Satire, Hypocrisy, Sarcasm and laughter. The four horseman politicians fear most! George Carlin video's should be mandatory viewing for college students in understanding the Civil Rights and Vietnam era, his warnings are still prescient to this day. The Machiavellian use of humor for power was Ronald Reagan hands down. How many times he defused or distorted reality with one liners that knocked or blamed the government while hiding the hand of his masters should be a class in its own right. Was the treatment of Charlie Chaplin a warning to others? Woodstock musicians had hard hitting political lyrics in anti war songs, the music today is neutered bland and sung by plastic Barbie Stepford Wives like Taylor Swift. Meaningless consumerism of clothes. bling, makeup, perfume, Botox and plastic surgery. The world for all intents and purposes has become a 1984/Brave New World hybrid. The .1% jet set around the world profiting from from permanent war disguised as patriots and calm everyone with "Soma" to make their hopeless lives even more hopeless. Then turn gambling into entertainment for "fun" with extra oxygen and booze to keep the "proles" pumping more money into their greedy pockets. Not only is the "wrong" humor banned so is any news of the suicides the "fun" caused! But hey they can blame the Russians, Chinese and Muslim "Terrorists" for hating "our" values. With a Bible in one hand and a gun in the other with a flag draped cross and a Reagan like demagogue saying "Its Morning In America"! In God We Trust?
What a great topic. Maher, above all, infuriates me not only for his lack of erudition, but for the way he betrays his natural gifts for a paycheck. He’s so often on the right side of social issues, and nearly always on the wrong side of political ones, especially internationally. When I think what his influence could do to aid Assange, for example, I begin to despair how money can so corrupt a person.
Interesting that you changed your statement about the podcasts dialogue from "wonderful" to "meaningful". Are those terms interchangeable for you when considering any particular dialogue?
That dimension is what I would call delusion. "Wonderful" and "meaningful" are two very different terms (if you care to look them up in any dictionary). In fact, they could be considered diametrically opposed.
For the record, I believe this blog interview went nowhere in terms of political discussion. It's, basically, two folks that formerly made a lucrative living participating within main stream media commiserating over the fact that they both have been largely ostracized by that sector. Besides commiserating with each other, they banter over which comedians have been more radical than others (as if they have to be in order to be a comedian or to serve a political purpose). While I sympathize with their position of being unfairly canceled, I feel it would have been "meaningful" had they had a discussion that investigated (and possibly broadened) practical avenues for working around that condition. Finally, IMO there was absolutely nothing that would justify applying the term "wonderful" as applied to their discussion.
You left out the master, Jon Stewart, also Charlamagne tha God, Samantha Bee, Hasan Minaj, Trevor Noah, Ronny Chieng, Michael Kosta, Desi Lydic, Dulcé Sloan, Jaboukie Young-White and Roy Wood Jr. , Jordan Klepper, Al Franklin, Saturday night Live Cast, and so many more. I’m not sure what you watched, but these are all people I respect and love exactly for the deep humanitarianism, and love of our country exhibited through humor. They have pointed out the flaws in our country and ways to make it better. It is a wonderful medium for learning. Again, I don’t know who you were watching. We can still enjoy the older comedians without disparaging political comedians, just like apples and oranges are both great.
From what I gather listening, as I wasn't familiar with most of this before, it's not that older comedians weren't political, it's that comedians were political in a different way and attacked power in substantial ways rather than only on a surface level way that isn't threatening to the power elites the way many do now.
I just read into Lenny Bruce who they spoke about, the state drove him to suicide and he got banned from every night club in the US for being "obscene"—how obscene! George Carlin on the other hand spoke extensively on the American Empire criticising it, but you apparently won't find one bit of it on his Wikipedia article.
Randy Credico is another comedian they mention, I looked him up and his many achievements in spite of his obscurity include: permanent exclusion from TV comedy after comparing one of Reagan's pet bureaucrats to Eva Braun; having had a connection with Michael Ratner's sister and through her Wikileaks and Julian Assange; having some DC conservative swamp monster threaten to kill him and take his medical dog away and then testifying against the scumbag helping get him convicted as a felon; then to top it off receiving the award of being put on the Ukrainian kill list, a great honour which Chris Hedges notes he himself has received.
