No More Discipline

Dennis Prager here. Thanks for listening to the Daily Dennis Prager Podcast. To hear the entire 3 hours of my radio show commercial-free every single day, become a member of PragerTopia. You'll also get access to 15 years' worth of archives as well as the daily show prep. Subscribe at prageropia.com. Hi everybody, Dennis Prager with you. Hope you had a good weekend, at least better than the previous one, let's put it that way. I will get into some very important ideas with regard to reactions. Reactions to the Middle East are as important as what happened in the Middle East because moral clarity is the most important thing the humans have, and we don't have much. But I'm going to begin with a story that has nothing to do with the Middle East. And there we go. Well, wouldn't you know, my mouse is acting up. Anyway, the The story is remarkable, and it comes from, of all places, The Guardian. I just want to give you an idea of the ongoing assault on our country from the left. California students can no longer be suspended for, quote, willful defiance. Could nationwide change be next? See that one? You know, I have said since I began broadcasting, we think of Roe v. Wade as the America-transforming Supreme Court decision, but the truly transformative decision was 1962 when the Supreme Court outlawed prayer in school, even if there was no denominational intent. In other words, it wasn't a Christian prayer, wasn't a Protestant or Catholic prayer, wasn't a Mormon prayer, wasn't a Jewish prayer, wasn't a Muslim prayer. It was just a prayer, basically, that God bless our teachers and our parents. That was basically the— it, it was a few sentences. I'll get it for you. Uh, let's dig that up. I, I always like reading it to give you an idea of how sick that Supreme Court was. The, the leftist assault on the foundations of the country go back longer than people think. After all, these members of the Supreme Court were not born in 1962. They were more likely born in 1900, so they grew up learning this stuff, bad stuff. And I said very early on in my broadcast career that American students, not all by any means, but a fair number, went from blessing their teachers to cursing their teachers. And now, apparently, in California, you can curse your teacher. I assume it now will be legal. F you, teach! Governor Gavin Newsom banned the punishments that disproportionately harm Black, Latino, disabled, and low-income students. So remember, the left never asks, do— does Group A actually engage in certain behaviors more? They look at the consequences. Do you understand how that rips apart a society? Are those groups more defiant, or is it a bigoted culture that just says, "Oh, you're a black student, and therefore I declare you defiant"? More than a decade ago, when he was a teacher and school counselor, Amir Whitaker was called into a Los Angeles classroom to support a student in a disciplinary situation. A black girl had been humming in one of his white colleagues' classes. His fellow teacher, Whitaker said, had asked the student to stop humming to no avail. Now, I didn't read the entire piece, so I am learning about this specific as you are. I perused it and I knew what the— obviously the topic was. So let me ask you a question. You're teaching a class and a student is humming while you're teaching the class. Is that disruptive? Now, you know, I'll tell you why I'm laughing. The fact that I have to ask the question. All right, let's see what happens. Eventually, the student was recommended for suspension for, quote, defiance. A broad— this is the Guardian writing, so obviously I assume the Guardian agrees with Governor Newsom. And the way they are depicting the story, but we'll find out. Eventually, the student was recommended for suspension for, quote, "defiance," unquote, a broad subjective category that under the California Education Code meant a student, quote, "disrupted school activities or otherwise willfully defied the valid authority," quote, unquote. Of teachers, administrators, and other school officials. Whitaker later learned the girl hummed to regulate her ADHD. So I'm gonna just stop here for a moment. The, the wording is what I always parse for you. So yes, it's a subjective category. Of course it's a subjective category. What are you going to do, list every possible objective fact about disruption of a class? Humming, burping, belching, scratching, moving around, standing up and down. I mean, Can a list ever be made like that? The girl had ADHD, and therefore what? If a girl with ADHD cannot stop humming in class, then she should be in a special classroom of kids who cannot control themselves in class. If that's the case, if she really can't control it, it controls her, her 8th ADHD, which always raises a question in my mind as well. When I grew up, there were no such acronyms. What about when you grew up? You went to class. Every type of temperament went to class, and every type of temperament was respectful in class. You have ADHD, so therefore you could disrupt the class? This is a perfect example of social justice versus justice. This is classic leftism at work. You feel pity for the kid who has to hum, or theoretically does, in order to control her ADHD. So the fact that it makes studying in the class far more difficult for the rest of the class and for the teacher is irrelevant. Irrelevant. Justice is that the child has to either stop humming or go to a special class of ADHD hummers. I'm not being cute. Or whatever else they would have to do. That is the way it works. See, this is why compassion works in the micro but not in the macro. That's today's great lesson about life. Compassion is great and beautiful in the micro, on a one-to-one basis. It is not great as a social policy, because by showing compassion to X, You are not showing compassion to A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, and Y and Z. That's the reason you cannot make policies based on compassion. Compassion for Lia Thomas, that narcissistic fraud who says he's a woman and therefore defeats women in women's sports and shows his genitalia in the locker room to the girls. That's compassion, there you go. You