So I got into a discussion with a guy at a bar this past weekend. He asked what I did, and I responded with, "I write - freelance and books, as well as appear on radio shows every now and again." When he asked what I wrote about, I simply responded with, "Satire," to hopefully ward off the potential for a political debate. When he then said, "Oh, political satire," I decided to be fully honest, and said, "Yes. I write satire on pretty much everything, but politics is my central focus. I'd say George Carlin and Jon Stewart are two of my biggest influences." Then that's when things got interesting...
Upon hearing what I had just said, he went into an incredibly long tangent. He started off by talking about how great George Carlin was as a comedian, and that he likes intelligent humor. From there, he segued to how he enjoyed Dennis Miller's humor - that some people just don't "get" his humor, which is why they don't find him funny.
For whatever reason, he went from Dennis Miller to, "You know who else I like? Who's that teacher from Ferris Bueller's Day Off? You know - 'Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?'"
I was half-tempted to respond that I didn't know the answer to the question, but silly me said, "Oh, Ben Stein..."
After I answered his question, he went on an even longer tangent about Stein, saying:
"Yeah, that's right. That's the thing I don't like about - no offense - but Jon Stewart, David Letterman, and all of them. They're just comedians. These aren't serious news-people. They just take certain clips and try to make people laugh. Dennis Miller just tells it like it is and Ben Stein does the same thing. He's right down the middle..."
I almost wanted to laugh at that last part. Considering the fact Stein was a speechwriter for Republican Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, and the man is a regular guest on Fox News, doesn't give me the impression that he's "right down the middle." He's as much "middle" as Michael Moore is conservative.
I also had to chuckle about the Jon Stewart-Dennis Miller comparison. There's no hiding it - Jon Stewart is fairly liberal and Dennis Miller is rather conservative. However, for anyone whom regularly watches The Daily Show would know, while Stewart loves blasting Fox News and the Tea Party, he has never been coy about criticizing Democrats, including President Obama. This is one reason why he has previously been voted as America's most trusted news-person. Dennis Miller, meanwhile, is fairly liberal on social issues, so he's not coy on criticizing the far-right with regard to certain things either. I guess my point is, it doesn't make a great deal of sense to dislike Jon Stewart because "he's just a comedian," but like and appreciate Dennis Miller for the same reason. The reason has to be because Jon Stewart's comedy tends to make fun of and poke holes into this man's beliefs, while Dennis Miller's comedy tends to do the direct opposite. The same goes for Ben Stein's columns and guest appearances. What he says makes sense to this man, so he deems it as "normal" or "down the middle." However, reality should suggest otherwise, and that's what bothers me about such arguments. I'm not going to lie. I'm rather liberal and like I suggested about why this other individual likes Dennis Miller's comedy, it's probably the same reason I like and appreciate Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert so much. I find some of Dennis Miller's comedy funny, but when a comedian tackles politics, whichever way he/she leans will typically amuse like-minded individuals and turn off people whom reside on the other side of the political spectrum. At the same time, though, even though I'm progressive, I'm not going to foolishly declare that Keith Olbermann and Michael Moore are "right down the middle" and "just tell it like it is." While I may agree with these men's opinions more times than not, I know they're liberally-biased and it would be wise for me to do some further research on their claims before taking them as factual.
I think what bothered me most about this bar conversation is that it seemed so representative of today's culture in this country. Rarely does it seem anymore that people are thirsting for facts and knowledge. What they're thirsting for are opinions which coincide with their own.
Here are prime examples of what I'm talking about:
Man at the bar: "Dennis Miller is right down the middle and just tells it like it is."
Dennis Miller: "Fire somebody with an Obama-Biden sticker on their car in the employee parking lot. It's the right thing to do. They'll understand. They're patriots."
My reaction : Is it just me, or does he not come across like a scientific journal? Wait - I meant to say, does he not come across like a Fox News-version of a scientific journal?
Man at the bar: "Ben Stein is right down the middle and just tells it like it is."
Ben Stein: "I hope it won’t come as a surprise to anyone that a big part of male homosexual behavior is interest in young boys."
Ben Stein: "...Love of God and compassion and empathy leads you to a very glorious place, and science leads you to killing people."
