I just finished reading an editorial in Sunday’s paper, written by New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd. In which she suggested that, in the wake of the New Yorker cartoon going over like a fart in church, the Obama campaign needed to get a sense of humor. Her last “zinger” in the piece was something to the effect that “…if Obama gets elected, it won’t be the economy that’s depressed…it will be the rest of us.”
Oh, now there’s a mature point of view.
Apparently, it is a requirement in 21st century America that our leaders entertain as well as govern us.
Did it ever occur to Dowd that some things simply are not funny? Should not be funny?
Oh, yes…a ponderous load of satirical humor has been aimed at the Bush Administration over the last eight years. That was because if we didn’t find a way to laugh at the preposterous performance of Bush and his cronies, we were going to start crying and never stop.
Maybe it’s a good thing that Barack Obama’s earnestness, and, yes, his blackness, are going to make it difficult to inject the kind of mean-spirited humor into Campaign 2008 that has been a hallmark of the past several campaigns. Maybe it’s time America realized that the position in which we find ourselves, after the eight-year run of “Mr. Bush Destroys Washington,” is decidedly unfunny.
4 comments:
I tried reading that column and ended up throwing the paper across the room. The "you don't get the joke" and "you have no sense of humor" just don't work for me anymore. Somebody was sniffing glue, or in an alternate universe or something to have even thought that cartoon would be remotely funny. Some folks should get out of the city more often.
Jackie
It is completely unfunny. And by the way ... my thought is there should be no humor (sattire, sick, whatever you want to call it) in the campaign for President of the United States. We should all, as Americans go back to taking the presidential campaign for what it is. A serious moment in our history. One that we all have a say in.
May not work out the way we want, but dammit, we do have a say.
I love listening to public radio stations when some Eastern philosophy(I imagine complete with wicked goatee & a Starbucks latte in hand)20 something says we are so beyond race issues now. Really? While doing some reading about a famous beloved American woman who spent many years in Africa I discovered she called her African employees 'Wogs,' beat them with sticks & made them beg for their wages when she was in a bad mood(translation: when she ran out of booze & cigarettes). Not in the 1880s, but in the 1980s. Then Ms Beloved would come to the USA & do a talking tour complete with references to her African brothers & sisters crying each time she leaves. Tears of joy I am sure. NO, I am not saying this is rampant, but it sure didn't lessen her popularity. Try being a black person who did that to whites & see what happens.
With all the calls for honesty in this country, who is going to actually start being honest? There are plenty of people, most privately, who don't want a black president. That picture will not inspire the right kind of humor with those people, nor long-winded analytical discussions. It will just make them feel RIGHT, not that they are 100% sure what they are RIGHT about, but they are sure they are RIGHT.
And if I get one more forwarded email with that NY cover with the implication that the sender isn't IN ANY WAY against a black president, but look, there are so many other issues.... damn it, lots of those folks don't even know the "issues," it is a handy visual for their prejudice. ~Mary
I suspect that Dowd is one of those people who finds things funny unless they're about HER...the old, "Bartender! Beers for everyone! And a Corvoisier for me!" attitude...
Post a Comment