can't guide policy by compassion. You guide policy by justice. It is not just to have men who say they're women compete against women in women's sports. If the girl is humming in class, it makes learning far more difficult. You cannot guide general social macro policy by compassion. During this break, would you please go to my website and click on the banner for the Coalition of Jews and Christians and make a donation to help the Israelis at this time. It's a banner at my website. Thank you. Mike Lindell has a passion to help you get the best sleep of your life. He didn't stop at the pillow. Mike also created the Giza Dream bedsheets. These sheets look and feel great, which means an even better night's sleep, which is crucial for overall health. Mike found the world's best cotton called Giza. It's ultra soft and breathable but extremely durable. Mike's latest deal is the sale of the year. For a limited time, you'll receive 50% off the Giza Dream sheets, marking prices down as low as $29.98 depending on the size. Go to mypillow.com, click on the radio podcast square, and use the promo code PRAGER. There you'll find not only this amazing offer but also deep discounts on all MyPillow products, including the MyPillow 2.0 mattress topper, MyPillow kitchen towel sets, and so much more. Call 800-761-6302 or go to mypillow.com and use the promo code PRAGER. I call on you, my friend. This is— I will get to the Middle East, which I have been covering. I did every hour last week. It is, it is a huge, huge issue, and for obvious reasons and for some not obvious reasons. However, there is— there are other things taking place, and this is one such. So now teachers will not be able to suspend students. I wonder, will they be allowed to throw them out of class? It doesn't seem to say. For disrupting the class, okay, the, the term is willful defiance. So the first example was a student, she kept humming and she was Asked to leave the class or told to leave the class. I hope told, not asked. But she claimed, the school or the authorities or the parents, that she had ADHD and she hummed to control her ADHD. So tell me if this is an unfair analogy. There is a kid in class with Tourette syndrome and he just keeps screaming out curse words. Is he— will he be allowed to be dismissed from the class? That's a disability. And if he's a minority, a racial minority, so he has two of the categories checked off. After all, if you guide— if your guidance for policy is compassion to the individual rather than to the group, you don't ask what is just You ask, how can I treat the individual with compassion? Then he should be allowed to sit in there and curse with some degree of consistency. Does my heart break for a kid with Tourette syndrome? Yes. That's beside the point. It is beside the point. Teachers, they say, are now depressed about the state of their education. I blame them almost all because they're members of teachers unions. The teachers unions have crushed education. Don't tell me you're a depressed teacher. You're a teacher who's depressed if you're a member of a teachers union. I'm sorry, okay? That's not even an issue of compassion. That's an issue of, I have retained my sanity. You have joined the most destructive force in American education and then complain about the state of your school. Sorry, I don't buy it. You bought into it, you and Chicago Teachers Union, didn't you buy into it? Threatening to go on strike if classes were resumed because you're either hypochondriacs or I don't know what, when it was the most indefensible medically and pedagogically policy closing schools. So there's another example that this article gives. Yes, let's see now. Years later, in 2021, they're writing about this, this, uh, school counselor Amir Whitaker. Whitaker found himself in a similar situation. He had since become the senior policy counsel for the ACLU of Southern California, a man who obviously has a broken moral compass. The ACLU is as destructive as teachers unions. And was asked by a black family— needless to say, The Guardian capitalizes black— to intervene at a different school where their young relative had been disciplined I— you ready? You'll really love it. For drumming at his desk. He was playing his desk as a drum, or maybe he had an actual drum, I don't know. Quote: The school's initial response was still punitive, Whitaker said. Oh, you shouldn't punish a kid who is drumming during class. You should thank him for providing a musical background. School's initial response was still punitive, Whitaker said. With some conversations, we were able to redirect. That's another left-wing word. Did you ever use redirect in your life? Yes, I have. Um, no, I'm not sure I have. I was thinking, have I redirected my route using GPS in another city? All right, anyway, we were able to redirect. By then, Whitaker could point to examples that showed officials didn't need to resort to punishment when a student's behavior appeared disruptive. Is this beautiful? The language, my friends, is everything. It's all Orwellian. It appeared disruptive. That this kid was drumming at his seat appeared disruptive. It wasn't disruptive. Now let's say this was done the entire show. How many of you would keep listening? Okay, did that appear disruptive, or was it in fact disruptive? It appeared disruptive. Do you understand the Orwellianism of the left? This is The Guardian. That's one of the great lies. It appeared disruptive. Several California districts, including Los Angeles Unified had banned willful defiance suspensions. The school, he said, had a social worker who could talk to and support the student, who in the end avoided suspension. That's right, we want to support you, so we want to make sure you end up a narcissist in life. That's the left. I've— this I knew since I was in college. Leftism and narcissism are synonymous. You disrupt the class by drumming, and our left-wing reaction at the ACLU and in social work, which is virtually all members of the left, is to support you. Not support the school, not support the speech teacher, and not support your fellow students. But support you. And then the student avoided suspension. Not a great ending.

