Conservatives aren’t funny.
I know, that’s a bit of a generalization… but I’m comfortable with it. I mean really… apart from P.J. O’Rourke, name me one fall-down-funny conservative or neo-con?
Oh they’re awfully good at name-calling — clever or otherwise — but funny? Sarcasm without irony comes across as just plain angry.
Take for example the right’s latest attempt to poke fun at WA Democrats, Gregoire the Grinch, a lazy piece of neo-satire that proves once again that alliteration is no substitute for wit. What offends me most are not the lame, partisan insults, but the absolute failure to mine the rich vein of material Dr. Seuss provides to any self-respecting parodist. They couldn’t even bother to write their mere dozen lines in the style of Dr. Seuss.
Pathetic.
They just better hope that the very litigious Dr. Seuss Enterprises, LP doesn’t catch wind of their unauthorized use of a Grinch illustration, because they’ll sue for trademark violation in a two-size-too-small heartbeat. How do I know? Well, a few years back I wrote a (constitutionally protected) parody of the very same Seuss story, and my agent told me publishers backed away for fear of the inevitable, expensive lawsuit.
And so on this first day of Chanukah, as a lesson to the righties of the true meaning of “parody” — and with undying admiration for the late, great Dr. Seuss (if not the exploitive corporation that survives him) — I publicly present for the first time what is sure to become an enduring holiday classic: How the Kvetch Stole Chanukah.
Bravo- made my day, collect Dr. S. books, read them all the time, despite many years from grammor skool. Really choice.
Well, they’re not funny on purpose, but occasionally their unintentional comedy rating is quite high. Especially guys like Fred Phelps and Jerry Falwell.
She does look like the Grinch…
Goldy- there ARE funny conservative comics, but we don’t want to “out” them- and neo-cons don’t think they are funny…
And you have to admit, Ronald Reagan had a sense of humor- but I think he got that when he was a liberal Hollywood Democrat, but they let him keep it when he left the reservation…
Bob Dole was a funny SOB too…you know
“GET OFF MY LAWN KID!!!”…that sorta stuff
IMHO …Lets face it- all time Presidental humor, never to be equalled on any stage or magnitude- Dole and Viagra commercials. Then, then, sweet wife and her responses. Lizzie Dole is a pip in my book.
How strange to agree with C…..perhaps the rain and wind and crises mood….
Jim… having a sense of humor and being funny are two different things. Though Reagan certainly did come out with the occasional quip.
But you know what I mean… there’s this oblivious humorlessness coming from the neocons in particular, that seems to confuse nastiness with wit. Don’t get me wrong… I was schooled in mean humor… I’m a connoisseur. But it requires more than just being mean.
Of course, I’m generalizing. But in general I think my comments hold true.
IMHO– All time funny, world stage, meeting all criteria and scope, will never be matched——-Bob Dole and the Viagra commercials. Who would have ever thought. And sweet Lizzie, playing right along. Just great. E. Dole is a pip.
And God, Mr C and I agree. Too much rain, wind and crises
I’ll give you that… Bob Dole could be funny. I believe his comment was a dig on Gore’s environmentalism, congratulating him on how good the White House lawn looked. That was funny.
But much the so-called humor I see on blogs like Sound Politics is the political equivalent of calling somebody a doo-doo head.
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Great piece, enjoyed completely- sending around to friends. Ed
Bob Dole’s problem was he didn’t let the American people see that side of him until he had left office. Those who had met him privately knew he had a droll wit, but he never showed it in public.
But yes, we have yet to find a neo-con with a funny bone, a sense of humor, the ability with a quip- Goldy, is it (and I apologize in advance for any offense but I can’t help this one) that when a Jewish boy or girl arrives on this earth, that as soon as it is realized they are deficient in this area that they are sent off to neo-con camp for their summers, while everyone else goes to the Catskills?
And in your spirit of openness to all humanity, did ya’ll then integrate neo-con camp, so that our brothers and sisters of African lineage could also avail themselves of the opportunity? That would explain an awful lot of these sour expressions I see on the news.
Goldy you are so intelligent and funny yourself of course you are an authority on the subject. An expert.. you are superior to half of the voting population. We should run everything by YOU and those who agree with YOU before talking or writing anything the moronic public would hear or read. My only recommendation is that you please read more before commenting on couple of websites. There is so much more out there that you obviously haven’t read.
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er, my Dad’s pretty funny…… a regular riot, Alice!