This, I think, is the point that really needs to be made here. Miller in his prime–of whom I was very much a fan–used his cynicism to take on with his humor all politicians (and others) for their hypocrisy and fraudulence. He was ruthless in laying the verbal lumber to lying sacks of shit–and now he shilling at fundraisers for one of the biggest lying sacks of shit ever to occupy the Oval Office. It’s one of the most grotesque sell-outs in recent history. Actually, I suppose what it really shows is how desperate he has become; with the end of his HBO show and getting canned from MNF, he sees irrelevance staring him in the face, and he’s clutching at whatever straw he can to keep himself in some form of limelight. (Not to mention his other gig, pitching beer on the radio.) It’s over for him, and he knows it; unfortunately, he can’t bring himself to exit the stage with any dignity or credibility intact. Pathetic.
And yes, he did lose me before the fundraisers, with that Tonight Show rant; it was just plain stupid. To Hell with him.
So let me get this straight… Miller, because he’s a comedian cannot declare his support for a candidate because that would be ‘selling out’? Doesn’t Miller have the same rights as all Americans in deciding which person or party to support, or did he lose that when leftists became his fans?
I stopped liking Miller some while ago when his rants became templates (“it’s [adverb here] than [activate obscure 1970s celebrity generater here] in a [activate classic literary reference generater here]…”) and his generalizations became egregious. He made countless remarks about southerners being inbred morons (though he didn’t have the guts to make similar stereotypical remarks about Jews, gays, blacks, and Indians, all of whom have major defense groups), one of which earned him a great put-down.
He was interviewing Tom Hanks and the subject was NASA/space research. Hanks, who unlike most celebrities with an interest actually is well read on the subject, took a call from Huntsville, AL*, and mentioned to Miller “Huntsville is the site of a lot of missile and aeronautics research”. Miller of course responded with some comment about southerners marrying their sisters.
The caller, who I’m proud to say had a thick southern accent, actually started addressing Hanks very intelligently and the two exchanged several sentences that were way above the layman’s level about recent space research. Miller smirked “Wow, I feel like the remedial kid watching Jeopardy”, to which the caller drawled “Yeah, sometimes we read a little when we ain’t too busy shackin’ up with our sisters, you asshole”. Hanks and the audience cracked up.
I later saw the episode repeated; the “remedial kid watching Jeopardy” crack was still in, but the Huntsvillians retort was not.
*Another display of Miller’s ignorance: Huntsville AL is known as “Little Berchtesgaden” in aeronautic research circles as it was the home of Wernher von Braun and many other scientists downsized when the Third Reich had its Fire Sale. The NASA base there is no much more indicative of southern culture than Miami.
In a way, yes. And “declaring support for” and “riding in Air Force One with” are quite different. Still, I’d be rolling my eyes just as much if he was riding in a limo with Hillary.
OK, so he’s disenfrachised with the left. A lot of people are. But it’s a huge jump from “the Dems need to get their shit together” to “Bush in 2004!”
Over his career, Dennis has pretty much cultivated this image of himself as a universal bullshit detector. He’d make Byrd KKK jokes in the same breath as Strom Thurmond coloreds only water fountain jokes. He’d have a field day with who ever was in office. From Clinton’s infidelity to Reagan’s senility. I’m sure there were more than a few detrimental choking on a pretzel remarks in recent years too.
He’s not just picking sides, he’s chosen to publicly support a candidate who is a comedy goldmine. That’s like a comedian being unsatisfied with mainstream feminism, and as a result sings the praises of John Wayne Bobbit.
I have no doubt that he is genuinely a fan of a lot of W’s actions post 9/11. But I’d be surprised if he really buys the whole package. Would Dennis Miller really be in favor of an Amendment prohibiting gay marriage?
It’s his right as an American to prefer and publicly support a candidate, but as a comedian, making a sudden shift like will cause him to lose cred.
The cynic in me sees a man whose career is in a downturn and has decided that the only way to to do comedic political commentary and get noticed in this climate is to unabashedly lean to the right.
It’s his prerogative, but you don’t have to lean to the left to be skeptical.
I referred to this before in a now-closed thread on the same subject, but I think we’ll find out how thoroughly Miller has sold out to the Republicans the next time a member of the party (or some other prominent conservative) does or says something stupid, offensive, and/or deceitful. If he’s oddly silent or tries to deflect criticism by bringing up some past liberal misdeed, then the sell-out to the right will be 99.44% complete.
Miller’s sell-out will be 100% if he tries to suck up to southerners (after earlier referring to them as the denizens of “Darwin’s waiting room”) by doing something like suddenly saying they represent the “real America” and singing the praises of country music.
In the summer of 2000, when the Republican Party Platform was being hammered out before the Presidential Nominating Convention, the far-right wing of the platform committee tried to insert a clause supporting such a constitutional amendment. The chairman of the platform committee, using internal Republican polling, did not find the support for such an amendment. I learned this from two participants who were closely involved.
The burden of proof lies on you, skin2skin, since you made the original assertion. Where is your evidence proving that most Republicans favor an Amendment prohibiting gay marriages?
If intellectual debate worked the way you’re atttempting to argue, I could get away with saying that the majority of Democrats are in favor if distimming the frammisgoshes.
What? You have no evidence that proves majority of Democrats are not in favor if distimming the frammisgoshes? Well, then, what I said must be true!
W sez: “I don’t know if it’s necessary yet.” Yet? You’ll excuse if as a gay-positive hetero with no political party affiliation I don’t find that terribly reassuring. Apparently he could be in favor of it at a later date. I assume he means if states start allowing gay marriages left and right, then it would be “necessary”. That’s a far cry from “George W. Bush does not support such an amendment”. Unless someone can find a subsequent cite showing that that is the case.
I can’t really see Dennis being against gay marriage. Supporting the action in Iraq is one thing, but I would be surprised if Dennis became so conservative that he’d abandon his social libertarianism. He’d have to ditch his blow job jokes.
From the above link: “The cultural divide in the country is very strong on this,” a top adviser said, “and it cuts 70% in our favor. It’s a perfect example of where the policy elites are totally out of touch with the rest of the country.”
I’m not trying to turn this into a partisan debate. I’m just simply highlight the perils of a comedian aligning himself unreservedly to a politician. If the political climate is such that W finds that appeasing ultraconservatives is beneficial to his campaign, then Dennis would need to retract entire HBO specials in order to march in step.
This is why Dennis’ recent actions seem a bit off to me. Irregardless of who his pet politician is.
In my original post I simply stated that I would be disappointed in him if he only attacks one side. It would change the one thing that I liked about him.