It's hard to imagine the kind of comedians you see on TV coming close to the number of achievements of such people! The younger ones seem the less political of them. Of course, if you have learned from comedians who are less extreme in comparison, if they've brought you joy, there's nothing wrong with that. Remember (it's always easy to forget if people you like or that influenced you are criticised, especially when by other people you respect), critical views toward the comedians themselves from Hedges or Camp aren't an attack on any good anyone else gets from them.
You're certainly entitled to an opinion, but fail to qualify it as such. The death certificate facts surrounding Lenny Bruce's demise indicate "accidental" overdose of morphine by injection. Unless you were there when he died (which I doubt even more) then you haven't a clue as to his actual frame of mind or intentions while choosing to inject himself with a strong narcotic with a high potential of abuse. Not sure what else you were reading that led you to the opinion of suicide, but death certificates are rather definitive.
"We can still enjoy the older comedians without disparaging political comedians, just like apples and oranges are both great."
This isn't about older or newer but speaking truth to power or carrying water for corp overlords. Both are not great.. truth is great.. propaganda is not.
Great comedy helps us laugh at ourselves & see our flaws. Cheap laughs mocking critics of the powerful isn't funny it's dangerous. How much public opinion was whipped up to oppose Nuremberg principles, informed consent, bodily autonomy & Constitutional freedoms? When unelected bureaucrats closed churches but deemed liquor stores & Amazon delivery essential were any mocking the absurdity?
Tragically Jon Stewart pinning a medal on actual Nazi to support Ukraine war left a black mark on his brilliant legacy that's hard to get past.. if you add Colbert w dancing VaxScene pimping for human medical experiments from the most corrupt corps & mandated by political mafia it's an historic betrayal.
Daily Show spin off Trevor Noah isn't brilliant as alum Jon Oliver but both twist issues to corp view while feeling edgy.. pandemic nudging or silence by the entire list is shameful & makes me gag just hearing their names. SNL has been pathetic for decades not even a hint of its originality or irreverence & worse yet as an old timer who can remember 1 million anti-war protesters in Central Park as a core demographic for SNL that now profiles right of Nixon.
Lack of adversarial press makes the comedy more important & these tools fail. It's not apples and oranges it's worth eating or rotten apples.
I really don’t follow your rant and lies. It seems you just want to criticize decent people to hear your own voice. This is not helpful to furthering what nurtures and sustains life, but then I am pretty sure you don’t care.
I’m a huge fan a subscriber to Lee Camp’s content. I thoroughly enjoyed this interview but have a comment regarding the Dave Chapelle critique of the LGBTQ+ community. Dave’s comedy does not demean the community or encourage abuse. The humor is an important strand of argument utilized in his bits about the Me too movement, Fans vs Celebrities, and Trump voters...making fun of the absurdity of third rail (untouchable topics). If communities subject to discriminatory abuse are exempt from comedy than African-Americans, Hispanic, women, and religious minorities would not have been the subject of some of the greatest comedy in American history. An example of Dave’s LGBTQ+ comedy that makes my point is the bit about the road-trip car ride where the passengers are members of each segment of the community. The bit illuminates the comedic distinctions within the community in the similar fashion cultural, racial, gender, and religious distinctions have provided a rich source of comedy. At the heart of his critique is no part of the human family is beyond good humor. Lee has built his career on exposing third rail topics in the realm of politics and economics. Dave’s primary focus is culture, which broadly includes politics. I would love to see Lee interview Dave Chapelle. For a long form preview, check out Dave Chapelle’s interviews with Joe Rogan.
The worst example I’ve seen is the YouTube clip from 3 yrs ago; “late night hosts react to arrest of Assange.” I know people who were influenced by those narratives. I doubt Trevor Noah or Seth Myers had an understanding of the case. They were handed the narrative for the jokes. They should come out and apologize but that would tarnish their carefully orchestrated public image. Liberals don’t question it, didn’t question why jokes were being made about a man being illegally removed from politically sovereign territory in the embassy, still do not question the issue of solitary confinement/torture. Those narratives did have a profound influence as liberals worship these shows. They’ve become totally useless and propagandized by fear, Trump derangement syndrome, and extremist “me too” ideology. There’s no talking to them, they’ll call you crazy.
