Unaccustomed as I am now, or have any need to casually or professionally involved in the sewer that broadcast television has become in the last decade or two, I still manage to find out about some of the most egregious and offensive violations of good taste, good sense, and good manners, thanks to the internet like Stephen Colbert’s tasteless and degrading monologue regarding President Trump more than a week ago. There are plenty of viewers and listeners who, like me, are of a conservative-slash-libertarian inclination, and unlike me do still watch mainstream broadcast news and entertainment. They do take note of these offenses, and post, tweet and comment about them. Since the election of Donald Trump against all expectations to the high office of president, an astonishingly large number of public personalities have gone and continue to go stark raving nuts.
People in the entertainment business seem to be worse-affected, although a couple of Democratic Party politicians like Maxine Waters come close. While Maxine Waters’ unhinged blatherings should only be a matter of concern for those fools in her district who repeatedly return her to national office … the equally unhinged blatherings of figures who for some reason have a pulpit in the world of popular entertainment are somewhat more worrisome. Like the aforementioned Colbert, who is alleged to be a comedian. Honestly, I can’t judge whether he is or not a comedian, since I haven’t watched an episode of the Late Show in a dog’s age but his unsavory blast of commentary which has ruffled feathers in my conservo-libertarian corner of the blogosphere has left the commetariant decidedly unamused.
So Steven Colbert’s monologue has drawn some comment here and there. No, I don’t think that he will be fired for it; a slap on the wrist from the FCC may be about the most penalty that he will suffer. He is, after all, one of those anointed and set into a place in the high firmament of big media entertainment, an establishment which will roll over and go hard-left, rather than admit that … oh, hey -they have insulted, alienated, and pissed off at least half of their audience, the consumers of their product. Obviously, it must be more important to entertainers like Colbert to go along with the popular crowd in demonstrations of contempt for Trump and those who voted for him. Which brings me to the aspect of this which I find to be the most depressing the motivation for these displays of contempt … no, not only contempt, but outright hatred. The anger and frustration, boiling over. Those of us who voted Trump (often with reluctance and reservation) did not obey the instructions of the elite, and this willful disobedience on our part has maddened them beyond all normal conventions of civility and rational thought. They are choking on their rage and hatred. And so it spills out in a tidal wave like Colbert’s infamous monologue.
Discuss
I used to catch Colbert’s show on Comedy Central way back when, if I happened to be flipping around. Now I don’t watch any of that stuff. I remember getting interested enough with Saturday Night Live to stay up and watch the Weekend Update and maybe all the way to the musical guest. Now I go out of my way to avoid it. It’s terrific motivation to go to bed early.
Colbert wouldn’t even register with me at all if it wasn’t for this incident. I have a feeling his ratings have been bad, so he needed some sort of meltdown to save his show.
I watch Lou Dobbs on Fox Business. He has quickly become the only person I trust on broadcast television, even when I don’t agree with him. Unless there’s a game on, we might stay on the channel and watch Kennedy. She is mildly amusing with her vaguely nostalgic snarkiness.
My wife likes Gutfeld, so we end up watching his show on the weekends where he sits at the desk with his panel on the couch cracking jokes, sort of Tonight Show-ish. I’m not so sure about it. He might benefit from a musical guest.
Everything has been satirized so much that I think that we’ve reached the tipping point with parody. The instantaneous flow of information, real or otherwise, has made everything self-parodying. The mainstream news is Leftist propaganda, but it’s so obvious it’s like the nonsensical North Korean news. Absurd play acting for effect.
What I find the saddest commentary on our society is that I’ve heard full grown adults referring to things they hear on these shows as if they are actual factual and relevant information on current events. The bias of the mainstream fake news media is bad enough but it just boggles my mind that people accept as fact presentations on shows that don’t even *pretend* to convey objective information.
I don’t know which is worse, frankly; the boiling anger, or the sheer nastiness and vulgarity of Colbert’s comments. I mean – yes, there were raunchy stand-up comedians back in the day, but they were doing it in clubs, for a live and paying AND mature audience. I know that Redd Foxx used to be pretty raunchy, and some of the Friar’s Club roasts used to get raw and personal … but this was on broadcast television, for pete’s sake. On the freaking Tiffany network!
I swear, Johnny Carson must be revolving in his grave so rapidly that they could use him to power a generator providing light and power to most of Burbank.
Maybe the FCC will fine CBS $100,000,000 and give it to the Tea Party.
That’s the kind of thing the Obama administration was doing ;))
http://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/tv/fcc-investigate-stephen-colbert-s-controversial-trump-joke-chairman-n755821
We are dealing with TWANLOC in the MSM. Just a few days ago Bill Maher did a bit declaring that the president had committed incest with Ivanka. It is all networks, all performers, all the time. It is collusion if not actual conspiracy, and it will get worse and worse as each tries to go lower than the next for greater shock value. There is no longer any difference between the political stands of the Media/Entertainment Complex and their programming and news. Between the media and the Democrats dehumanizing anyone who is not subservient to them and their encouragement of violence, this is going to end untidily. And kinetically. And those memories of who said and did what will not go away. There will be no “clown nose on, clown nose off” or safe spaces, or “just kidding”.