Ben Stein: "Why is President Barack Obama in such a hurry to get his socialized medicine bill passed?
Because he and his cunning circle realize some basic truths:
The American people in their unimaginable kindness and trust voted for a pig in a poke in 2008. They wanted so much to believe Barack Obama was somehow better and different from other ultra-leftists that they simply took him on faith.
They ignored his anti-white writings in his books. They ignored his quiet acceptance of hysterical anti-American diatribes by his minister, Jeremiah Wright.
They ignored his refusal to explain years at a time of his life as a student. They ignored his ultra-left record as a "community organizer," Illinois state legislator, and Senator.
The American people ignored his total zero of an academic record as a student and teacher, his complete lack of scholarship when he was being touted as a scholar.
Now, the American people are starting to wake up to the truth. Barack Obama is a super likeable super leftist, not a fan of this country, way, way too cozy with the terrorist leaders in the Middle East, way beyond naïveté, all the way into active destruction of our interests and our allies and our future.
The American people have already awakened to the truth that the stimulus bill -- a great idea in theory -- was really an immense bribe to Democrat interest groups, and in no way an effort to help all Americans.
Now, Americans are waking up to the truth that ObamaCare basically means that every time you are sick or injured, you will have a clerk from the Department of Motor Vehicles telling your doctor what he can and cannot do.
The American people already know that Mr. Obama's plan to lower health costs while expanding coverage and bureaucracy is a myth, a promise of something that never was and never will be -- a bureaucracy lowering costs in a free society. Either the costs go up or the free society goes away.
These are perilous times. Mrs. Hillary Clinton, our Secretary of State, has given Iran the go-ahead to have nuclear weapons, an unqualified betrayal of the nation. Now, we face a devastating loss of freedom at home in health care. It will be joined by controls on our lives to "protect us" from global warming, itself largely a fraud if believed to be caused by man.
Mr. Obama knows Americans are getting wise and will stop him if he delays at all in taking away our freedoms.
There is his urgency and our opportunity. Once freedom is lost, America is lost. Wake up, beloved America."
My reaction: If Ben Stein is in the "center" of anything, it will be in a loony bin in the next few years...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/18/dennis-miller-obamacare_n_4123122.html
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ben_Stein
http://boingboing.net/2008/05/01/ben-stein-science-le.html
http://spectator.org/articles/41191/weve-figured-him-out
Upon hearing what I had just said, he went into an incredibly long tangent. He started off by talking about how great George Carlin was as a comedian, and that he likes intelligent humor. From there, he segued to how he enjoyed Dennis Miller's humor - that some people just don't "get" his humor, which is why they don't find him funny.
For whatever reason, he went from Dennis Miller to, "You know who else I like? Who's that teacher from Ferris Bueller's Day Off? You know - 'Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?'"
I was half-tempted to respond that I didn't know the answer to the question, but silly me said, "Oh, Ben Stein..."
After I answered his question, he went on an even longer tangent about Stein, saying:
"Yeah, that's right. That's the thing I don't like about - no offense - but Jon Stewart, David Letterman, and all of them. They're just comedians. These aren't serious news-people. They just take certain clips and try to make people laugh. Dennis Miller just tells it like it is and Ben Stein does the same thing. He's right down the middle..."
I almost wanted to laugh at that last part. Considering the fact Stein was a speechwriter for Republican Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, and the man is a regular guest on Fox News, doesn't give me the impression that he's "right down the middle." He's as much "middle" as Michael Moore is conservative.
