George Bush Doesn’t Care About… Someone

Today, Inky culture writer Annette John-Hall writes about — what else? — Dancing with the Stars. And the results are in: Dancing is good for men, good for women, indeed, good for America!

You see, Evander Holyfield was on it once. And Jerry Rice was runner-up last year. And, this fall, Emmitt Smith will be on the show, making it three Hall of Fame athletes making some extra cash after their careers are over. (Well, Holyfield is now boxing again. But still.)

And so, John-Hall thinks it’s good for men, specifically black men, who are won over by the “cool-pose culture.” Maybe Emmitt Smith can show people it’s okay to dress up and dance. Fair enough. But, of course, there’s also this:

The message is reinforced widely - from the words and imagery of hip-hop, to the reproachful taunting in sports, even from the White House, [Mark Anthony] Neal tells me.

“Say what you want about [White House] policies, one of Bush’s successes was getting across the message that a real man never wavers. You attack first; attack before they attack you. So it’s coming from the top.”

Yep! All those kids in the cities, taking after the president, clearing brush on their ranches, still not being able to find WMDs. That kind of thing.

Manly men can wear cleats and dance shoes [Inquirer]