I think humor is a wonderful way of getting the truth out and I remember enjoying Mort Sahl many years ago as well as other clever guys mentioned on Karen's website. Jewish humor was a means of emotional survivor during dark days of their history and has a basic cleverness that is just as timely today.
Unfortunately some of the topics are too serious to joke about such as gun control, joblessness, et al. but many arrogant officials have been brought down when their foibles have been exposed. I think the sardonic nature of Karen's contributions and our group's responses help us keep our equilibrium and are effective in calling attention to what is going on. I often think of the timeliness of Gilbert and Sullivan which was mentioned some time ago in our discussions.
I also appreciate the humorous imagination of our group - the flame throwers article was a great mood elevator and some of the political cartoonists are extremely clever. Keep it up friends.Wish I had cable TV so I could watch Bill Maher and others.
Karen, Did you comment on Krugman today? Let's see, since the details of the president's budget was released he has used his column to write about Obomneycare, godlbuggery, and now bitcoin.
Kat, No, I skipped Krugman for the very reason you mentioned: passive aggression on the part of Krugman. Bitcoins -- are you kidding me? I did write a snarky response to his goldbug effort, but this time I just decided to ignore him. I think he has been spending too much time with the same Sunday show serious people he pretends to despise, concentrating on arcane topics to avoid the obvious. His response to cpi in a recent blogpost was: "Sigh."
@ Kat – interesting observation about Paul Krugman.
Hugh, a frequent commenter at Naked Capitalism, has said this about Krugman:
“Krugman is an establishment liberal. He will criticize aspects of the Establishment and what they do. He will do the same with the Democratic Party, but he will never reject either. This creates a tremendous cognitive dissonance.”
“Krugman acting the part of the loyal Democratic tribalist puts it this way: “What he [Obama] has to do now is bargain down or ride over these crazy people in the Republican Party.” You have to consider how amazing this statement is at this jointure after 5 years, a year of his intial campaign and four years in office. Krugman is supposed to be an opinion leader, ahead of the curve, but somehow he has not noticed how Obama has out-Bushed Bush on all the great issues of the day: bailing out the bankers, a policy that became apparent with the TARP more than 4 years ago and has continued ever since, the concomitant screwing over of the American people at every turn since but most notably in housing, jobs, income, healthcare, education, and Constitutional rights, in other words the fundamental building blocks of a fair, decent, and just society.”
“Krugman has achieved fame, wealth, and prestige, in a kleptocracy. Shouldn’t that tell you something?”
“Krugman says: “I guess I am an optimist, which is that I believe that you can fix both capitalism and democracy.” But we have neither. We have kleptocracy. So Krugman goes about proposing his cute, little solutions to problems for things that don’t exist: capitalism and democracy, knowing that his solutions will never be implemented because of goblins or crazy Republicans or something similar. If the kleptocrats had not already invented Krugman, they would have created him because what counts are not his innocuous critiques but his validation of, and optimism in, the Establishment and system which they use to loot us.
“His allegiance is and remains to the very class which has granted him his fame and privileges, and which loots us. We should never make the mistake of thinking just because Krugman makes sporadic, half-hearted criticisms of certain aspects of the system that he is on our side. He is not. Much like the astroturfed Tea partiers on the right, his function is to distract and steer the discontent of one part of the 99% into politically safe dead ends, to make sure that no real opposition to his class ever forms.”
Much like the astroturfed Tea partiers on the right, his function is to distract and steer the discontent of one part of the 99% into politically safe dead ends, to make sure that no real opposition to his class ever forms. That sums it up.
THE COMEDIANS.
ReplyDeleteHere's to 'em all!
"For God's sake, why is it we can't learn to live together? "
ReplyDelete--Jonathan Winters, in The Russians are Coming, The Russians are Coming!
Goodbye, Mr. Winters, and thank you for all the great memories.
Men under pressure...
ReplyDeleteBefore Denzel Washington, as the troubled airline pilot Whip Whitaker in the movie Flight,
There was Jonathan Winters, As An Airline Pilot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGorCSnIHF4
Beyond funny, warped and wonderful!!
My favorite Winters stand up performance. I think it was Carson, but I'm not sure. Winters had just been set free from some mental institution.
ReplyDeleteWinters:
Have you ever undressed in front of your dog?
Camera pan to a nervous Carson.
