Thursday, January 29, 2009

Rightwing Humor

Right-wing humor makes me sad (if video doesn't show, click here):



When did it become funny to support and encourage torture? When did it become funny to drown a person? When?

President Theodore Roosevelt in his 1906 State of the Union address declared, "No man can take part in the torture of a human being without having his own moral nature permanently lowered." I don't think he was joking.

After World War II, we convicted Japanese soldiers for waterboarding American and Allied prisoners of war... and I don't think we were kidding.

And I don't think we were laughing at Ronald Reagan in 1988 when he referred to torture as "an abhorrent practice."

Wait... I think I have the answer to my own question. It never became funny. It has always been abhorrent. Bill O'Reilly and Dennis Miller are two desperate and unfunny pinheads.

But this leads me to another question. Why do TV conservatives only host lame bullying shows? I'm not aware of any neocons involved in the art, culture or lifestyle shows. Could it be that they fail to understand culture? City Desk has some ideas on Why Conservatives Suck at Culture Criticism. One possibility is that they always define their work as Conservative, and then discuss art only in terms of their own politics.

Ahh... yes. Nobody needed to tell me that actually. I've been observing my own father long enough. You can't even mention Barbara Streisand without him launching into a gasping rant. Our family can't even agree on a movie to watch on Christmas eve because every star has offended his ideologies...

But then O'Reilly and Miller offend my morals. Hey, if the two of them can put together a jolly Christmas special by next year, I'll watch it, but only if they promise not to yell and be stupid.

2 comments:

Dick Tremayne said...

Since Miller lost his Monday Night Football job, he became irrelevant. The average American couldn't relate to his high brow, holier than thou rants. He adopted a less comical, more politically driven tinge to his schtick and landed a role as color commentator for FOX news. He's a flashy cheerleader for topics that are so heinous, they shouldn't be punchlines, but what does he care? He feels relevant again and is earning a paycheck.

Kristen said...

I vaguely remember Miller doing the Weekend Update on Saturday Night Live. He was funnier then, but of course he had a whole team writing that material. After that... he fell off my radar that's for sure. I don't regularly watch FOX news, so I was a little shocked at his idea of "funny."