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So this has been, uh, a a week of clarity. Clarity is, is almost everything. Moral clarity. Finally, a lot of liberals are awakening. No leftists that I know of are, but a lot of liberals are awakening to the fact that the Palestinian leadership, certainly in terms of Hamas And in terms of Palestinian supporters all over the world want to wipe out Israel, I mean wipe it out, in other words murder its inhabitants and destroy the state. There is no other such hatred on earth to murder its inhabitants. And you saw what happened. Please, I beg of you, it's free, so I have no financial interest here. Watch my video that I made Was it 10 years ago? What is it titled? I never remember the full, the exact title. The Middle East Problem. Can't get more direct than that. The Middle East Problem. And everything I said is now obvious. I never, or I attempt to never exaggerate. When I said the theme was, you want to understand the Middle East problem? The conflict, it's called the Middle East conflict. No, what is it called? Middle East— yeah, that's interesting. I really understated it. The Middle East problem. You want to understand it? One side wants the other side dead. That's the Middle East problem. Now you can all go home. So A fair number of liberals, I don't know how many, but some prominent ones have awakened. I read all over the internet, hmm, I thought the pro-Palestinian side was just pro-Palestinian. In fact, they want to wipe out the Jews of Israel and wipe out Israel. Well, that's been a wake-up call for some. Incidentally, Having mentioned my video, how many videos, PragerU, put out on the Middle East? Do you have any idea? A dozen? Many more than that. More than that. Okay, they're all 5 minutes. Do you know— did you see what was sent to me? Lawrence Peck sent this to me, that the Israeli embassy in Seoul, Korea put out with Korean subtitles one of the PragerU videos on the Middle East. It's a video by a, by the commander of British forces. He's, he's a major British Army officer, and he said his video is that Israel is the most, most moral army in the world. So the Israeli embassy in Seoul, Korea put it out with subtitles, the PragerU video. If you want to understand the Middle East, and at least as important, have some young people in your life understand it, watch the PragerU videos on the Middle East. Bret Stephens of the New York Times gives one of them. Alan Dershowitz, the Harvard emeritus professor, gives one of them. What is the— what is he, a colonel in the— and what is his name? I love the guy, but— Richard Kemp. Richard Kemp. I give a couple of them. Where's the new one on what is Zionism? Is that with Joseph Telushkin or that— no, not with him. CJ Pearson, the latest one. Zionism, why all the controversy? Zionism, why all the controversy? Yeah, it's all at prageru.com. This is the stuff that they don't want kids to see. All the teachers unions, the entire left, they don't want kids to see these things. Oh, we're corrupting the youth. By telling them the truth about the Middle East. Yeah, anyway, see those. So one of the clarifying things that I'd like to offer is about some of the slogans used that need to be analyzed. For example, The, the comment that all the children are precious, Palestinian and Israeli. What does that mean? Why is it said? That and the cycle of violence, two very common statements made, but they are either meaningless or actually serve a less than noble purpose. I'll explain. Analyzing some of the statements that are made that are at the very best useless and at the at the worst, harmful. So I'm thinking of two of them that we're— we can't— we're just entering another cycle of violence. Let's get that cycle of violence. And the— that's what it is, right? Cycle. That's the word that they— yeah. And the other one is all, all the children are precious. Okay, so let— they're very different phrases, but they amount to the same thing generally. Not in every case, but generally, that there is a moral equivalence between the two sides. Did anybody during World War II talk about the cycle of violence between the West or the— well, Germany was part of the West. It rejected Western civilization, but it's part of the West. Anyway, did anybody speak about the cycle of violence between the US and Japan? Well, you know, there you go again. You're bombing this island in the Pacific. Well, then by golly, they're gonna bomb us. You know, nobody said that. They would have been regarded as moral idiots. Cycle of violence? No, there's an evil. There was an evil known as the Japanese fascist regime, known as the German Nazi regime, and they had to be destroyed. Nobody spoke about a cycle of violence, nor did they speak about That all Japanese children and all German children are precious. Of course that's true. But what, what point are you making? And therefore what? Every statement we make in life has a therefore. What's the therefore? So yes, Japanese children are precious. That is a given. They are as precious as an American child. That is a given. Therefore what? German children were also precious. Therefore what? What is the upshot of that statement? That therefore we should not bomb Germany or should not bomb Japan? If we didn't bomb Japan, about a million more people would have died. Because the Japanese were committed to fighting to the last if the actual islands of Japan were invaded. It was the two atom bombs that ended the carnage. It is a tragedy that so many people died. By the way, more people died from regular, quote-unquote, bombing of Japan than from the atom bombs. Very few people know that. Is it relevant? I think it's somewhat relevant, but atom bomb totally understandably is what rivets our attention. I understand that. So in retrospect, and now we can have retrospect because it's 80 years since the war, so in retrospect, would it have been better to have slaughtered— I take that back— killed far more Japanese than died in the— in Nagasaki and Hiroshima by having a prolonged World War II? I don't think so, by any humane, rational, moral consideration. Not to mention the number of American troops that would have died. The staggering losses in the Navy, Marines, Army, Air Force— they started the war. Every Japanese civilian who died, that blood was on the, uh, on the hands of the Emperor and the scum who ran the Japanese government. Every German who died, the blood was on the hands of the Nazi regime, for whom a third of the German people voted. By the way, only a third. Two-thirds did not vote for the Nazis, incidentally, in the last free election of 1932. So I don't know what is the point, therefore. German children are also precious. Therefore Japanese children are also precious. Therefore, what is the therefore? Who is the one, one of the writers I was reading, was it Bret Stephens, that every dead Palestinian The blood is on the hands of Hamas, which is of course what I've been saying, but it's such a relief to see others say these things. Bret Stephens writes for the New York Times. He's the one, or maybe there's two, I don't know, I can't think of a truly pro-Israel columnist. I'll bet the vast majority of the columnists at the New York Times write nothing about the Middle East. You know, that's also indicative. That's really— that's, that's a little lesson here. Talking about the Middle East, please go to my website and click on the banner to help Israel. The Conference of Christians and Jews, is that the name of it? What is the actual name of the, uh, of the group? It's obvious, the banner, but I want to give you the exact proper name here. I know it's IFCJ. Is it International— oh, it would help if they put it in here. Yeah, they did. International Fellowship. That's the word I was missing. Of Christians and Jews. The banner is up at DennisPrager.com. They lost an equivalent to about 35,000 people, put in American terms. Imagine if 35,000 Americans had been murdered in one day, family after family. We'll be back in a moment. I'd like to tell you about something that speaks to the very core of our values as Americans, a veteran-owned company on a mission to make a real difference in the lives of our military members. Talking about Pure Talk, our veterans gave everything to protect our nation, and Pure Talk understands the sacrifices they've made. They've set an ambitious goal to eliminate $10 million in military debt by Veterans Day, and they need your help. When you switch to PureTalk's lightning-fast 5G network, they'll donate a portion of every new order to this cause. You could make a real difference just by choosing this wonderful cell phone service. And PureTalk's plans start at just $20 a month, offering unlimited talk, text, more data, and a mobile hotspot. Just dial #250, #250, and say the keyword Dennis Prager to make the switch. Dial #250 and say Dennis Prager to switch to Pure Talk today. Hi everybody, Dennis Prager here. I have been talking about the horrors of the Middle East, the attempt to murder every possible Jew they could find in Israel, and the whole situation for a week. My producer felt, and I have agreed, that it's okay to take a break from that. And I think it's important, as I, as I deeply believe, you have to live a full life. You have to do what you can do to fight what is bad, and you also have to laugh. Otherwise, the bad guys win. That's a very big lesson in my life. If I despair, the bad guys win. I'm a big believer in that. So, uh, I really— I couldn't think of a better detour from sadness than having people I adore on with the 50th anniversary of one of the truly iconic American films Airplane, and I have all three. Are you the three writers? Are you— is that, is that the title?