Winters:
My family is getting nervous now. There he goes! (or something to that effect)
I damn near died laughing.
@ James -
ReplyDelete"Did you ever undress in front of a dog?" on the Jack Paar Show:
http://www.youtube.com/v/sUO6-Byrel0?version=3&. "Did you ever undress in front of a dog?"
Also included in the Jonathan Winters Montage, Orinda Film Festival 2003:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=For2X31-x-M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g26yHh6tjSI
How Did All Those People Get Inside Jonathan Winters? http://www.npr.org/2013/04/13/177073787/how-did-all-those-people-get-inside-jonathan-winters
My memory seems to have copied, cut and pasted.
ReplyDeleteI think humor is a wonderful way of getting the truth out and I remember
ReplyDeleteenjoying Mort Sahl many years ago as well as other clever guys mentioned on Karen's website.
Jewish humor was a means of emotional survivor during dark days of their
history and has a basic cleverness that is just as timely today.
Unfortunately some of the topics are too serious to joke about such as gun
control, joblessness, et al. but many arrogant officials have been brought
down when their foibles have been exposed. I think the sardonic nature of Karen's contributions and our group's responses help us keep our equilibrium and are effective in calling attention to what is going on. I often think of the timeliness of Gilbert and Sullivan which was mentioned some time ago
in our discussions.
I also appreciate the humorous imagination of our group - the flame throwers article was a great mood elevator and some of the political cartoonists are extremely clever. Keep it up friends.Wish I had cable TV so I could watch Bill Maher and others.
Karen,
ReplyDeleteDid you comment on Krugman today? Let's see, since the details of the president's budget was released he has used his column to write about Obomneycare, godlbuggery, and now bitcoin.
Kat,
ReplyDeleteNo, I skipped Krugman for the very reason you mentioned: passive aggression on the part of Krugman. Bitcoins -- are you kidding me? I did write a snarky response to his goldbug effort, but this time I just decided to ignore him. I think he has been spending too much time with the same Sunday show serious people he pretends to despise, concentrating on arcane topics to avoid the obvious. His response to cpi in a recent blogpost was: "Sigh."
@ Kat – interesting observation about Paul Krugman.
ReplyDeleteHugh, a frequent commenter at Naked Capitalism, has said this about Krugman:
“Krugman is an establishment liberal. He will criticize aspects of the Establishment and what they do. He will do the same with the Democratic Party, but he will never reject either. This creates a tremendous cognitive dissonance.”
“Krugman acting the part of the loyal Democratic tribalist puts it this way: “What he [Obama] has to do now is bargain down or ride over these crazy people in the Republican Party.” You have to consider how amazing this statement is at this jointure after 5 years, a year of his intial campaign and four years in office. Krugman is supposed to be an opinion leader, ahead of the curve, but somehow he has not noticed how Obama has out-Bushed Bush on all the great issues of the day: bailing out the bankers, a policy that became apparent with the TARP more than 4 years ago and has continued ever since, the concomitant screwing over of the American people at every turn since but most notably in housing, jobs, income, healthcare, education, and Constitutional rights, in other words the fundamental building blocks of a fair, decent, and just society.”
“Krugman has achieved fame, wealth, and prestige, in a kleptocracy. Shouldn’t that tell you something?”
“Krugman says: “I guess I am an optimist, which is that I believe that you can fix both capitalism and democracy.” But we have neither. We have kleptocracy. So Krugman goes about proposing his cute, little solutions to problems for things that don’t exist: capitalism and democracy, knowing that his solutions will never be implemented because of goblins or crazy Republicans or something similar. If the kleptocrats had not already invented Krugman, they would have created him because what counts are not his innocuous critiques but his validation of, and optimism in, the Establishment and system which they use to loot us.
“His allegiance is and remains to the very class which has granted him his fame and privileges, and which loots us. We should never make the mistake of thinking just because Krugman makes sporadic, half-hearted criticisms of certain aspects of the system that he is on our side. He is not. Much like the astroturfed Tea partiers on the right, his function is to distract and steer the discontent of one part of the 99% into politically safe dead ends, to make sure that no real opposition to his class ever forms.”
Much like the astroturfed Tea partiers on the right, his function is to distract and steer the discontent of one part of the 99% into politically safe dead ends, to make sure that no real opposition to his class ever forms.
ReplyDeleteThat sums it up.