Comments on: Comedy Is Hard

By: bianca steele

bianca steele — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:56:27 +0000

Nabakov—
No problem. It’s nice to see some facts.

But didn’t you notice it was a joke thread?

By: Nabakov

Nabakov — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 08:01:27 +0000

Opps, just realised Bianca was taking the piss. Sorry about that. I had a long lunch. Do carry on.

By: Nabakov

Nabakov — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 07:59:20 +0000

@25

“…unfair to Republicans. They are the majority of American voters..”

Not at the 2000 Prez election , only by a margin of 3% at the 2004 Prez election and not at the 2006 Congressional elections.

“…are members of the elite who have abandoned the heartland for the big city”

And they’re not alone. 70% of the US lives in urban areas and the number keeps growing.

“in order to pursue goals most people rightly don’t understand ”

like pursuing an education or career?

“are wrong and will always be wrong”

Well you’re only one here making errors of fact.

By: Martin James

Martin James — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 22:17:53 +0000

Re: ‘If you rob Peter to pay Paul, you can always count on the support of Paul.’>
&

Rea you’re so right, I robbed Peter to pay Paul and Paul still hates me…no wonder I’m conservative.

By: John Emerson

John Emerson — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 16:42:36 +0000

Off topic:

John McCain: I did not spend five years in the Hanoi Hilton…..
The American People: I don’t see any connection to Vietnam, John.
John McCain: Well, there isn’t a literal connection.
The American People: John, face it, there isn’t any connection….. Everything’s a fuckin’ travesty with you, man! And what was all that shit about Vietnam? What the FUCK, has anything got to do with Vietnam? What the fuck are you talking about?

By: noen

noen — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 09:36:10 +0000

You know, when the Illuminati seize global power and create a one world government in which all nations are states, every election campaign around the world will be like this. So there’s that to look forward to.

By: bad Jim

bad Jim — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 08:26:06 +0000

I’m a few weeks short of 57 years old. I routinely dress up to accompany my mother to performances of the Pacific Symphony, Opera Pacific, and symphonies visiting under the auspices of the Philharmonic Society of Orange County. I own 18 ties, two or three of which I’ve never worn. I would probably have guessed I owned more before I counted them.

My first home was in Cottage City, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C. Then College Park. Then a cottage in Laguna Beach for two months, then the place I still call home.

In Berkeley, the apartment on Adeline one year, the one on Roosevelt the next, then sharing half a flat on College Ave, then the Whitney St. menagerie in North Oakland, Edith in North Berkeley, Ellis in South Berkeley, McCall in North Oakland, Hidden Valley in Laguna, and back to the ancestral homestead.

I’d have to refer to my notes give the name of every hotel in which I’ve lain my head since, but I can note the cities: Alessandria, Milano*, Fremont*, Bethesda, Reno*, Tokyo*, Fort Wayne, Cambridge*, New York*, Chicago*, San Rafael*, San Clemente, Cambridge*, Atlanta, Las Vegas*, San Diego, Phoenix, Seattle*, Essen, Amsterdam*, Quebec, Sao Paolo, Rio de Janeiro, Buzios, London*, Paris*, Venezia*, Firenze*, Roma, Alexandria, Santa Barbara, Monterrey, Donostia/San Sebastian, Barcelona, Madrid, Edinburgh, Inverness, Berlin, Praha, Wien, Copenhagen, San Luis Obispo, Novato, Santa Maria. (* means more than once, and I’m not counting camping trips which would fill in much of both coasts).

How hard is it to recall every place you call home?

By: cpareader

cpareader — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 01:59:22 +0000

Has anyone done a title search on the McCain-related real estate? It’s possible he doesn’t own any of it, that it’s all Cindy’s separate property and that some of it is in the name of one or more of her business interests. That should be interesting to discover, and it could cut different ways in the campaign. He!!, I wouldn’t let him near my estate, if I were she.

For a guy to know immediately how many ties he owns is akin to a woman’s knowing on the instanter how many pairs of shoes she has. I would guess that in the closet in both cases there are some that haven’t been donned in five years (or ever).

By: Thon

Thon — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 19:46:21 +0000

But this is actually the joke, right? “McCain’s out of touch with his own domestic arrangements because he cares little about material things”. Because otherwise, somebody would seriously be saying that knowing how many houses you own is crassly materialistic…I really need a physicist to explain that for me…

By: bianca steele

bianca steele — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 19:12:44 +0000

But, John, you’re being unfair to Republicans. They are the majority of American voters. They are regular people and have robust, normal senses of humor. To whale on Republicans is classist. The regulars on this blog are members of the elite who have abandoned the heartland for the big city in order to pursue goals most people rightly don’t understand and—even if you put forward reasonable arguments on occasion—are wrong and will always be wrong unless and until they switch sides.

I bet my dad could have accumulated close to 50 ties over the decades. Of course, several of them were four inches wide.

By: abb1

abb1 — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 17:38:35 +0000

@23,
I don’t think the substance of this particular incident shows any “gigantic disconnect”, or much of anything, really. FDR was a rich guy, Friedrich Engels owned a textile factory, so what. It’s just cheap political theater. This is how politics are conducted in the US, that’s all. There are no meaningful political parties with meaningful platforms, it all is based on which individual politician has better hair or bigger flag pin or some such gimmick. And that’s exactly how they like it, people/institutions in power. It’s like that almost everywhere, obviously, but more so in the US.

By: sdh

sdh — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 16:51:23 +0000

Right wing pundits routinely use the ‘it was only a joke’ line whenever they receive push-back on something that was egregiously racist, indefensible, or insane. This is an example of that (I’d put it in the insane category myself).

RE: #22… whoever claimed that democracy was rational? Or that the parties involved were altruistic?

The ‘how many houses’ story is brilliant campaign theatre, and it would be electoral malpractice for the Obama campaign not to seize on it. That they have done a tremendous job in propelling this story and carrying it over several news cycles actually shows a fair amount of savvy, and has quieted doubts about their ability to counter-punch (the McCain’s celebrity ads were taking a toll on Obama’s poll numbers, after all).

What is more, it is a perfect ‘gotcha’ moment: because in one instant it shows the gigantic disconnect between Republican policies and the needs and lives of ordinary voters—in a way that is more illustrative and more engaging that a thousand town hall meetings, or any number of wonky policy speeches. This story will die and will be subsumed by the party conventions. But expect to see it again in the weeks before election day—I have no doubt that the Obama campaign will want to use this example of McCain’s out of touch style to drive undecided voters to their side.

By: Righteous Bubba

Righteous Bubba — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 15:54:56 +0000

Also, what’s the joke then about the kids’ wii games?

Dear god.

By: Rick Dubin

Rick Dubin — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 15:30:25 +0000

American politics is unbelievable crap. We are about to elect arguably the most powerful and influencial person in the world, one who will be charged with repairing the incalculable damage our current and embarrassing Chief Executive has wrought. Yet we see an electorate arguing about houses and such.

I have seen the enemy and it is us. The very wealthy, among whom the McCain family occupies a lower rung, live lives unfamiliar to the majority . I know this old money billionaire who drives a Prius and distains the Bentley Coupe ($250,000) as gauche because too many of the “new money ” sort drive them…..Are these really the issues we should dwell upon, is this how we select our leader?

You know, retirement to Costa Rica sounds better and better to me.

By: Michael Drake

Michael Drake — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 15:01:41 +0000

This is not a quantum phenomenon, but a case of IOIYAR relativity.