Ahhh, Remember The Good Ole Days?
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Comedy, History, Partisan Hacks, Republicans, VideoThe Daily Show lampoons Glenn Beck’s, Sean Hannity’s & Bill O’Reilly’s clarion calls to the right about how America is being transformed into something scary and unrecognizable.
Enjoy…
And scene.
Related Posts
This entry was posted on Thursday, January 7th, 2010 and is filed under Comedy, History, Partisan Hacks, Republicans, Video. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
January 7th, 2010 at 12:02 pm
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Justin Gardner, Donklephant. Donklephant said: DONKLEPHANT: Ahhh, Remember The Good Ole Days? http://ow.ly/16hTpd [...]
January 7th, 2010 at 12:19 pm
I’m no nostalgia buff, so I enjoy this sort of lampooning. Nostalgia is the act of romanticizing selective memories. I don’t buy into it too much except for simply acknowleging that nothing is ever gained but that something else is lost.
Let’s face it, no one really wants to fully accept that the only constant is change, and that you have to scramble to keep up. That’s exhausting.
And that’s why nostalgia is so intransigent and why it’s such a great political card to play. Instead of railing against it and pushing the insight that its misleading, democrats should find a way to romanticize about it and tap into it. It’s an electorally successful vein to mine.
To instead play the “we’re smarter than those simpleton conservatives” card is a very good way to self-limit the appeal of liberalism. And that’s a shame, because the heart of liberalism is all about romanticizing and idealizing. That’s one of the biggest failing of modern liberal politcs, IMO. It’s so busy criticizing various current practices that it consistently loses the battle to inspire Americans about what makes our country great. Americans WANT to feel good about America. Republicans respect this more than Democrats do.
January 7th, 2010 at 12:25 pm
On a related note, the Beck clip suggests an answer to me for my great Beck question…kook or phony?
I think Beck is revealingly schticky here. Which is to say that I think its more act than sincerity. His shtick is to imagine that he is the id of rural blue collar conservatives. I’m surprised more conservatives don’t find him insulting and condescending.So, more phony than kook.
I would love to be a fly on the wall in Beck’s sausage factory.
January 7th, 2010 at 1:21 pm
KK,
Agree on the Beck clip. He appears so obviously and intentionally over-the-top. It reminds me of his “I love the country..” crying clip and appears he is trying to repeat that performance.
I don’t see what some do in him, maybe I never will……..thank god.
January 7th, 2010 at 2:03 pm
Yes, IMO the artifice is visible.
January 7th, 2010 at 2:57 pm
He’s a phony, which was actually relieving to me. It was disturbing that someone that unbalanced would be given such an outlet, but many things give him away, including the vaporub in the eyes video that was leaked:
http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/glenn-becks-sobbing-secrets-revealed
But it also helps me feel elitist and laugh at all the sheep that fall for his garbage.
January 7th, 2010 at 4:22 pm
Hmm. Well on the one hand, it makes Beck a less disturbing person to me personally if he’s a phony instead of a kook.
But on the other hand, it makes our culture more disturbing that he’s a phony, I think. Because we already know that the line between news and entertainment has been blurred to create infotainment, right? Glenn Beck’s charades suggest that it has reached a depth of theatrical dishonesty that compares to professional wrestling.
Arguably, that’s more disturbing than the idea of a sincere kook being given a TV show.
January 8th, 2010 at 11:19 am
Beck, who didn’t support the GOP in the last election and said to Katie Kourac that McCain would have been worse for the country than Obama, has found his sweet spot. Like Keith Obermann, he’ll always have his fans, but those of us who “don’t get it” will always see him as a clown.
January 8th, 2010 at 12:06 pm
Hmm, I think I have to insist that I see him as a clown because I DO get it. :-)
I wonder how long Beck can sustain this phony schtick. As he runs out of options for additional material, all he can do is to pump up the volume and theatricality even more. At some point, I imagine that the green curtain could get pulled, revealing the sad little man pulling the wizards levers.
Or not. I’d hate to be guilty of underestimating the people’s gullibility. Ann Coulter has sustained her schtick for many years now,. But then she doesn’t have a daily show.
January 8th, 2010 at 6:28 pm
limberger is still around and making 300 mil a year isn’t he? Don’t underestimate the american public’s love of being told what to think by the person who yells the loudest.