NC and his Extinction Rebellion!? WTF. Where is their power? Where is their presence? It’s all brave posturing. Another fence-sitting as expected from NC—and Barsamian should know better after decades of being told, “You have to vote for the lesser of two evils!” No I don’t. Enough of NC and his gatekeeping. He’s held up as some moral paradigm. Huh? You want moral paradigm? Try Alexander Solzhenitsyn
"NC and his Extinction Rebellion!?" Sorry but I disagree with you. What you call "brave posturing" increments awareness on the people that latter will vote accordingly. Professor Chomsky despite his ill advice of voting for the lesser evil has consistently shown high moral values and always has opposed the the torturing of the Palestinians by the Israelis. Did Solzhenitsyn expressed any concerns about the fate of the Palestinians or did he write only on his parochial interests? I don't know because I have not red him. Here is another segment of the same interview of DB to 94 old NC referred before:
"DB- Rafael Grossi is the IAEA director, of the International Atomic Energy Agency, a UN body. He's been warning of the dangers posed by nuclear reactors in Ukraine. Shelling and fighting near the reactors could trigger, Grossi said, “a nuclear disaster.” Meanwhile, the Biden administration is going ahead with the modernization of U.S. nuclear weapons. Is this another example of when lunatics control the asylum, when you have these kinds of outcomes?
NC- Unfortunately, one of the major problems that Dan Ellsberg and a couple of others have been trying to get people to understand for years is the growing threat of nuclear war. People talk about it in Congress as if it's a joke. Let's have a small nuclear war with China. I forget his name, (Mike
Minihan) but a U.S. Air Force general just predicted that we're going to have a war with China in two years. It's beyond insanity. There can't be a war between nuclear powers. The power that launched the first strike would itself be destroyed, even if there's no retaliatory strike, just by
nuclear winter. But this is bandied about as if it's a possibility. Meanwhile, U.S. strategic planning under Trump, expanded by Biden, is to prepare for two nuclear wars, one with Russia, one with China"
It is fair to the extent that Jimmy Dore is no Carlin but he's in a small handful who pushed back against lies w Syria, Russiagate, Bernie-AOC w Squad as anti-war & most notably Covidian madness for masks, lockdown & safe effective jab claims where comedians opposing the corp mantras were as hard to find as those giants in their own era..
The monsters aren't under the bed, in the closet, or lurking around public bathrooms unseen.
They're highly visible, their media omnipresence the appearance of certainty and control. But we can see it's a mask, tragedy under the thinnest veneer of comedy.
They fear change, so they grasp power as vital creation eludes them.
They display; unaware the alpha wolf is false and they look like fools.
Their chrome and glass urban missiles reflect lifelessness, devoid of laughter and joy.
But The Trickster will have the last word--just ask Ozymandias.
I can't help but think you are making my case for me. Meaning is everything to me when it comes to understanding someone or speaking out clearly. Commenting with an entire essay, my comments would offer a pretty flawed transcendence for anyone, so I use relatively superlative words instead, within a pretty conservative set of words, and a bit of hope that my meaning can get through. Pretty pathetic, really, especially in this community, but I like to try.
I've not watched TV in decades, so the names mentioned here in this report are foreign to me. But it doesn't mean that occasionally I have encountered real comedy in the radio delivered by the politicians themselves. Is there anything funnier than listening to hawkish Biden to call Putin a war criminal, or to a Trump rallying people to make America great AGAIN? Well, I guess my sense of humor died long ago.
Satire, Hypocrisy, Sarcasm and laughter. The four horseman politicians fear most! George Carlin video's should be mandatory viewing for college students in understanding the Civil Rights and Vietnam era, his warnings are still prescient to this day. The Machiavellian use of humor for power was Ronald Reagan hands down. How many times he defused or distorted reality with one liners that knocked or blamed the government while hiding the hand of his masters should be a class in its own right. Was the treatment of Charlie Chaplin a warning to others? Woodstock musicians had hard hitting political lyrics in anti war songs, the music today is neutered bland and sung by plastic Barbie Stepford Wives like Taylor Swift. Meaningless consumerism of clothes. bling, makeup, perfume, Botox and plastic surgery. The world for all intents and purposes has become a 1984/Brave New World hybrid. The .1% jet set around the world profiting from from permanent war disguised as patriots and calm everyone with "Soma" to make their hopeless lives even more hopeless. Then turn gambling into entertainment for "fun" with extra oxygen and booze to keep the "proles" pumping more money into their greedy pockets. Not only is the "wrong" humor banned so is any news of the suicides the "fun" caused! But hey they can blame the Russians, Chinese and Muslim "Terrorists" for hating "our" values. With a Bible in one hand and a gun in the other with a flag draped cross and a Reagan like demagogue saying "Its Morning In America"! In God We Trust?