Writers and directors.

And directors. That's, that's fascinating. That's a lot. That's a lot. So the, the, you know, you three, and I'll say who these three are in a moment, you three are as iconic as your movie. I just, just wanted to say that. The three are the Zucker brothers, David and Jerry Zucker. And Jim Abrams. The three of them, you guys got together originally in Milwaukee, was that true? All of you were from Milwaukee?

We were all from Milwaukee and by coincidence Jerry and I were brothers.

Were.

At the time.

Were, yeah.

We outgrew that.

Nothing lasts forever. So, and we got together with Jim Abrams and the Abrams family and the Zucker family were really close friends. Our fathers were business partners. Partners in Abrahams and Zucker Real Estate.

No kidding.

Our mothers were close, our sisters were college roommates, and so the Abrams family used to come over for dinner, and then Jim and Jerry and I would end up in our basement rec room playing ping pong and, you know, joking.

So did all three of you think of each other as funny? Yeah, yes, you did. All three of you. Yeah, yeah. Who's the funniest?

Jim.

I am.

No, you know, it's, uh, uh, interesting thing is—

wait a minute, wait, I just want for the record to be noted, Jerry said Jim and David said he is. Yeah, that David is. I just, just for the record, I just thought people should know that. Jim, wait, Jim didn't even answer question.

Well, I think we know what he has to say now.

By the way, so they have, they have a book out. When did it come out, guys?

October 3rd.

God, you really picked a bad week. Yeah, but, but it's, it's so, it's so worthy of, of all of your having. We, we need this in life more than ever. Surely you can't be serious The True Story of Airplane, David Zucker, Jim Abrams, Jerry Zucker. And it's, uh, the beauty is it's filled with illustrations.

I mean, we wrote it with you in mind, Dennis.

Yeah, I have no doubt about that.

I'm sure you—

yeah, no, no, the pictures are helpful. That's entirely accurate. I, I—

it's important. It's important to read on the back next to the pricing label because There's a, I don't know if you can see.

On the back cover.

On the back cover.

Oh yeah, go on. Best if, oh, that is hilarious.

Isn't that funny?

Best if read by, like you, best diffused by. Food. Right, like a food. March 2035.

We're giving people a lot of time.

So there's like, even that. Even the barcode is funny. I'd say this, if the barcode is funny, people should get the book. I mean, that pretty much summarizes it. Is there, I know this is an absurd question, but I'll ask it anyway, 'cause by definition you sort of can't answer it, but I do mean it seriously. How much did you forget? It is 50 years.

That's why it was a good thing to have 3 of us, because we did forget a lot, and there were certain things that one of us would say, oh, this thing happened, don't you remember? And the other 2 would say, no, you know? And there are also times when we would have conflicting memories, but then we, you know, kind of finally said, oh yeah, yeah, no, it did happen this way.

And it's an oral history, so actors are contributing, crew, even studio executives, and they're telling stories that we never knew before.

Oh, I see. So that, that worked out.

And often they're hilarious stories. We had no idea.

If there was ever a doubt, we always went with the version that made us look better.

Yeah, yeah. No, no, no. Knowing David, yeah, right. Yes.

It's quite— yeah, I wasn't quite the genius behind the whole thing, but you know, I mean, whatever you, you know, take from the book is up to you.

Whose idea was Airplane?

It was just the three of us.

Did it really?

It happened. So it was— it wasn't like one day, oh, let's do Airplane. We, we, um, when we were doing the theater, uh, we used to, uh, record these late night movies because the commercials between these old late night movies were funny and we could spoof them and use them. And we're looking at all these commercials and we see this movie between them called Zero Hour. And it was basically the plot of Airplane. We actually bought the rights to it. And we said, wait a minute, this would make a great comedy.

Well, it's— Jim, Jim, go ahead.

Yeah, there's a line in Zero Hour, kind of the iconic line that says, we need to find someone back there who not only can fly this plane but who didn't have fish for dinner. We just take that literally from the Zero Hours and put it in the airplane.

How long did it take you to write and direct and produce it?

The first version we wrote took about a year, and then we tried to get financing for it. We couldn't do it. And so, uh, John Landis, who saw the show, suggested that why don't you do a movie based on your show? So we did Kentucky Fried Movie, right? Sketches. And that turned out to be a good thing because we actually learned how to direct by watching John on the set. And then we went back, rewrote the Airplane script, and then we started to taking it around to studios. Again, turned down by everyone except for one, one guy, the president of Paramount, whose name was Michael Eisner. And he said, well, maybe this could be a good idea. And so he had us into the studio for a meeting, and we, we were at Paramount.

But that was years. That took years before we finally got to Paramount.

Yeah, it took years.

5 years. It was 5 years.

You had a script for 5 years?

Yes.

A script that turned into one of the most successful movies ever made, and nobody would touch it. Did they ever give a reason? It's not funny, guys?

You know, you have to understand, you can see a movie that's great or terrible, and you say, why did the studio do this or not do this? But it's much harder to tell at the beginning when you're just looking at a script and the cast, and of course nobody got the idea. Of casting, you know, casting this with straight actors and who would pretend that they didn't even know they were in a comedy. And that was a really hard thing for studios to understand. And that was our driving principle. That's why we loved, why we insisted on directing it, because we wanted that, the way we were gonna play it. And, but it's in general, there's tons of movies in Hollywood that people are surprised that did great or surprised that failed. It's not easy.

Were you confident it would succeed?

Yeah, we were.

All three of you?

Yeah.

All three of you, every minute.

So were you frustrated for five years?

I was the most frustrated.

Is that true?

Yeah, and Jerry and Jim talk about it in the book.

I kept trying to hang myself or whatever, you know, 'cause we were a group of guys.

And Jerry and Jim are saying, well, you know, look, Jim was living on the beach and Jerry was having fun doing the theater.

But, uh, well, what did you do for an income for 5 years?

We ran the theater. We had Kentucky Fried Theater.

And was that here or Milwaukee?

That was in Los Angeles on Pico Boulevard. And we did a show called My Nose. And we called it that because— so our LA Times weekly calendar listing read, my nose runs continuously.

