Moonbats Among Us
Why is it every time a conservative pundit or columnist makes an attempt at humor they fail miserably? (Hello, Anne Coulter.) Do their frontal lobes lack the humor-processing pathway, thus rendering them incapable of successful satire? Fox News tried out its own conservative version of The Daily Show but failed due to lack of viewership and, oh what’s that other thing — comedy!
Maybe their comedy quandary originated from jealousy. It’s a little like Middle Child Syndrome, but instead of being in the middle, they’re on the right. When people who have a passionate desire to make others laugh simply cannot succeed, they become bitter and disillusioned. They cling to guns and religion and lame quips they obliviously assume are clever. Perhaps what’s most pitiful is that they don’t even realize it; they just assume the audience lacks a sense of humor. Conservative humorists — an oxymoron if there ever was one — can’t be Stephen Colbert because, whether they realize it or not, Colbert is making fun of them and their warped belief structure. That’s why he’s funny. You can only laugh at something that’s tongue-in-cheek if it’s clever. It’s a textbook case of thinking people are laughing with you when they’re actually laughing at you.
Howie Carr’s column from the Boston Herald (of the Apocalypse) “Newspaper” — “Test: How to Tell if You’re a Moonbat” — is a fine example of a botched attempt at humor. It’s basically a lump generalization and somewhat offensive stereotype of liberals, especially those that reside in Massachusetts, as observed by the conservative right. The clinker is not meant to be taken seriously but it’s also nowhere near clever. The delicious tragedy and poetic irony is that Carr isn’t quick enough to understand that he’s not even too clever by half. His delirious sense of self-satisfaction and accomplishment should suffice. Poor little fella.
The fact of the matter is that people like Howie Carr and Anne Coulter think they’re funny, while people like Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert know they’re funny. The sad part is that those who think they’re funny don’t know the difference.
For those who don’t know, moonbat is to a liberal as wingnut is a conservative. The difference here is that moonbat is not recognized as a word in the English language. Wingnut, however, was recently added. I guess the “liberal media” extends to dictionaries now, too.
August 3rd, 2008 at 7:56 pm
If you want a great example of not-funny television, take a look at Fox’s “Red Eye.” I don’t remember his name but the “host” (or whatever he’s suppose to be) is not only not funny — when he tries so hard to be — but he’s also an arrogant asshole. Conservatives are so mean-spirited that their “humor” comes off as cruel and obnoxious sarcasm… or just meanness.
August 3rd, 2008 at 9:38 pm
Thanks for this post. I am finding the Howie Carr beyond tedious, but am now part of a fund project doing Moonbat T-shirts [w/a glow in the dark Moon!] See the website YourArlington for the best story on this.
August 4th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Dennis Miller stopped being funny as soon as he drank the Kool-Aid. The funny thing is that “wingnut” is short for “right-wing nut” and wingnut is an actual word, it’s one of those metal nuts you can twist by hand. Moonbat is some crazy made up word and makes no sense.