance, responded to a clue with a term that is considered a slur.
In an open letter published to Medium on Wednesday, the group writes, "A recent contestant has caused concern among Jeopardy! viewers for two separate occurrences, and we as former contestants feel the need to speak out against the messaging that these choices communicated — either intentionally or unintentionally — by the contestant Kelly Donohue and, implicitly by association, the producers of Jeopardy!"
On Tuesday's episode, Donohue made a hand gesture during his on-camera introduction that he later said on social media signified the number three, as he was the three-day champion. In his previous episodes, he gestured with one finger and two fingers in accordance with the number of games he'd won.
But some viewers were struck by Donohue's specific finger positions, which, according to the open letter, "whether intentional or not, resembled very closely a gesture that has been coopted by white power groups, alt right groups, and an anti-government group that calls itself the Three Percenters." (According to the Anti-Defamation League, the "'okay' hand gesture" began as a hoax but has been used by right-wing trolls and white supremacists.)
The open letter calls on Donohue to publicly apologize "for the ramifications of the gesture he made" and disavow "any connection to white supremacist doctrines," and urges the show to "address Kelly's behavior" and take measures to ensure that "future mistakes of this magnitude never make it on air."
In a since-deleted Facebook post addressing the blowback, Donohue said he just wanted to "count my victories."
Donohue has since issued an apology, which I think will make the righteous online mob back down, because I have no idea how the internet works.
Look, I could be wrong. Maybe it’s not a coincidence that he used the term “gypsy,” now considered offensive, in one of his answers (or should that be questions?) on the show. I’m sure people are tearing through Donohue’s social media accounts right now, looking for a racist comment he might have made in 1985 or something.
Maybe he is as obsessively online as the rest of us, and knows that the venerable “OK” hand sign is now considered a racist gesture, as result of arguably the most successful online prank in history.
Or maybe we’ve all gone completely fucking insane, and we’re frantically looking for scapegoats to keep the Red Guards off our trail.
The whole debate is stupid, anyway. If you’re a fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000, you know that this hand gesture is the universally accepted symbol for “It stinks!”
As a Bears fan, the biggest story from this week’s NFL draft is our selection of this guy as our QB of the future:
The best Bears QB of the 2000s was a guy who was a meme for not looking like he cared about playing, so hopefully Fields breaks our long streak of mediocrity at the most important position in football. How many legendary defensive players have wasted their careers watching Mike Glennon and Chad Hutchinson from the sidelines? (Sad but true: Mitchell Trubisky might be in the top half of Bears quarterbacks in the 21st century.)
The most inspiring story of the draft, however, came with the 21st pick:
Kwity Paye was the 21st selection of the 2021 NFL Draft Thursday night, a milestone achievement for any football player. But Paye made the moment even better, with his mom standing next to him on live television, the NFL-bound defensive end told her she’s done working.
Paye’s path to the NFL is nothing short of remarkable, and his mother’s resilience is a big reason why. His mother, Agnes Paye escaped two civil wars in West Africa. Paye, himself, was born at a refugee camp in Guinea after the first Liberian civil war. Eventually, Ms. Paye fled to Rhode Island with her two sons, who were able to attend private school because she worked two jobs.
After earning a scholarship and playing college football for the University of Michigan, the first-round draft pick and newest member of the Indianapolis Colts is finally in position to take care of his mother. Wasting little time to do so, Paye made the announcement on live television during an interview with College GameDay’s Maria Taylor.
Senator Tim Scott’s response to the State of the Union address has ignited a furious online debate about whether the United States is fundamentally racist. God knows, there is no shortage of evidence - from the past, and even today - for the affirmative case.
But America is also a place where people from all over the world - including the very continent whose people were once brought to the country in chains - have come to make their dreams come true. That is a fundamental part of the story, too.
Speaking of Jeopardy! I’ve fallen down a rabbit hole of old SCTV sketches on YouTube these past few days, and I re-discovered Eugene Levy’s Alex Trebel” character. This sketch has Levy and Catherine O’Hara at the absolute height of their powers:
The SNL version of Celebrity Jeopardy! featuring Well Ferrell was actually based on Levy’s portrayal - Norm MacDonald even got Levy’s blessing to do it - and it really shows in this episode of “Half Wits.”
Has this much comedic talent - right here in Canada, no less - ever been congregated in one place?