“Why did we make fun of Dan Quayle for misspelling the word ‘potato’ when we should have made fun of him for arguments like this?” Mike tells Sarah how a real vice president blamed a fictional single mom for causing one of the most divisive events of the 1990s. Digressions include “Designing Women,” “Alien” and “The Brady Bunch.” Listeners finally learn that Sarah has a lovely singing voice.
Links!
- Dan Quayle’s speech to the Commonwealth Club of America, which set off the whole controversy
- A clip of his (only!) mention of Murphy Brown
- A scene from the “Murphy Brown” episode where she gives birth
- An interesting overview of the political issues involved
- A review of Judith Stacey’s “Brave New Families”
- The infamous front page of the New York Times on May 21, 1992
- “Blending politics and entertainment: Dan Quayle versus Murphy Brown”
- 1994 American Prospect article, “The New Crusade for the Old Family”
Rottin' in Denmark 