The Truth About Janeane Garofalo

I have been listening to some “progressive” talk radio out here, and two things that came to mind are worth mentioning:

1) Janeane Garofalo is just awful. Beyond terrible. She makes Sean Hannity (!) sound like a witty, well-prepared, thoughtful professional. (!!) In two hours, she made not ONE constructive or interesting comment on the topic being discussed, and couldn’t even come up with one useless factoid to throw into the mix. Basically, she spends here time taking the topic at hand and throws a “Republicans are evil, sadistic bastards who will eat your babies” spin on it. The liberals get more respect from Rush Limbaugh, and that’s saying something. So calling those at Air America: remove her from the airwaves, pronto – she’s got that perfect mix of annoying and embarrassing that just hurts to listen to.

2) One of the things I find most frustrating things about American culture is the fact that (in many, many circles at least) it is absolutely impossible to discuss an aspect of society, culture, the arts, etc., without somehow framing it in a partisan political manner. You take a genuinely interesting-sounding movie like “The War Tapes”, and you just have a bunch of pseudo-pundits using it as a means to prove their overarching thesis about the wicked ways of George Bush (despite this not being at all the subject of the movie). And there are numerous examples from the right, as well: How can this story be used to discredit the liberals? How can we criticize this movie so as to avoid it making ripples in the minds of voters? And so on, and so on... ensuring that no actual constructive discussion about what a movie like this might have to teach us. Please people, try and just let go for at least a few minutes a day and enjoy the world around you. Brian Doherty nails it in what is one of my favorite pieces ever: “one of government's most pernicious effects is the way it colonizes our consciousness, in a manner deeper and more significant than advertising or markets ever manage.” Read this article - it will make you feel good, and probably sums up my feelings on 'politics' better than almost anything out there. And then ignore the people scoring points for their side in the political game for a few minutes and look around. You’re bound to see some great things out there: people teaching, learning, living, loving, and creating – just as it should be.