The headline to this editorial is
"20 years later, it turns out Dan Quayle was right about Murphy Brown and unmarried moms."
I don't know how many of you are old enough to remember what that headline signifies. So for those of you who weren't around, I'll explain.
Back in 1992 during the election season, Vice President Dan Quayle criticized the TV show "Murphy Brown" for glorifying single motherhood. His statement had the same effect as when Donald Trump made his comment about Mexican rapists.
In other words, it sparked an all-out media explosion that went on for months. Quayle was mocked on every talk show and in every newspaper and magazine. Time magazine even did a cover where they put "Murphy Brown" star Candice Bergen on the cover, looking smug and self-satisfied and wearing a "Murphy Brown for President" button (see image below).
This had a negative effect for Quayle, needless to say. He was always the butt of jokes, but he became a total laughingstock. I vividly remember a woman on a talk show going into a cross-eyed, insane rant that ended with her saying "Murphy Brown is a FICTIONAL CHARACTER!!!" as if that made Quayle comment irrelevant.
Yet no one stopped to examine the hypocrisy of Hollywood. To give an example of this, what if a TV producer came out and said: "OK, well if it doesn't matter what fictional characters do, then meet the hero of my new sitcom, Billy Rapist, who rapes a new girl each episode and gets away with it! That should be fine, though. Because, after all, Billy Rapist IS A FICTIONAL CHARACTER so who cares what he does?!"
History has proven Quayle 100 percent correct. No one here needs me to say why he was right. We all know the statistics and have seen the damage wrought by single motherhood.
Be thankful you have the Internet on which you can discuss this. Back in 1992, Big Media ruled and the only point of view anyone got was theirs.
I'm surprised the Washington Post even ran this. They got the time period slightly incorrect, though. This happened closer to 25 years ago. Quayle made that speech in 1992.
Here it is if anyone want to see it.