I also had to chuckle about the Jon Stewart-Dennis Miller comparison. There's no hiding it - Jon Stewart is fairly liberal and Dennis Miller is rather conservative. However, for anyone whom regularly watches The Daily Show would know, while Stewart loves blasting Fox News and the Tea Party, he has never been coy about criticizing Democrats, including President Obama. This is one reason why he has previously been voted as America's most trusted news-person. Dennis Miller, meanwhile, is fairly liberal on social issues, so he's not coy on criticizing the far-right with regard to certain things either. I guess my point is, it doesn't make a great deal of sense to dislike Jon Stewart because "he's just a comedian," but like and appreciate Dennis Miller for the same reason. The reason has to be because Jon Stewart's comedy tends to make fun of and poke holes into this man's beliefs, while Dennis Miller's comedy tends to do the direct opposite. The same goes for Ben Stein's columns and guest appearances. What he says makes sense to this man, so he deems it as "normal" or "down the middle." However, reality should suggest otherwise, and that's what bothers me about such arguments. I'm not going to lie. I'm rather liberal and like I suggested about why this other individual likes Dennis Miller's comedy, it's probably the same reason I like and appreciate Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert so much. I find some of Dennis Miller's comedy funny, but when a comedian tackles politics, whichever way he/she leans will typically amuse like-minded individuals and turn off people whom reside on the other side of the political spectrum. At the same time, though, even though I'm progressive, I'm not going to foolishly declare that Keith Olbermann and Michael Moore are "right down the middle" and "just tell it like it is." While I may agree with these men's opinions more times than not, I know they're liberally-biased and it would be wise for me to do some further research on their claims before taking them as factual.
I think what bothered me most about this bar conversation is that it seemed so representative of today's culture in this country. Rarely does it seem anymore that people are thirsting for facts and knowledge. What they're thirsting for are opinions which coincide with their own.
Here are prime examples of what I'm talking about:
Man at the bar: "Dennis Miller is right down the middle and just tells it like it is."
Dennis Miller: "Fire somebody with an Obama-Biden sticker on their car in the employee parking lot. It's the right thing to do. They'll understand. They're patriots."
My reaction : Is it just me, or does he not come across like a scientific journal? Wait - I meant to say, does he not come across like a Fox News-version of a scientific journal?
Man at the bar: "Ben Stein is right down the middle and just tells it like it is."
Ben Stein: "I hope it won’t come as a surprise to anyone that a big part of male homosexual behavior is interest in young boys."
Ben Stein: "...Love of God and compassion and empathy leads you to a very glorious place, and science leads you to killing people."
Ben Stein: "Why is President Barack Obama in such a hurry to get his socialized medicine bill passed?
Because he and his cunning circle realize some basic truths:
The American people in their unimaginable kindness and trust voted for a pig in a poke in 2008. They wanted so much to believe Barack Obama was somehow better and different from other ultra-leftists that they simply took him on faith.
They ignored his anti-white writings in his books. They ignored his quiet acceptance of hysterical anti-American diatribes by his minister, Jeremiah Wright.
They ignored his refusal to explain years at a time of his life as a student. They ignored his ultra-left record as a "community organizer," Illinois state legislator, and Senator.
The American people ignored his total zero of an academic record as a student and teacher, his complete lack of scholarship when he was being touted as a scholar.
Now, the American people are starting to wake up to the truth. Barack Obama is a super likeable super leftist, not a fan of this country, way, way too cozy with the terrorist leaders in the Middle East, way beyond naïveté, all the way into active destruction of our interests and our allies and our future.
The American people have already awakened to the truth that the stimulus bill -- a great idea in theory -- was really an immense bribe to Democrat interest groups, and in no way an effort to help all Americans.
Now, Americans are waking up to the truth that ObamaCare basically means that every time you are sick or injured, you will have a clerk from the Department of Motor Vehicles telling your doctor what he can and cannot do.
The American people already know that Mr. Obama's plan to lower health costs while expanding coverage and bureaucracy is a myth, a promise of something that never was and never will be -- a bureaucracy lowering costs in a free society. Either the costs go up or the free society goes away.
These are perilous times. Mrs. Hillary Clinton, our Secretary of State, has given Iran the go-ahead to have nuclear weapons, an unqualified betrayal of the nation. Now, we face a devastating loss of freedom at home in health care. It will be joined by controls on our lives to "protect us" from global warming, itself largely a fraud if believed to be caused by man.
Mr. Obama knows Americans are getting wise and will stop him if he delays at all in taking away our freedoms.
There is his urgency and our opportunity. Once freedom is lost, America is lost. Wake up, beloved America."
My reaction: If Ben Stein is in the "center" of anything, it will be in a loony bin in the next few years...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/18/dennis-miller-obamacare_n_4123122.html
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ben_Stein
http://boingboing.net/2008/05/01/ben-stein-science-le.html
http://spectator.org/articles/41191/weve-figured-him-out
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