What a great topic. Maher, above all, infuriates me not only for his lack of erudition, but for the way he betrays his natural gifts for a paycheck. He’s so often on the right side of social issues, and nearly always on the wrong side of political ones, especially internationally. When I think what his influence could do to aid Assange, for example, I begin to despair how money can so corrupt a person.
Thank you so much for sharing such a wonderful dialogue.
What do you feel was so wonderful about the dialogue?
I would have to say the spirit of friendship is what makes their dialogue so meaningful to me.
Interesting that you changed your statement about the podcasts dialogue from "wonderful" to "meaningful". Are those terms interchangeable for you when considering any particular dialogue?
For sure. It's an entire dimension without which political discussions often degenerate into cringeful walking on eggshell talk.
That dimension is what I would call delusion. "Wonderful" and "meaningful" are two very different terms (if you care to look them up in any dictionary). In fact, they could be considered diametrically opposed.
For the record, I believe this blog interview went nowhere in terms of political discussion. It's, basically, two folks that formerly made a lucrative living participating within main stream media commiserating over the fact that they both have been largely ostracized by that sector. Besides commiserating with each other, they banter over which comedians have been more radical than others (as if they have to be in order to be a comedian or to serve a political purpose). While I sympathize with their position of being unfairly canceled, I feel it would have been "meaningful" had they had a discussion that investigated (and possibly broadened) practical avenues for working around that condition. Finally, IMO there was absolutely nothing that would justify applying the term "wonderful" as applied to their discussion.
Always wanted to write; maybe now's the time.
Great, we are listening, Julie. Comedy in general reminds me of what a poet said once: Life teaches us to laugh while crying and cry with laughter.
You left out the master, Jon Stewart, also Charlamagne tha God, Samantha Bee, Hasan Minaj, Trevor Noah, Ronny Chieng, Michael Kosta, Desi Lydic, Dulcé Sloan, Jaboukie Young-White and Roy Wood Jr. , Jordan Klepper, Al Franklin, Saturday night Live Cast, and so many more. I’m not sure what you watched, but these are all people I respect and love exactly for the deep humanitarianism, and love of our country exhibited through humor. They have pointed out the flaws in our country and ways to make it better. It is a wonderful medium for learning. Again, I don’t know who you were watching. We can still enjoy the older comedians without disparaging political comedians, just like apples and oranges are both great.
From what I gather listening, as I wasn't familiar with most of this before, it's not that older comedians weren't political, it's that comedians were political in a different way and attacked power in substantial ways rather than only on a surface level way that isn't threatening to the power elites the way many do now.
I just read into Lenny Bruce who they spoke about, the state drove him to suicide and he got banned from every night club in the US for being "obscene"—how obscene! George Carlin on the other hand spoke extensively on the American Empire criticising it, but you apparently won't find one bit of it on his Wikipedia article.
Randy Credico is another comedian they mention, I looked him up and his many achievements in spite of his obscurity include: permanent exclusion from TV comedy after comparing one of Reagan's pet bureaucrats to Eva Braun; having had a connection with Michael Ratner's sister and through her Wikileaks and Julian Assange; having some DC conservative swamp monster threaten to kill him and take his medical dog away and then testifying against the scumbag helping get him convicted as a felon; then to top it off receiving the award of being put on the Ukrainian kill list, a great honour which Chris Hedges notes he himself has received.
It's hard to imagine the kind of comedians you see on TV coming close to the number of achievements of such people! The younger ones seem the less political of them. Of course, if you have learned from comedians who are less extreme in comparison, if they've brought you joy, there's nothing wrong with that. Remember (it's always easy to forget if people you like or that influenced you are criticised, especially when by other people you respect), critical views toward the comedians themselves from Hedges or Camp aren't an attack on any good anyone else gets from them.
"the state drove him to suicide". I doubt it.