Oh God. After 3 years, did it occur to any of you this may never be a movie?

No, not— no, we didn't. We, we thought— we just thought people didn't understand it, one thing or another, but we're gonna do it because we knew it was like, you know, we had machine guns in the Civil War. We were—

we had—

we had the goods. We had something that was so new and different, and we believed it was going to be funny and it was going to be successful. And that's why people ask us, were you surprised when it was a hit? Well, we weren't because we kept telling— trying to convince people this is going to be a big hit. What was surprising—

all right, tell us in a moment. I want to tell everybody the book is up at DennisPrager.com. We're taking a break from the world news. Surely You Can't Be Serious is the name of the book about airplanes. Pretty good, huh? You guys couldn't do that. I know. If they say Jerry Zucker, nothing happens. I just want you to know that.

I don't— I'm not so sure about that.

Oh, that's a good point.

After this book, then maybe people sit up and listen.

Yeah, dial PAL 250, say Dennis Prager, and save a lot on your phone bill. Uh, I decided that we need a break from the, the darkness of of the world, and I can't think of a better one. I know the Zucker brothers many years. I adore them, uh, and, uh, it's, it's, it's really a joy to have you. I don't know Jim as well. Jim Abrams, Jerry Zucker, David Zucker, they both wrote and directed the film. It took them 5 years. So he— when I say the film, so everyone of your generation, my generation knows Airplane! I mean, it's maybe the most famous film of the last 50 years. There is an argument to be made. You don't even have to assent or differ. What would you say, Alan?

It's definitely up there.

I mean, Godfather, a few others. Oh yeah, Godfather. Okay, that's fair. No, no, no, you're right. That's true. Which was hilarious. I mean, Godfather's, you know, you're just rolling in the aisle during Godfather.

The Godfather.

But on comedy, certainly.

You know, when, when, uh, the studio wanted to do a sequel to Airplane! and we really didn't want to do another movie in an airplane, but then we thought, what if we do Airplane! 2: The Godfather? We really pitched that to Paramount. And, and, and, you know, the idea is Bob and Julie come home from having, you know, landed this plane and, and done a great thing, and their family is like the mafia, you know. And, and then we do a whole lot of great ideas.

They—

Paramount loved it, wanted to do it. Francis Coppola said no.

Oh, and they had to say in the book— well, I have to admit, I understand. Yeah, I have some sympathy for his viewpoint.

But he wanted to do Godfather III. So we say in the book, you know, everyone probably would have been better off had we done Airplane II, The Godfather.

Given Godfather III, I see. So again, it took 5 years to finally sell it. Was it an instant hit?

Yes.

It wasn't something that like over time caught on?

Well, in those days movies didn't open at $50 million or $20 million, and it It opened well and then it just kept, it kept going, you know, and, and ended up to be, I think it was the second highest-grossing film of the year.

But domestic and international combined, it was on its first release was $160 million.

$80 million.

Go ahead, Jim. Oh no, Jim is breaking up, guys. I'm sorry to say.

Paramount, are you hearing me?

Yes.

Okay. Even Paramount, even though they greenlit the picture and we started shooting, they weren't sure of what they had. The first day's dailies was actually a scene, a couple scenes from the cockpit where Leslie Nielsen says, I am serious and don't call me Shirley. Really, it wasn't until they actually saw that scene filmed with a serious actor that Paramount really got what we were doing. And at first, people were reluctant to come to dailies, but as the shooting progressed, more and more people came and were told that, you know, you could barely get a seat in dailies as the filming progressed because Everybody wanted to see it. So it even took them, the financiers of the movie, a while to understand exactly what we were doing.

How long? So in those days— it's so funny for us to say in those days because we were all alive in those days— but all right, in those days, uh, what I recall, which— and I, I know the least of all the people in this room about movies, but The movie, a movie would come out, and I remember I grew up in Brooklyn and there was a theater near our house, and my mother would say, if you want to see this movie, you better see it now because in 2 weeks it's gone. That's the way it worked. Is that the way it worked including with Airplane? Did it stay in theaters?

There was, they would do an initial release and then they would do a secondary release maybe 5 months later, which didn't do, uh, it never did a lot of money, but that was it until it came out on videocassette.

And which was how many years later?

When did that— did videocassettes come in? I can't—

well, they, they had them at— with Airplane!, but it was a year later. But Airplane! kept playing. I mean, if a movie did well, it kept playing week after week.

Oh, so that's what I'm asking, right?

Yeah.

Oh, so yours did? Ours did.

We stayed because, you know, the studios had what they called 90/10 deals. Was it 90% for the theaters the first week and then it kept—

No, 90% for the studios at the first 10% for the studios, but I don't know if they had those deals then. I'm not sure. But then as time goes on, it shifts in the theater.

So they probably give you a bad review.

Yeah. Who was it? Pauline Kael gave us a—

Was that the New Yorker?

Yeah. And said there's not a comedian in the bunch.

In the whole movie.

And that is precious. And in fact, I'm sure she regrets, right?

Yeah.

Well, you know, we're big fans of Woody Allen, and I actually had the privilege of meeting him in New York back in the mid-'80s. And I ran into him at a Knicks game. And so I kind of gushed about how we loved his movies. And, you know, he was our idol.

He—

all he wanted to talk about was Airplane. And he said that the first time he saw it, he saw it, he was sitting next to Pauline Kael and she hated it. And Woody Allen's going, no, no, don't you see?

This is brilliant. This is great.

It's funny. So, and she just said, no, I don't get it. What is this? A bunch of puns.

That is so, it's funny. I talking about Woody Allen and not getting it. I saw one of his great classic early movies. I was touring New Zealand in my, in my 20s, so I went to a new Woody Allen movie, and I realized after about 20 minutes I was the only person in the theater laughing. I was so self-conscious.

Bananas?

It might have been Bananas. And New Zealand, this was not New Zealand humor, but Airplane apparently was international.

