18 thoughts on “Cultural Tectonic Shift?

  1. In a recent interview, NBC’s Saturday Night Live’s (yes, still a thing) Producer Lorne Michaels noted that they find Republicans easier to make fun of because Republicans just laugh along while Democrats who are made fun of get angry. Based on Obama’s ties with that particular network and it’s cable news channel in particular where they monitor and text on-air personality’s anytime a discouraging word is said about this White House, it was a confirmation of how things work.
    The Onion can expect some sour puss Democrat from whatever agency it is that regulates news parody sites to find that they need some ‘regulating’.

  2. Since so much of what’s come out of Washington lately has the flavor of an Onion hit piece, they might just be trying to get ahead of the stories.

    I heard the same stuff Seflores did about Lorne Michaels. Unfortunately, being the bigger person or the adult in the room has done little to bolster what little credibility or reputation for power they have left. The latest spending ceiling debacle may have just flushed them down the drain anyways.

    If I recall correctly, Michaels and some of his past SNL associates had been with the old National Lampoon, the humor magazine you grew into in the 70’s after you out-grew Mad Magazine. It was truly hilarious and did indeed lampoon everything in a pretty equal manner; politics, race, religion, etc. I’ve always felt that Michaels was more interested in entertainment than he was in politics. Unfortunately, the current SNL has lost most of it’s sense humor and would now rather be seen as cool, hip, and edgy. Too bad …

  3. Hard to beat someone like O’Rourke. Not sure if he was conservative back then or not, but I really never got an overt sense that there was a specific political leaning at NatLampCo.

    I think the late President Reagan embodied the willingness of not taking things about himself or his views unnecessarily serious. He did it the right way though, and backed it up with an unspoken implication that he was acting that way of his own accord and for his own amusement, not as a means of appeasement or from fear of a confrontation.

  4. I’m not so sure the Onion pieces mean what you think they mean, especially the one about racism and conservatives.

    Racism in the 21st century is usually more subtle, and even often unconscious rather than deliberate, unlike the days when it was exemplified by a white guy beating a black guy with an axe handle. Now it’s more like Ann Coulter making the statement that “Obama acts like he’s from Kenya”, as if there was any specific way that people from Kenya acted – there of course is not – and that the imaginary way that people from Kenya act is terrible and destructive — which of course is also untrue. Bigotry = derogatory stereotypes that have no basis or justification in fact; Racism — same thing, specific to race or ethnicity.

    Or asserting there is some characteristic or quality that is group specific, as is often the case with statements made about black people or black culture, when there is no monolithic black culture, and where the derogatory aspect attributed doesn’t actually apply to people as a group. (black people all want hand outs and are lazy, as an example).

    It can be as subtle as thinking it ok when a large white man gets angry, but applying a double standard when someone is of a different race or ethnicity – not unlike the Richard Sherman incident was treated, for example. There is nothing about being large, or male or black that should make it unacceptable to get angry; rather everyone should be held to the same standards for what is and is not acceptable anger expression, regardless of gender, age (if an adult), race, or size.- with things like threats of bodily harm/danger to others, use of a weapon, appropriate language, control, and so on.

    As to Democrats getting angry? Nah, people laugh at good humor, just ignore or disparage the not-so-amusing.

    I agree with Joe; Reagan handled criticism and conflict very well. So does no-drama-Obama.

  5. Not sure if he was conservative back then

    That was about the time he was evolving into conservatism. I think he eventually left the Lampoon because he was more interested in writing about politics. And cars.

  6. DG- “Or asserting that there is some characteristic or quality that is group specific (is racist). Really? Liberals are all about groups- minority groups. So what characteristic or quality do you tag blacks or other minorities with in order to twist Affirmative Action into being somehow legitimate?

  7. The most racist comments on SITD have been made by its liberal commenters, Dog Gone and Angry Clown.
    Dog Gone is hopeless. She thinks it’s just fine to make general statements about people based on their race or ethnicity, as long as its done for good reason.
    Her description of “racism” is like the old definition of phlogiston. It simply has to be there, or your grasp of reality is wrong. The fact that it cannot be detected is not proof that it does not exist. It is from this screwy misunderstanding of logic and reason that the idea of ‘disparate impact’ racism springs. If you are a banker and you approve a hundred mortgages with no idea of the race of the person approved, and not enough blacks or hispanics are approved, you are guilty of racism. Acting in a rational manner is considered a sign of evil. It is literally insane.

  8. DG – who are the real racists? Those who disagree based on real policy differences with the president or blacks who defame conservative blacks because they aren’t supposed to think differently?

    “A prominent NAACP official recognized Martin Luther King Day by labeling black senator Tim Scott a puppet for the Republican party. “A ventriloquist can always find a good dummy,” said Reverend William Barber II, the president of North Carolina’s NAACP chapter.”
    ( from NRO)

  9. I think that is close to correct, Yoss. I gave up trying to debate DG when it became clear that she could only think in terms of cliches. She thinks ‘positive’ racial and ethnic stereotypes and policies are okay. She literally cannot comprehend that ‘positive’ ethnic or racial discrimination cannot exist any more than a one-poled magnet can exist. She does not understand that if one group is stereotyped as being more talented in some area, by definition other groups are considered less talented in that area.

  10. Doggone is really doing herself shameful with the way she interprets those Onion spoofs. Sorry, ma’am, but humor works on reality, and the reality is that “no drama” Obama is in fact quite the drama queen who orchestrates everything he does, and liberals like yourself are in fact some of the most narrow-minded people out there.

    And being a large man myself, suffice it to say that I am well aware that a man half a foot shorter and 50 lbs lighter than I can get away with expressions of anger that I cannot. That’s life. Size + muscles + anger = threat. Size + muscles+ anger + different = greater threat. That’s not racism, it’s the way the world has worked for millennia.

  11. QUOTE: “…as if there was any specific way that people from Kenya acted – there of course is not…”

    This is such bullshit.

    I am not an expert on Kenya. I know it used to be, and maybe still is, one of the more decent places to live over there. The problem is, graft and corruption are endemic to survival and prosperity. It’s endemic to their system. This is going to radically affect how you are as a person: generic trust is way down and tribalism is way up. It kills the economy. It’s a bitch living in a third world country and it affects people. The fact is, the problem with Africa is that the smart, educated people with good values get the hell out at any cost.

    Look at the old Soviet Eastern bloc countries. It’s the same thing. Some, like Poland preserved their superior culture prior to the takeover, but it’s hard.

  12. On a related note, my prior comment, in part, points to why the adjustments Nelson Mandela made to his world view and leadership were such a big deal.

  13. Seriously, does anyone really think our immigration policy shouldn’t reflect what I’m talking about? I’m not talking about political asylum, either. I’m talking about relative rates of immigration based on the perfectly understandable difficulties of fitting into our society.

  14. Finland: notorious for depression and alcohol abuse.
    Mongolia: developing world exception that fiercely believes in property rights. Think about who surrounds those guys.
    Japan: racist and nationalistic to an extreme. This is just killing their economy.
    You don’t think people from Argentina and Chile are going to be very, very different? Being prosperous and surviving in those countries is two very different things.

    People’s heritages and the governments they are forced to live under make people very different. It’s very understandable.

  15. The Constitution really does only live in the hearts and minds of men
    http://bit.ly/1cDLyBE

    If we keep going in this direction, the country will become ungovernable because the government will run out of money and there will be no private sector opportunity either.

    How did we get here?

    I say too much Fed easy money and dumb changes to government that centralized government power.

    So we try to allocate resources with politics. Alinsky tactics. Good luck with that.

    We are doomed.

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