#Fans reject woke revolution and other commentary

Members of the Los Angeles Rams stand and kneel during the national anthem before their game against the Dallas Cowboys.
AP

Gallup data show “public devotion to America’s great cultural pastimes has collapsed in the last year, as political turmoil has infected what used to be an escape,” The Federalist’s Tristan Justice reports. The “sports industry now boasts a negative image among US adults: 30 percent see the sports industry positively, compared to 40 percent reporting a negative image.” That’s a huge drop from a year ago, when it “enjoyed a net-positive 20 percent rating.” And nonwhite Americans “dropped their support for the industry more steeply than did white Americans.” Such are “the consequences of the industry embracing the all-encompassing woke revolution,” with players “now being forced to explain why they stand for the National Anthem rather than take a knee.”

Libertarian: States Don’t Need a Bailout

States “hoping for a federal bailout are likely to be on their own for the foreseeable future,” leading the likes of The New York Times to warn of a “dire fiscal crisis,” observes Reason’s Eric Boehm. Alaska “chopped resources for public broadcasting,” the Times frets, and New York City “gutted a nascent composting program.” Many states canceled pay hikes for teachers and others. Huh? “That doesn’t sound like a crisis,” says Boehm — merely proper budgeting when revenues are down. Besides, the “picture for state budgets looks less pessimistic now,” with several watchdogs predicting lower shortfalls than thought earlier in the pandemic. Even in the worst case, there’s “little indication” that states need the $1 trillion Democrats demand. And a bailout would only give them “less incentive to address” future budget woes.

Culture critic: The Problem With ‘Cuties’

The backlash in America over “Cuties,” a Netflix film chronicling preteen girls coming of age, “baffled” its French filmmakers, who describe the project as “a social commentary against the sexualization of young children,” reports National Review’s Madeleine Kearns. But the problem isn’t the message. It’s the choice to depict actual minors “in ways that, in any other context, would be considered reprehensible, if not criminal” — like abusing animals to show the horrors of animal cruelty. And while “the moral outrage of Americans at the first whiff of pedophilia was deeply reassuring,” it’s a shame the “line was crossed” at all. Kearns concludes: “The makers of ‘Cuties’ didn’t merely simulate the cultural degradation and abuse of children” — they enacted it.

Media watch: Tucker Corners CNN

Tucker Carlson “torments CNN, often unfairly,” argues The Washington Post’s Erik Wemple, but this time, the populist Fox News host has proof of bias: “an audio recording of CNN anchor Chris Cuomo coaching then-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen in person on how to answer tough questions about the Stormy Daniels scandal.” Specifically, Cuomo told Cohen to insist that his only motive in paying Daniels hush money was that he did it for Trump. The anchor also suggested Cohen warn, “If you can’t prove that I got paid back by Trump or the campaign, it is slander and defamation for you to say that I did,” and then attack any questioners’ motives. Cuomo, in other words, “appears to be recommending, or at least validating, the deployment by Cohen of a media slam in an upcoming interview.” Even if Cuomo was trying “to lure Cohen on his program,” this is “particularly cynical and soulless behavior.”

Religion beat: A Rapper for God

At First Things, Liel Liebovitz profiles Young Rechnitz, an Orthodox Jewish rapper whose single Yeshivishe Mozart “delivers a torrent of one-liners that are as thought-provoking as they are hilarious.” Rechnitz’ lines weave the “joys and mysteries of religious life,” even as they also make for great rap. “At ease in his skin, cheered on by his community and propelled forth by his faith, Young Rechnitz felt comfortable enough to reach out to pop culture at large, take a few sick beats and stitch together a song that reminds us that the secular and the religious, the profound and the profane — all are parts of God’s magical creation.”

— Compiled by The Post Editorial Board