Well, it did cross those lines because everyone worldwide shared the references of those old movies and, and airliner in trouble movies. So they got it.

Well, to this day, people will say to me as a joke, don't call me Shirley. That is part of the lexicon of the English language. Yeah.

And David Letterman says in the book, he says he's driving in New York with his son, and, uh, and, and, uh, his son says Dad, move over a lane. And Letterman said to his son, uh, okay, I'll move over, but don't call me Elaine.

We'll be back in a moment. The book on Airplane, Surely You Can't Be Serious, is up at DennisPrager.com. So I'm taking a break from the darkness of the news because it doesn't help to be dark. It helps to fight, and it also helps to laugh. Two terrific men that I know— Jim, I don't know as well— but the three who wrote the classic— it's truly a classic, it's an icon of film— Airplane. It's the 50th anniversary, and they have written a book filled with photos. It's terrific, a terrific book. And I, I am very pleased that these guys just signed a copy to me. Surely You Can't Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane. David Zucker, Jim Abrams, and Jerry Zucker, the Zucker brothers and Jim Abrams. Okay, so everybody who has seen the movie has a favorite scene, or two favorite, or three favorite, but favorite, and it's inevitable. So mine might be When— what was it? Was it the one of the women passengers was a bit hysterical? Goes hysterical. Goes hysterical because there's airplane— what is the turbulence? So passengers line up to smack her. Now, to say that that is politically incorrect is to give new meaning to the word politically incorrect. So how did you come up with that idea? They told me to ask you, Jim.

Well, it was largely based on many experiences I had myself on airplanes. No, that's not true.

Not true, right.

The, there was actually, we patterned this, I think we explained. A lot of the movie from a 1957 movie called Zero Hour. And there was a scene in Zero Hour where a woman goes hysterical like that and they actually push her a little bit. And so we wrote that scene into Airplane! but just enhanced it some.

Yeah, it does look enhanced.

So in Zero Hour, there's They— a couple, just— I think the one passenger comes and shakes her and says, you know, calm down, it's okay. But we had 3 people shake her and saying— and then the lady who played this hysterical woman suggested, why don't you have them slap me? And so Jerry Jim and I said, all right, I love her, you know, I love that she came up with that.

That was a great— that did it.

So the first 2 slapped her and went on, and Leslie Nielsen, when he slaps her and then when he's tapped on the shoulder to say, "Doctor, you're wanted up front," he slaps her again before he leaves. And I don't know if Leslie came up with that.

It was Leslie. That was actually Mel Brooks' favorite joke in the movie, the second slap.

Why didn't you put that in the book? Yeah, why didn't you put it in the book? Volume 2, the 50th anniversary of the book, you'll do this.

I thought it would be socially inappropriate.

One of the few things that was improvised in the movie was when we saw how well that worked, we thought, well, wouldn't it be fun to extend the line of people who are waiting to slap the woman? And so we said to the prop guy, do you have any props that these people could— and he ran out to the prop truck and he got a whip and a bat and And we extended the line of people who were waiting to hit her.

That's what I remember. So that's. Do you. So I'm so curious. Do you remember that actress?

Yeah, yeah.

Lee Terry.

Terry, really?

Bryant.

Lee Bryant.

Lee Bryant.

And she. I think she actually did the commercial on TV about. Jim never has a second cup of my coffee.

She was—

and we spoofed that, you know, uh, in, in, in, in Airplane!

Did you get friendly with any of the actors?

How do you mean, Dennis? I mean, that certainly in those days you could get away with that kind of thing.

You're serious? That's an issue today? No, I'm not being cute. You mean because— why, why, why is it— is it a form of harassment?

Well, no, in general, the whole MeToo movement, and, and they're very careful now, even in a sex scene They have to have someone, what do they call it, there's some name for someone who has to be on the set and—

Breast wrangler.

Who supervises or whatever. It's just people are more, are much more sensitive to touching, you know. And so, yeah, it has, it has. I don't think it's made a huge difference in making a film. It's not like everybody has to, I mean, Hollywood tends to be a very huggy, you know, physical group.

I would think though, did they enjoy making the film? The actors loved it.

Yeah, everybody had a good time.

