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Dear Conan: Newark's Not Funny

O'Brien's quips make light of grim inner-city realities

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Oct 13, 2009 4:35 AM CDT

(Newser) – There have been some hilarious moments in Conan O'Brien's mock feud with Newark mayor Cory Booker, but there's nothing funny about the plight of America's inner cities, writes Bob Herbert. O'Brien and his audience are mocking a place that, like too many others in America, is "poverty-stricken, run down, often unsafe, its children and teenagers in too many instances going nowhere," Herbert writes in the New York Times.

The poverty, violence and myriad other issues that afflict America's inner cities are getting far too little attention, writes Herbert, noting that 40,000 teachers have lost their jobs over the last year as the country debates sending 40,000 extra troops to Afghanistan. "Conan’s jokes would carry a silver lining, if they could somehow prompt more people to think more seriously about what’s really going on in cities like Newark," Herbert writes.

[Images (4)]

[Videos (2)]

[Quotes (2)]

Newark Mayor Cory Booker answers a question during an interview in his office in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Mel Evans, File)

A vendor pushes a hot dog cart at lunchtime in downtown Newark, NJ. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

Conan O'Brien. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini, file)

Conan O'Brien makes his debut as the host of NBC's "The Tonight Show" in this June 1, 2009 file photo in Universal City, Ca. (AP Photo/Paul Drinkwater/NBC)

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Conan O'Brien hits back at Newark Mayor Cory Booker for banning him from the Newark airport. (awodka)

Newark Mayor Cory Booker bans Conan O'Brien from Newark's airport. (ccoonnaannvs)

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Conan was just trying to be funny, but the reality behind his late-night humor is horrifying.
- Bob Herbert

The inner cities have been in a recession for decades. They’re in a depression now.
- Bob Herbert

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Dear Conan: Newark's Not Funny