On Dennis Prager
Prager’s been on the right and in the public eye for decades. Roger L. Simon reports that Larry Elder has suggested that Prager should get the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and Simon agrees:
Many people have their Dennis Prager stories, I among them. He doesn’t know it—I never told him, but I guess I am now— but his influence on me was as strong as anybody’s. Back in the 1990s, when I was still a Jewish liberal but, shall we say, questioning, I would listen to Dennis on the car radio on my way back from tennis, then and now my primary way of getting exercise.
At first I thought he was a bit too right-wing, too rigid, but he was clearly quite intelligent. Gradually, however, he won me over. Maybe it was that “Happiness Hour,” because in those days, like so many liberals, I had bouts with depression. His highly moral, Torah-based, way of thinking also had an impact. He was a man of principle and I admired that, even envied it.
Recently I’ve enjoyed Jordan Peterson’s series on Exodus, and Prager was an active participant in that. I also was aware that last November he suffered a catastrophic fall (at the age of 76) that left him paralyzed and on a respirator. From what I’ve heard, he has improved to the point of now being off the respirator and there is a possibility of some further improvement, and he is set to take up his radio show again.
I wish him all the best, and further healing.
Yeah, he recorded a short message last week and he sounded very good almost the same as he did before the injury which was reassuring because the details of his condition from those close to him had been very vague but not all that encouraging.
I listened to him for years, until I gave up on talk radio for the most part. I still listened to his Male/Female Hour and The Happiness Hour, but eventually moved away from radio altogether. There are things that he said that I still refer to when making a point. I will always be thankful for Dennis and he has been in our prayers. Amazing recovery happening.
O/T, but Prager himself has evolved. Over 20 years ago, I heard Michelle Malkin being interviewed on his radio show, and at one point in the interview she became exasperated with him and asked, “Mr. Prager, do you believe we should even have a southern border?” The last time I heard him (a couple of years ago while in L.A., because neither of Boise’s two talk radio stations carries his broadcast), he sounded Michael Savage-esque, at least on that topic.
Prager was a Trump supporter all three times and he took a lot of grief over it because of his very public religiosity but he has always been able to separate the man from the policy which has seemed to allude so many people.
There are so many little bits of wisdom from him that have stuck with me.
I like Dr. Prager very much, and wish him a swift, and total recovery.
I have always admired Dennis Prager’s declaration that, “I prefer clarity over agreement.”
Dennis Prager was part of how I learned conservatism.
However, at some point he became too scolding for me. I remember the PragerU video where I parted ways:
–PragerU, “Is Marriage Good for Men?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtvfHnZMcOY
The original title was “Be a man. Get Married.” So scoldy they had to change it.
The video was hilariously stupid for any man skeptical of marriage. From that POV PragerU made a great case against marriage — make 20% more money and be a slave to your wife and family for life. Man up! No mention of what happens after divorce.
Anyway, the video was ratioed so badly — vastly more dislikes than likes — that PragerU did the cowardly thing of disabling display of the dislikes. However, one can see that there are over 15,000 comments and almost all of them are negative.
Still, I wish Prager well.
I’ve been listenig to Dennis since the early 90’s. After 9/11 he was the only media figure I trusted to make sense of the atrocity. He has been a major figure in my intellectual, and spiritual growth.
I haven’t been able to find a written account of the accident in which he was injured. This was the first that I heard what had happened. I tried to check the videos posted when I searched for information, but they were so littered with obnoxious ads that I just clicked out. Prayers his way. He’s one the Good.
JWM
Prager’s 5 minute ‘Prager U’ videos are worth their weight in gold.
huxley,
I can’t think of anything more impactful than marriage. If a couple marries and it works out they will almost certainly list it as one of the greatest things to ever happen to them. If a couple marries and it does not work out they will almost certainly list it as one of the worst things to ever happen to them.
I have a close, life long friend; great guy. He’s always said he knows it’s not for him and I’ve never tried to argue him out of his position. For the reason I state above; marriage is not something to undertake half-heartedly. I also have close, life long friends who are still in their first marriage, and some who have divorced, and some who have divorced and remarried and would now say their second marriage is the greatest thing that ever happened to them.