Yeah, yeah. So Jim, I have a question. This is really, uh, it's almost gnawing at me. Humor is very hard— or let me put it in better English— it is very hard for humor to transcend generations. So when we come back, I want to know if you guys know how young people react to Airplane. Back in a moment. The book is up at DennisPrager.com. Hello everybody, Dennis Prager here. I took a break from the very heavy stuff that I've been talking about for a week. When this last hour with the writers and directors of the epic film, the hilarious comedy Airplane, there's a lesson in that. Maybe it's worthy of the Happiness Hour. And that is that despair— I've been saying this now in other contexts about America specifically and Americans— despair is a sin. One of the reasons that I have so much energy, same as I had when I was 25, is that, well, one is luck. I can't discount that fact. Whether it's good genes or whatever it is, and of course an incredibly rich life with people. But one of the reasons is that I don't allow myself to despair. And it has been a very big blessing in my life, and you can't either. I, you know, if I were broadcasting in Israel, I think I would say the same thing to Israelis. It is— remember, it was the greatest number of Jews killed in one day since the Holocaust, and not many days were that many Jews killed in, in one day. It's now up to 1,400 killed solely because they were Jews. There has been, I think, some degree of awakening on the part of some liberals as to the moral state of the left, which has been virtually 100% supportive of Hamas. And equally important, an awakening with regard to the, the pro-Palestinian quote-unquote groups like Students for Justice in Palestine and similar groups. These are genocidal Nazis. That's all. If you understand that, what is it? Students for Justice in Palestine, right? It's, it's morally speaking, and even, even literally speaking, it's just a Nazi group. It wants to wipe out the Jews. Okay, just know that. And if you're a member of it, every Jew who cares about Jewish survival regards you as a Nazi, and correctly so. I never use the term ever, ever, ever. Nazi is— should be only used for those who wish to wipe out the Jews. That's what the Nazis wanted in the '40s. That's what these Nazis want in the 2020s. Well, they wanted it for decades now. Just remember, please, Israel is the size of New Jersey. It's a Jewish state in the middle of Muslim states. That's its offense. It has nothing to do with territory. When Jordan governed, occupied, if you will, the West Bank, there were no shouts of rebellion against Jordanian occupation. Why not? Because Jordan is fine. It's Arab and Muslim. But Israel is not fine. It's not Arab and not Muslim. And therefore its people and its country must be destroyed. That's the awakening that some people are having with regard to the, quote, pro-Palestinian groups. And it has caused on our college campuses a certain degree of real genuine rifts. And that is a very important thing to happen because that means that there is some degree of moral clarity. Bill Maher had an interesting take on this anti-Israel, pro-Hamas Views are a majority at schools that end up producing people who hold power. Hmm. On Friday's broadcast of HBO's Real Time, host Bill Maher stated that anti-Israel and pro-Hamas sentiment is a majority view on elite campuses, which is a problem because those campuses, quote, the mouth of the river from which most of this nonsense flows, and they're very influential. And these are the people who graduate and become the a-holes— except to use the term, I can't on radio— in society. That's been a wake-up call. Remember, I read to you last week a member of the— the chairman, not a member— the chairman of the board of directors or overseers of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania said don't give money to your university. How's that? The chairman of the board of the Wharton School at UPenn, as it's called, University of Pennsylvania, which is an Ivy League school. Don't waste your money. Do not give any money to the unit, to a university. I mean, there are exceptions like Hillsdale, We all know what he meant. I've been saying that for decades. Bill Maher, Bill Maher is an interesting— Bill Maher is a liberal. He's not a leftist. And he, he has not quite put two and two together that liberals are the people who enfranchise the left. But it's okay, he says a lot of truth and I salute him for it. Maher said that he's not sure that the pro-Hamas faction on the left is that small anymore and has grown significantly. "I don't think it's a minority on elite campuses, which are the mouth of the river from which most of this nonsense flows." I read to you that quote. Author and Tablet magazine columnist Jane Kirchick remarked: This is a movement that claims that misgendering someone is a human rights abuse. I know where he's going. And cannot tolerate a federal judge speaking at Stanford and that his speech is a form of violence. These same people are now outside protesting, calling for the wanton murder of Jews. This is a disgusting ideology. Bill Maher agreed on this point. Yeah, isn't that something? I told you, the left— this is what you— I, I was so right on this issue for so long. When you don't fight real evil, you make up evils to fight. That is what the left is about. No, they don't fight Hamas. They fight misgendering. A term which, by the way, is so new, an evil that is so new, that 5 years ago no one would have understood what I said. Isn't that astonishing? Everybody understands the term now. 5 years ago, it wasn't even a term. Misgender. They would think it was, I don't know, some competition, the misgender contest. Who's going to be elected misgender this year? Mark stated the elite colleges, they put out a bunch of America-hating, ahistorical hysterics. I mean, if that's not As clear as you can get about our universities from a liberal. That's what I say. There's some moral clarity coming from this. College students siding with Hamas is like college students during Vietnam siding with the soldiers who perpetrated the My Lai Massacre. Hmm. Very, very interesting. So I have a question for you listening. Yeah, I just thought to do this. This will be very important to me and to listeners. Has any clarification or even rift occurred? We know about rifts on domestic matters. Is there any clarity that has occurred in your extended family as a result of what Hamas did 8 days ago. 1-8-Prager-776-877-243-7776. Very curious how this is playing out on the ground. 1-8-Prager-776. You got to wonder if you have relatives who go, well, Hamas is just responding to Israeli occupation. Wow, that's a, that's a, that's a line like the cycle of violence. That's why every Muslim group on campuses blame the whole thing on Israel. Hello everybody. One of my favorite Americans is a very young one named Riley Gaines, the champion swimmer who has devoted her life now to protecting women's sports from men who say they're women. And she has a, her own organization at the Leadership Institute, the Riley Gaines Center at the Leadership Institute. I had her on the show, teamriley.org. I had her on twice, I believe. Did I have her on twice? What do I think? Or did I just meet her a second time? I don't remember, but she's phenomenal. I had her on twice. I'll have her on thrice. It's an inexplicable phenomenon that some handful of people in every generation are born to fight, to fight good fights. She's one of them. Well, this is a good fight. And you ask what you can do? Here, go to TeamRaleigh.org. That's what you can do. That's one of the many good things you can do. Teamriley.org, or text the word real, R-E-A-L as in real women, to 30102. 30102. Text the word real. teamriley.org. I talked last hour, in the first hour, about some of the clichés that we're hearing that only serve to fudge moral clarity. One of them is— here's one from Cornel West, who is a progressive hero, as they put it. As I have said for the past 50 years, a precious Palestinian child is— let's see— has the value, has the same value as a precious Israeli child. Isn't that deep? That is so deep.

Wow.

You know, it's, it's a meaningless phrase given that one side doesn't believe it. Why doesn't he say, as I have said for the last 50 years to the Palestinians who don't believe this, The Jews do. Okay, let's get this clear. The Jews, as the Israelis are called— they're not called Israelis nearly as much as the Jews, because that's why they're hated, because they're Jews. The Jews, as a general rule— there are always exceptions— as a general rule, the Jews of Israel know that Palestinian children are precious. And as a general rule, the pro-Palestinians do not believe that Israeli children are precious. Okay, so it's a stupid comment unless it's directed at the guilty party. It's almost like saying to a mass murderer, well, look, as I've been saying to the murdered and the murderer, Everyone is precious. Okay, would that be considered a foolish comment? As I was saying to the mass murderer and to the murdered, every life is precious. You say it to the people who need to hear it. That's whom you say it to. Anyway, I'm asking if in your family there has been clarity or what have you. I'm very, very curious. Uh, let's see, let's see. Huh, San Diego and Phil, hello.

