Note: Republished from October 1, 2013 and April 5, 2021

"Warning: Portions of the following program may destroy what little faith you have left in human nature." – National Review cartoon (1/26/96)

NO WONDER this country has to spend millions of dollars on a little blue pill; every checkout counter in the country is wall-papered with sex. We walk by it without even being affected one bit. And since when is that a good thing? The publishers of the celeb/pop-cult magazines won't understand a single word of this column, but before I go too far, let's define three words: modesty, prude, and jaded.

From Old French, prudefemme translated roughly "a fine thing of a woman." PREU meant fine, brave, and virtuous. The English word "proud" came from the same roots – and judging by the fads of fashion, some women don't seem to have much pride in themselves anymore.

The word "modesty" – does that have anything to do with arrogance or phony self-esteem? Well, for modesty, my dictionary lists the following synonyms: decorous, demure, and unpretentious. Other definitions include "showing regard for the decencies of behavior or dress" and "not showy or ostentatious." And "ostentation" means "a pretentious display" (no pun intended).

As for the word JADED, that doesn't refer to the jade in jewelry but to "an old worn-out horse" or "a sorry nag." To be "jaded" is "to be satiated by overindulgence" and the noun jade used to mean "a disreputable woman, wench, or hussy."

The 1973 Miriam-Webster says that the verb jade meant "to tire, weary, fag, or tucker," and analogous words included "satiated" and "emasculated."

"As for my people, women shall rule over them." – Isaiah

One of the ways women 'rule over' men is by taking control of their eyes – the game of "hide and seek" – no pun intended on the "hide" comment. The tease is an old, old game but it's more out in the "open" now, and becoming a serious problem.

Maybe it takes a bachelor to "cover" this story. The "in-your-faceness" certainly hits us the hardest (almost cruelly so)! The "pearl-of-great-price" is becoming "a pig-in-a-poke." Sorry, but we Yoopers are a bit old-fashioned. And when one sees bare breast even in church now, you can't just "change the channel"!

From the 10/28/03 USA TODAY I saved an article about "Fashion Week" in Los Angeles. A fashion analyst said, "It isn't just about the clothes coming down the runway. It's this morphing of a world . . . [and people say] 'I want to get in.'"

Yes, while supposedly dressing to please men, the pop-cult women are mostly dressing for other women in the attempt to OUT-DO them. It's the women who talk about the awards shows around the water cooler at work, not the men. The "men" who haul the "stars" down the carpet look like bored accessories.

BY THE WAY, where do they find these sheepish-looking actors? Where do they come from? I haven't seen a Heston or a Reagan in Hollywood for a long, long time. I guess the only thing that rises to the top in a LaLa Land utopia is pond scum.

CONCLUSION -

A dumb question: Why did the White House and State Dept. draw attention to an obscure You Tube "video" after Bengazhi? What about the hundreds and hundreds of offensive "videos" coming out of Hollywood and Northridge? Here are a few famous Hollywood quotations:

• "Hollywood's a place where they'll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss, and fifty cents for your soul." – Marilyn Monroe

• Hollywood is one big whore." – Freddie Prinze

• "Trash seeks its own level." – Celeste Huston

• "I would not willingly eat anything that had intelligent life. But I would willingly eat a producer." – Marty Feldman

• "They have great respect for the dead in Hollywood, but none for the living." – Errol Flynn

• "If you ask me to play myself, I will not know what to do. I do not know who or what I am." – Peter Sellers

• "Success means never having to admit you're unhappy." – Robert Evans

And finally an older anecdote. According to the story, the writer Samuel Johnson was being shown around the estate of the actor David Garrick, and after viewing the mansion and the grounds, Johnson shook his head and said, "David, David, these are the things that make the deathbed terrible!"

P.S. Do you realize that people like Miley Cyrus consider themselves the elites? They think they are elite by definition because the majority of the people aren't "WITH IT" out in fly-over country, the back-waters, and the Outback (the hicks in the sticks). Excuse me before I start laughing out loud.

Modesty is NOT lost forever. It's just been wandering for 40 years in the Wilderness.