You're certainly entitled to an opinion, but fail to qualify it as such. The death certificate facts surrounding Lenny Bruce's demise indicate "accidental" overdose of morphine by injection. Unless you were there when he died (which I doubt even more) then you haven't a clue as to his actual frame of mind or intentions while choosing to inject himself with a strong narcotic with a high potential of abuse. Not sure what else you were reading that led you to the opinion of suicide, but death certificates are rather definitive.
"We can still enjoy the older comedians without disparaging political comedians, just like apples and oranges are both great."
This isn't about older or newer but speaking truth to power or carrying water for corp overlords. Both are not great.. truth is great.. propaganda is not.
Great comedy helps us laugh at ourselves & see our flaws. Cheap laughs mocking critics of the powerful isn't funny it's dangerous. How much public opinion was whipped up to oppose Nuremberg principles, informed consent, bodily autonomy & Constitutional freedoms? When unelected bureaucrats closed churches but deemed liquor stores & Amazon delivery essential were any mocking the absurdity?
Tragically Jon Stewart pinning a medal on actual Nazi to support Ukraine war left a black mark on his brilliant legacy that's hard to get past.. if you add Colbert w dancing VaxScene pimping for human medical experiments from the most corrupt corps & mandated by political mafia it's an historic betrayal.
Daily Show spin off Trevor Noah isn't brilliant as alum Jon Oliver but both twist issues to corp view while feeling edgy.. pandemic nudging or silence by the entire list is shameful & makes me gag just hearing their names. SNL has been pathetic for decades not even a hint of its originality or irreverence & worse yet as an old timer who can remember 1 million anti-war protesters in Central Park as a core demographic for SNL that now profiles right of Nixon.
Lack of adversarial press makes the comedy more important & these tools fail. It's not apples and oranges it's worth eating or rotten apples.
I really don’t follow your rant and lies. It seems you just want to criticize decent people to hear your own voice. This is not helpful to furthering what nurtures and sustains life, but then I am pretty sure you don’t care.
Maybe you'd be less confused what's true if you had spent decades doing NatSec research like me instead of consuming corp media.
I’m a huge fan a subscriber to Lee Camp’s content. I thoroughly enjoyed this interview but have a comment regarding the Dave Chapelle critique of the LGBTQ+ community. Dave’s comedy does not demean the community or encourage abuse. The humor is an important strand of argument utilized in his bits about the Me too movement, Fans vs Celebrities, and Trump voters...making fun of the absurdity of third rail (untouchable topics). If communities subject to discriminatory abuse are exempt from comedy than African-Americans, Hispanic, women, and religious minorities would not have been the subject of some of the greatest comedy in American history. An example of Dave’s LGBTQ+ comedy that makes my point is the bit about the road-trip car ride where the passengers are members of each segment of the community. The bit illuminates the comedic distinctions within the community in the similar fashion cultural, racial, gender, and religious distinctions have provided a rich source of comedy. At the heart of his critique is no part of the human family is beyond good humor. Lee has built his career on exposing third rail topics in the realm of politics and economics. Dave’s primary focus is culture, which broadly includes politics. I would love to see Lee interview Dave Chapelle. For a long form preview, check out Dave Chapelle’s interviews with Joe Rogan.
Thank you for having Lee Camp on! He’s great! Love him.
The worst example I’ve seen is the YouTube clip from 3 yrs ago; “late night hosts react to arrest of Assange.” I know people who were influenced by those narratives. I doubt Trevor Noah or Seth Myers had an understanding of the case. They were handed the narrative for the jokes. They should come out and apologize but that would tarnish their carefully orchestrated public image. Liberals don’t question it, didn’t question why jokes were being made about a man being illegally removed from politically sovereign territory in the embassy, still do not question the issue of solitary confinement/torture. Those narratives did have a profound influence as liberals worship these shows. They’ve become totally useless and propagandized by fear, Trump derangement syndrome, and extremist “me too” ideology. There’s no talking to them, they’ll call you crazy.
NOAM CHOMSKY
When Lunatics Run the Asylum
Interviewed by David Barsamian
Oro Valley, AZ 22 March 2023
I'm transcribing the final question posed in this very interesting interview that I downloaded from alternativeradio.org
D.B. -The lunatics seemingly control the asylum. What signs of
sanity are there out there to counter the lunatics?