Oh, hi Dennis. Um, yep, yeah, I wanted to talk about a situation with my son yesterday. So my son is very involved in Israel advocacy and everything, and he's been very strong speaking out everything. Now, he went to a counter rally to a pro-Palestinian rally yesterday down in San Diego, and he came back very disheartened. And the reason he was so disheartened is because that crowd was a bloodthirsty crowd of thousands of people, Palestinians, Black Panthers, and LGBTQ. And the only— and his group was about 60 people. And he said, Dad, The only thing that kept us safe was the San Diego police in there. He said, I could not believe how bloodthirsty these people were, how crazed they were about it.

Right. Well, let me, let me tell you, last week I played for you folks from Australia at the Sydney Opera House, a pro-Palestinian demonstration where there were two chants: F the Jews Notice again, Jews, not Israelis. Not that it would have been acceptable, but I just want you to understand the reason Israelis are hated is because they're Jews. So, or not all Israelis are, but for the most part. And the other chant was, gas the Jews. Okay, pro-Palestinian means in the real world in which we live, It means I want Israel and its inhabitants destroyed. That's what it means. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. What is the river to the sea? All of Israel. They— Western fools, and that's almost redundant— Western fools, especially university professors, believe that it's about quote, the occupied territories, unquote. It is about all of Israel. To every Palestinian— no, there's no such thing as every— to the vast majority of Palestinians and to virtually every one of their supporters around the earth, all of Israel is occupied territory and should be therefore destroyed. But as I've said again all of my life, evil is not dark. Evil is so bright people will not stare at it. And it's been pointed out to me Lucifer means light. It was a very interesting point. Dallas, Texas. Mark, hello. Hi, Dennis Prager. Hi.

Uh, this last weekend, my friends and I at lunch were discussing if there's moral clarity. My question was, is— am I displaying moral clarity in differentiating between the Palestinians and the Palestinian terrorists? For example, do people think all Americans are like our president or, or, uh, the Democratic Party, and therefore all Americans are leftist or acting like the Democrats?

Well, let me handle the last part and it'll help the answer. Everybody knows that half this country believes the Democratic Party is ruining America and the West. Half this country. So nobody believes that about all Americans because there's such a vibrant opposition. Where is the vibrant opposition in the Arab and Muslim worlds to Hamas? I'll let everybody think about it while I stay silent.

Hmm.

Can't think of much, can you? That's right. Where's the vibrant opposition among Muslim organizations in America?

Care?

The biggest one, or one of the biggest? Council on American-Islamic Relations? Are they anti-Hamas?

Yeah.

Okay, let's see here. Talking to you about what is the— what is the— what are the repercussions in your family? But first, I'm going to go to Israel. And talk to a man I have great respect for and affection, Aryeh Leifert. He is a certified Israel tour guide. And by the way, to be a certified Israel tour guide is sort of like getting a PhD in Jewish and Israeli history. I mean that literally. The— anyone who goes to Israel and has a tour guide knows they're unique in the world of tour guides. It's a prestigious job in Israel because few people can become one. It's at Israel Insider Tours, by the way. So I highly recommend to you Israel Insider Tours. He's also a senior editor at PragerU. Aryeh is in— what city are you in now, Aryeh, or do you live in?

I am— first of all, hello and good morning to you, Dennis.

Thank you.

I am just outside the city of Rehovot.

And tell people where that is.

So that is around 30 to 45 minutes southeast of Tel Aviv, technically closer to Tel Aviv when you factor in traffic, much closer to Jerusalem.

Well, we in California understand the concept of factoring in traffic. Yes. Yes, you do. So this is, it's almost a silly question, but I emphasize almost. It's not entirely a silly question to the extent that one individual can even assess this. And I have no idea what the answer is because I am a world away in California, or even just— even if I'd be in Cyprus, I'd be a world away. What is the mood like? Or I'll be more precise. Is it, is it a state of depression or isn't it?

No, no, it's not a state of depression. I think for the first couple of days we were in shock, but I think we are in a state of readiness for the next inevitable stage, which is probably a ground invasion of Gaza. But I think even more so, we have a very determined state. This horrible event has brought together the country in a way that, at least in my 45 years on this planet, I don't remember any time like this. Just as an example, I'm a member of a number of WhatsApp groups where people can volunteer their time and their vehicles to take evacuees, to take soldiers, to take army material from A to B. And literally, if you don't respond to a request within 5 minutes of it being posted, someone else has grabbed that request. People are stepping up in an incredible way to serve the country.

And so that— let me be very specific— that includes the two great divisions, and that is political left and right and religious, religious or even ultra-religious and secular. Is that correct?

Yes, I would say so. When it comes to security matters, there is no right, there is no left, there is no center. We are all Israelis. We're all in this together because we know that if one of us goes down, all of us go down?

So I have not asked this to any of the people I've talked to in Israel because I didn't want to raise it the first week, but I have to acknowledge that it, it really troubles me. Any thoughts on how this could happen? Given the sophisticated state of Israeli intelligence and security?

I haven't heard that many people talking about how it could happen. I'm sure we're going to have a commission, just like we had after the Yom Kippur War, the Agranat Commission that subpoenaed Prime Minister Golda Meir. I'm sure the Prime Minister, I'm sure the Chief of staff will be subpoenaed. But we are— that is not the issue on the table now. It doesn't really matter why it happened.

I'm happy I asked. That's right. I get that. Okay. So next question. Is there anybody left in Israel who doubts that Hamas and many Palestinians, not all, but Hamas and many Palestinians and many pro-Palestinians around the world want Israel wiped out the way the Nazis wanted the Jews of Europe wiped out. We'll answer that when we come back. I'm speaking to Aryeh Leifert with Insider Tours in Israel and a senior editor at PragerU. Dennis Prager here. Thanks for listening to the Daily Dennis Prager Podcast. To hear the entire 3 hours of my radio show commercial-free every single day, become a member of Pragertopia. You'll also get access to 15 years' worth of archives, as well as the daily show prep. Subscribe at pragertopia.com.