In other words, I have no idea who should marry, or, of those who wish to marry, whom should marry whom. But I understand Dennis Prager’s point. Jordan Peterson talks about the story of Abraham and the promise of the greatest adventure of his life if he takes the risk God puts in front of him. At the time Abraham is content and happy, however, after listening to God his life becomes much more than he ever imagined it would be. I think that is part of the message Dennis Prager wishes to convey to young men. “Take a risk on adventure.” That is what marriage has been for me. Lows lower than I had in my bachelor days and highs higher than I had in my bachelor days. Adventure beyond what I could imagine.
But I have a spouse who is on the adventure with me. And that’s really hard to manage. Super risky. A lot of spouses struggle to share the adventure. Which makes sense. Both almost certainly have to sacrifice major dreams and goals they held while single in order to stay together.
“… make 20% more money and be a slave to your wife and family for life.
Of course the wives are risking much more, including death in childbirth. They are also almost always partnering with a mate who is physically stronger than them. I don’t always understand them, but I never underestimate them; women are awesome!
jwm,
From the best I can tell he fell in the bathroom and had a major non fracture spinal injury leading to paralysis below the neck.
If you go to the Dennis Prager Show YouTube page and do a little searching there are some videos with Dennis’ brother who is a doctor and also with his son David where they really go into what he is facing.
About the same time as Prager’s fall, I did a header on my stucco wall after not following my wife’s advice to pick up the hose.
I pray that his recover is a good as mine after wearing the cone of shame for four months.
Rufus T. Firefly:
I agree that a good marriage is one of my life’s great blessings. Congratulations!
But statistically these days it’s a bit of a long shot. Many marriages are unhappy and half or more end in divorce, usually at the wife’s choice. The guy is usually the big loser in court and may even lose his kids.
I only saw my father once after the divorce when I was seven. That was my mother’s choice. It was one of the worst losses I’ve experienced. Much of my strength, love and who I am came from my father. After my father was divorced by his second wife, he committed suicide.
That’s one story.
Today marriage rates are at an all-time low. Women are the gatekeepers of sex. Men are the gatekeepers of marriage. Men in great numbers are choosing not to marry.
There is something wrong here. What to do?
We can blame men and shame them to Man Up as PragerU does.
Or we can listen to men’s side with compassion as, for instance, Helen Smith Ph.D (Instapundit'[s wife) does in her book, “Men on Strike.”
BTW, Prager has been divorced twice and is on his third marriage.
Huxley,
And he has talked a lot about divorce and why it is not the ‘sin’ or whatever some people on the religious side portray it as.
If you’re implying he’s some kind of hypocrite then I don’t see it as he says marriage is an undeniable good but he has never said ALL marriages will be good and should never end.
Of course the wives are risking much more, including death in childbirth.
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There aren’t many deaths in childbirth in occidental countries and you don’t have to be married to die in childbirth.
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There are downsides to whichever path you take in life and no choices without risks.
I consider Dennis to be a positive influence on my, was a avid listener for a very long time, often hearing the whole show by internet which looped his show afterwards 24/7. Sadly, I haven’t due to losing my truck radio. But love his books which are filled with insight especially the Bible series.
huxley,
I didn’t know about Prager’s divorces. I find that amusing. Was Rush Limbaugh also a serial marryer?
A good and decent man who is very knowledgeable and never loses his cool in a debate. Both Ben Shapiro and Dennis Prager sadly had no way of knowing what an antisemitic lunatic Candace Owens was going to turn into.
Was Rush Limbaugh also a serial marryer?
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I think 4x. Regrettably, no children from any of them. His brother has for 20+ years produced a column for Townhall but is primarily a lawyer. David Limbaugh lives in Cape Girardeau, has been married once, and has five children. The two brothers appear to have been tight, but the ordering of their respective lives and their personal odyssey was quite different.
BTW, Prager has been divorced twice and is on his third marriage.
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He married for the first time at age 33 and his second divorce occurred when he was about 55. If I’m not mistaken, Conservative Judaism does not have a sacramental conception of marriage. Nevertheless, that sort of thing is embarrassing. Not sure how many children he has (evidently at least one), nor which of his marriages produced children.
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The experience of young men in our families has been disagreeable enough that one can forgive wariness. Those born prior to about 1979 have done passably, but the others have been injured.