N.C.- Plenty. There's lots of popular activism. We mentioned
some of it. It's in the streets. Young people calling for
decent treatment of others, concern for others. Sometimes
it may go a little bit overboard, but a lot of it is very solid
and serious. Extinction Rebellion, Sunrise Movement. Let's
save the planet from destruction. There are lots of voices.
Yours, Democracy Now, Chris Hedges, lots of sites,
Common Dreams, Truthout, Intercept, Alternet,
TomDispatch and many others. All of these are efforts to
create an alternative world in which human beings can
survive. Those are the signs of hope for the world
NC and his Extinction Rebellion!? WTF. Where is their power? Where is their presence? It’s all brave posturing. Another fence-sitting as expected from NC—and Barsamian should know better after decades of being told, “You have to vote for the lesser of two evils!” No I don’t. Enough of NC and his gatekeeping. He’s held up as some moral paradigm. Huh? You want moral paradigm? Try Alexander Solzhenitsyn
"NC and his Extinction Rebellion!?" Sorry but I disagree with you. What you call "brave posturing" increments awareness on the people that latter will vote accordingly. Professor Chomsky despite his ill advice of voting for the lesser evil has consistently shown high moral values and always has opposed the the torturing of the Palestinians by the Israelis. Did Solzhenitsyn expressed any concerns about the fate of the Palestinians or did he write only on his parochial interests? I don't know because I have not red him. Here is another segment of the same interview of DB to 94 old NC referred before:
"DB- Rafael Grossi is the IAEA director, of the International Atomic Energy Agency, a UN body. He's been warning of the dangers posed by nuclear reactors in Ukraine. Shelling and fighting near the reactors could trigger, Grossi said, “a nuclear disaster.” Meanwhile, the Biden administration is going ahead with the modernization of U.S. nuclear weapons. Is this another example of when lunatics control the asylum, when you have these kinds of outcomes?
NC- Unfortunately, one of the major problems that Dan Ellsberg and a couple of others have been trying to get people to understand for years is the growing threat of nuclear war. People talk about it in Congress as if it's a joke. Let's have a small nuclear war with China. I forget his name, (Mike
Minihan) but a U.S. Air Force general just predicted that we're going to have a war with China in two years. It's beyond insanity. There can't be a war between nuclear powers. The power that launched the first strike would itself be destroyed, even if there's no retaliatory strike, just by
nuclear winter. But this is bandied about as if it's a possibility. Meanwhile, U.S. strategic planning under Trump, expanded by Biden, is to prepare for two nuclear wars, one with Russia, one with China"
Putting Jimmy Dore in a list that includes Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, and George Carlin? C'mon, Chris.
It is fair to the extent that Jimmy Dore is no Carlin but he's in a small handful who pushed back against lies w Syria, Russiagate, Bernie-AOC w Squad as anti-war & most notably Covidian madness for masks, lockdown & safe effective jab claims where comedians opposing the corp mantras were as hard to find as those giants in their own era..
Outstanding !! -- thank you.
Chris Hedges is back!
The Trickster
The monsters aren't under the bed, in the closet, or lurking around public bathrooms unseen.
They're highly visible, their media omnipresence the appearance of certainty and control. But we can see it's a mask, tragedy under the thinnest veneer of comedy.
They fear change, so they grasp power as vital creation eludes them.
They display; unaware the alpha wolf is false and they look like fools.
Their chrome and glass urban missiles reflect lifelessness, devoid of laughter and joy.
But The Trickster will have the last word--just ask Ozymandias.
I can't help but think you are making my case for me. Meaning is everything to me when it comes to understanding someone or speaking out clearly. Commenting with an entire essay, my comments would offer a pretty flawed transcendence for anyone, so I use relatively superlative words instead, within a pretty conservative set of words, and a bit of hope that my meaning can get through. Pretty pathetic, really, especially in this community, but I like to try.
Why is Lee Camp not on Rumble?
My apology -- I just discovered you on Rumble and Spotify ;-))
Great !!
I've not watched TV in decades, so the names mentioned here in this report are foreign to me. But it doesn't mean that occasionally I have encountered real comedy in the radio delivered by the politicians themselves. Is there anything funnier than listening to hawkish Biden to call Putin a war criminal, or to a Trump rallying people to make America great AGAIN? Well, I guess my sense of humor died long ago.