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Republican rhetoric: unfunny
2004.04.15 — Government | Satire | Campaign 2004 | by Jason Botwick
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The only funny conservative? [source] |
The Economist is pretty good at articulating conservative views in a sensible way. For awhile, I subscribed to that conservative magazine edited by William F Buckley. I tried to read through it when it came in the mail, but I found that while most of the writers were fairly smart, their pieces were saturated with so much vitriol that I couldn't get through them without getting pissed myself.
It's as if conservatives can't argue a point without slipping in derogatory, and frequently irrelevant comments about people who disagree with this point. Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly, and others are cartoonish examples of this.
I also subscribed to The Nation, and also to The Progressive at one point or another, and they suffer from this problem occasionally as well but not as bad or as often. [1] Plus, when they do lower themselves to overly personal or derogatory writing, it's funny much more often than when conservatives do it.
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I think the fundamental question facing our nation right now is, why aren't conservatives funny? |
I think the fundamental question facing our nation right now is, why aren't conservatives funny? [2] Some of them think that they are funny, but really are not genuinely funny in the creative sense. They are only funny in the same way that the fifth grade bully seems funny to his cronies when he calls someone a fag or something. [3]
If they were smart, they would employ real comedians, but politicians take themselves way too seriously to employ real comedians. Which is part of the reason they're not funny themselves. You have to be able to laugh at yourself first. The dryest, meanest man in history, Bob Dole even found a way to be funny, but he couldn't do it until he could laugh at himself—actually, laugh at his penis.
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[W]e need to elect someone who can bridge the "humor gap".... |
I think if we have any hope of getting our government to actually accomplish something constructive in the coming decades, we need to elect someone who can bridge the "humor gap" [4] as it has come to be known. Sadly for liberals, John Kerry is not the answer. Not only is he not funny, but he makes it worse by trying to be funny. To wit: His "commute to work" joke from a few weeks ago. Not even worth a groan, unless you are his campaign advisor.
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I nominate Dave Chappelle. |
I was thinking that Jon Stewart would be a good choice to lead us into the new century of laughter, but he's not very electable. He's too short, and he's Jewish, plus his humor can occasionally be a little bit past most people's boundaries. Instead, I nominate Dave Chappelle. [5]
[1] That's a lot of damn magazines. I only subscribe to Car & Driver and Consumer Reports. And, of course, Teen People. Gots to have my Frankie Muniz nooz.
[2] Hmmm. Jay Leno is the only good example of a genuine conservative who is also genuinely funny (and even he doesn't crack me up much).
He is not funny, and I don't think he's conservative either. He's from Boston for crying out loud. Actually, off the Tonight show, he is really funny. —JB.
[Not conservative? He campaigned for Schwarzenegger! —Ed.]
Some of those country and western comedians are pretty funny—Jeff Foxworthy and those guys, altho it's a lot of good-old-boy humor. Maybe Bill O'Reilly should start ranting about liberal bias in comedy.
That would be the best. He's such a moron. —JB.
[3] Especially Bush himself. But this also seems to describe (Democratic pundit and former Clinton campaign manager) James Carville.
But James is funny. And when he's not being funny, he always has his looks. Also, you can forgive him for making yucky comments about conservatives because he is married to one. —JB.
[4] Tucker Carlson identified the humor gap last year as a Democrat problem. Dementia? The left is clearly where the humor is. Comedy Central doesn't call its award the "Commie" for nothing.
[5] I'm not sure that "electable" is the first thing I think of when I think of a Dave Chappelle candidacy. I think "I'm rich, bi-atch!" and that R Kelly parody "I Want to Piss on You." Are you forgetting about Al Sharpton?
I see how it is. You think a black man shouldn't run for president? Why, because we're all stupid and lazy? And we all know each other? And we all drink Colt 45s and shoot kids while we're driving by in our pimp ride? —JB.
[Oh, stop it. You're not black. I meant that Sharpton is funny, and he's already running for president. —Ed.]
All you honkies are the same. —JB.
f e e d b a c k
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