He has 2 sons. One is biological and one adopted. His adopted son is with his second wife (not sure about his other son). He has been married for quite some time now to his wife Sue.
But, again, why does any of that matter? As I said above he has talked about this many, many times and expressed his regrets about this and especially his second marriage.
Saying something is an undeniable good (marriage) while also admitting your own failings in pursuit of this good are a very admirable thing to do.
Can you only advocate for something if you are 100% pure on that particular issue?
Can you only advocate for something if you are 100% pure on that particular issue?
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A. His personal historical history generates a standing rhetorical failure. He can talk, but his reasoning will always be less effective than someone else’s.
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B. Which means that discussion of marriage and family life are not the optimal focus of his topical commentary. You’ll notice that this isn’t Neo’s subject.
Dennis’ adopted son Aaron is a recovering drug addict (apparently his birth mother was an addict) and Dennis did a podcast interview with him a couple of years ago that was very frank about how dealing with that put an enormous strain on his second marriage (his second wife has since died) and that was his greatest regret in his life.
He has been incredibly open with his life for going on 40 years and that includes the not so great stuff.
I have a ton of respect for Dennis and picking this one part of his life to take shots at him is pretty pathetic in my opinion.
Having some purity test to allow who can and can’t talk about major political or social issues is just wrong to me.
Art Deco,
I agree but this tangent was kicked off by huxley’s criticism of a PragerU video made by Dennis that huxley took offense to because of his personal experience and he then added the twice divorced comment at the end like it was some kind of gotcha.
this tangent was kicked off by huxley’s criticism of a PragerU
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Well, what he said was,
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The video was hilariously stupid for any man skeptical of marriage. From that POV PragerU made a great case against marriage — make 20% more money and be a slave to your wife and family for life.
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Which says in essence it will seem hilariously stupid to someone who has a bad attitude ex ante.
I don’t always understand them, but I never underestimate them; women are awesome!
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No, they’re usually pretty ordinary.
I feel the same way about Dennis Prager that I do about a lot of conservatives. I’m glad he’s out there, but I’m not very interested in what he says. I felt the same way about Rush Limbaugh. I don’t deny his worth to our side, but listening to him was not entertaining or educational.
It’s why I stopped reading books by popular conservatives (like Coulter) and why I’m very selective when it comes to Fox News (or the other also-rans). If all I’m going to do is nod along and say, “Yep. Yep. Agree. Yep,” I’m not getting anything out of it. I’m not learning or growing. It’s dull.
That said, I do like the Ruthless Podcast. And a Federalist podcast with Mollie Hemingway and David Harsanyi called You’re Wrong. But I’m fatally attracted right now to the notorious Red Scare podcast. Now, that’s entertainment.
Regarding the serial marriages of Prager and Limbaugh, one might suggest that they so recommend it that they did it multiple times. But it is well to remember that it is possible to espouse an ideal while falling short of it in one’s personal life. After all, we don’t refer to some things as “ideal” because they are easily attainable or sustainable, but rather the opposite. Reaching for but not quite attaining is pretty much the story of mankind after all. This is recognized most tellingly in The Gospels, especially in Jesus’ relationship to the sinners He called to be His followers. Forgiveness is always available from Him. And don’t forget about Paul, who told us that ALL have fallen short of God’s expectations and that our personal righteousness is like a filthy rag compared to the absolute perfection of God Almighty. We are each personally incapable of attaining righteousness, no matter how hard we strive to attain it. It is only through the vicarious righteousness of Jesus that right standing with God is attainable. Yet strive we must.
But it is well to remember that it is possible to espouse an ideal while falling short of it in one’s personal life.
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I don’t deny that. I am saying Dennis Praeger is not the optimal advocate for conventional family life from the point of view of rhetoric. Neither was Rush Limbaugh.
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Catholic priests lost a great deal of rhetorical effectiveness when it was revealed that (1) a detectible fraction of them were pederasts and (2) many bishops are great believers in psychiatry and responded with ‘treat and transfer’. (One of the more egregious cases was in the Archdiocese of Boston. A priest who had been ordained in 1962 was by 1980 known to the chancery as a pederast. Over the period running from 1980 to 1992, he was returned to ministry on four separate occasions following real time complaints of misconduct to which the response was leave time at various clerical funk holes; while some such complaints are overblown, in his case one included an actual anal rape).