Wednesday, July 28, 2004

Radio Redux - Radical Ravings Revealed - Leftie Levity Lacks Luster


Second day of listening to AA Radio and the initial comedic aspect has now degraded considerably. What yesterday seemed quaint is now just laughable. And some not funny at all. The trouble is, the non-funny parts are the places they THINK they are being funny. It is just all to tense. They try too hard. Look at us, we can make jokes. We can be light and breezy.

Really.

It is all kind of sad.

Really.

It is similar to the situation with Andy Rooney on 60 Minutes. Rooney has come under fire recently for some of his pieces. The left, as is their want, have invoked 'Free-Speech' and 'Censorship' both loud and often in his defense. I think he should be fired, not because of his opinions, but because he has CEASED to be FUNNY. So also do these gags fall flat. This morning there was a repeat call-in from Richard C. from Wyoming. According to the patter, this was the third day Mr. C had called the show. I missed the first day, but can attest that yesterday's bit had already lost any luster. By today it was both pointless, but even more important, tasteless. Mr. C, supposedly a thinly disguised Vice President Cheney, calling from the secret Republican 'war-room', kept trying to convince the host he was a typical Democrat. He started blathering on about attending an 'Abortion party'. Not that the Democrats ARE the Abortion party mind you. (Arguably true.) That he had ATTENDED an abortion party. This hYlarious banter was, I suppose, meant to represent the just how far the desperate Right-Wingers would go to try and besmirch the pure ideals of the Progressive Dems.

They made a joke about Abortion.

After all, some people get SOOOO uptight about that subject.

Assuming I heard correctly, this morning show is called UnFiltered. It certainly is, it also seems to be Tasteless and Boorish.
Later in the day there is another example of the repetitive, unfunny blather that passes for humor. As each caller to Al Fanken's show is introduced, their state is mentioned. You know, just like they do at the convention. "Now, from the great state of Minnesota, here is Frieda..." Then you hear crowd noise and Franken, speaking through some effects to make it seem he is speaking from the podium, goes into a homily of attributes about the state, interjecting ostensibly humorous facts. "Minnesota, the Land of Lakes filled with butter, Home of the Timberwolves, the Vikings and even some sports franchises... Etc." You get the idea, and no this is not a quote. It is probably funnier than some of the stuff I heard. Every time with this schtick. It got so repetitive and boring that by the time I listened to the last call while returning for my afternoon session, he went off-script, screwed up the banter and the woman's name and just... sort... of... petered... out...

Big Surprise huh? Al Franken being not funny.

During the time they were not attempting humor but ending up stilted, they divided their time pretty evenly between gushing and earnestness. The gushing is predictable, I guess. I was at a sales meeting a few years back and one of my compatriots from the techie side explained the goings-on (affirmations, rah-rah and then more pep rallies) like this:
It is one week of Yes in a lifetime of NO. This is, after all, their week. They get to script the show. They get to set the mood and the tone and raise the roof. And they NEED to get the troops excited, cause the faithful are just start'n to believe. Dean is still getting wistful glances...

And now, with AA they can get interviewed by people that will treat them like the rock-stars and Hollywood types they love hanging with. And NEVER get asked annoying questions that make you have to tell them to shove anything.

But in their earnestness, they may be making a fatal error. They are revealing their true beliefs. OK, I heard at least part of the kid's speech on the radio last night. He is good. Scary good. (From the I don't WANT Gov'mnt to come and help me perspective.) In that, their assessment the next day was correct. It was the reasons they expressed that I found interesting. One likened his 'rising star' status to Mario Cuomo. ?!?! This would be the Mario Cuomo who went exactly nowhere politically after his triumphant appearance at a Democratic convention of '84? The Mario Cuomo that some of you may need to go Google, (IbaNAaV) as you have never heard of him? Rousing endorsement if you ask me...

But the kid is the second coming, the beacon of hope, the new standard-bearer. He has proven himself worthy, by the very speech he delivered the night before. Tested and tried and ready for the national spotlight. Ready to lead. Not because of his experience. Not because of his record.

Because he delivered a good speech.

Maybe that's why the Hollywood types and the Democrats are so drawn together. If the only pre-requisite for political leadership is looking good in front of the camera and delivering lines from a prompter, the average actor IS qualified politically. Glen Close, a woman who is highly paid to stand in the glaring lights and deliver words someone else has written, flumuxed her lines in true Bushian fashion. Will she now leave the political lime-light? Will she be shunned?

I didn't think so either.

How do I react to this? How should you? Are the Republicans really any better?

To be honest, this is why we are crazy, as a society. We elect lawyers and act surprised when we get more and more complex laws and regulations. We elect pretty faces that can win popularity contests but seem perplexed that our officials seem pre-occupied and self-centered and willing to do anything to buy the votes to keep winning those popularity contests.

At least the AA people are honest enough to admit that it isn't about platforms and policies. It's about POLITICAL POWER. It's about Taxing you and me and using the constant flow of money in ways where people's perceptions are more important than the reality of the efficacy Federal programs. Where feeling good is more important than actually doing good. And if you listen in, they are all but stating this, right there in big letters between the lines. Just between you and me and a few hundred people listening in.

After all, we are talking about POLITICIANS here.

And their lips ARE moving...

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