It will be what it will be.
Yes, SB – each one going lower and lower, more insulting, hateful, and disgusting.
The rage is the most disconcerting part, for me, actually. DT was – to all appearances – one of theirs, until this year. Noo Yawker, socially likely to be a Dem in sympathies … and now he is Practically Hitler? The object of the vilest accusations that one can imagine?
And all because he won election against the one who was anointed and blessed by the elites. The Ruling Class. He grabbed away the prize that was sure to be theirs … and then they go bonkers with rage.
I’ve gone back into re-reading my own novel about the build-up to the Civil War; the only time I can find an American faction going as bonkers as this. Hoping that events don’t work out with us as they did in 1860, but now I see the same insensate rage, playing out on television.
I still have Redd Foxx albums so I don’t want any criticism of him.
Just kidding, not about the albums. I have several.
I have never seen Colbert, except in clips on news programs and I agree it was about ratings.
Trump is living rent free in the heads of the looney left. Firing Comey will cause mental whiplash as the Democrats go from demanding Comey’s head to sainthood for him.
Regarding Colbert, the man’s eyes and face clearly convey that he thinks what he’s doing is absolutely stupid and ridiculous. It’s the strangest thing to me that anyone can watch him. Because he has nothing but contempt for his own act, and therefore for his own audience.
Regarding the Dems and Trump, they have at least mostly moved past Denial (well, except for the fact that a huge proportion of their base wants Trump to be impeached, followed quickly by Pence, followed by some magic by Hillary! being installed as Madam President), but my oh my their Anger phase is something to behold. I saw my first “RESIST” bumper sticker today! I wonder if anyone still has their “Dissent Is The Highest Form of Patriotism” stickers. It seemed like they all got covered up with OBAMA stickers in January 2009.
It is clear that the main motivation of the left is that Trump doesn’t get to be president. Which basically is that the GOP doesn’t get to be president. Which basically is that they’ve rejected civil society and democratic norms. I don’t think that will work out well for them, no matter what the MSM says.
About 2 years ago – thanks to a post here on how easy it was to start streaming – I pretty much left network TV. I go there twice a week for Blue Bloods (CBS) and the Blacklist (NBC).
I found a series I like on Netflix – called Crossing Lines – about a group of cops that work on trans border crimes in the EU – a multi national cast including Donald Sutherland – has – like Blacklist – just a bit of espionage and mystery – and in discovering this program had an epiphany.
I did not even know that until recently it was shown on NBC (and other world networks) – the epiphany was that in years past with so many eyes on the networks we would have known about this new show and perhaps it would be there (on NBC) still – but with so few going to the networks – they have lost their critical mass. It came and went, and to me it was- and is – (still being produced according to imdb) a great show.
As far as Colbert – meh. Never watched Letterman either for his blatant politics. Leno pretty much stayed out of politics or when lampooning politicians – like Carson – was equal opportunity. I think that is why they did so well. Carson of course was the Gold standard. Funny thing I can still enjoy Carson reruns – he was a master of the ad lib –
There are entertainers now who don’t care that they insult a potential half their viewership.
So be it. I don’t watch them.
@Brian – if I could post a picture here I could – but my mother lives in a very nice neighborhood and apparently a woman next block became so unhinged over Trump she painted on her garage door ‘Resist and Persist”. In huge letters the width of the door.
It is Bush Derangement Syndrome (BDS) on steroids.
There is something to be said for HOAs.
I used to really like Colbert. I have a stack of old shows, and watch em’ once in a while.
He has gone from attacking the establishment, which I liked, to being a major shill for the establishment which I find distressing. I doubt he even knows he’s turned his coat so completely, as the ‘Russia hacked the election’ meme has been deeply established by pretty well all of western media.
I rather enjoyed his rant but I do not like what he does in general. Getting upset over the rant is, well pretty thin skinned, especially after what Obama was called on a daily basis.
“I rather enjoyed his rant but I do not like what he does in general. Getting upset over the rant is, well pretty thin skinned, especially after what Obama was called on a daily basis.”
Well, naturally you would have enjoyed it, Penny. And my point regarding it was that while Obama may have been called some pretty nasty things on a daily basis (on blogs mostly, and by insignificant commenters) –
he wasn’t being called them on network television, on a major broadcast nightly TV show, or by entertainment personalities like Colbert. See the difference?
I watch as much Fox News as I can while walking past the TV. MY wife has it on all the time.
I used to watch series on NetFlix but have not gotten it working well since the move.
That is on my list after unpacking 40 boxes of books.
WE are still working hard on the house with workmen here most days. In a week the pool gets drained replastered. That should take two weeks.
It was a given when we bought the house. Our same real estate gal sold a similar but smaller house without a pool two blocks from us. It went for $100,000 more, which is a lot in Tucson. It had all the stuff we are doing already done. We could not buy this house in California for $2 million.
“I watch as much Fox News as I can while walking past the TV.”
At one time I liberated a couple of satellites, just as a technical exercise you understand, and had over 700 channels of TV to watch. After beating the whole thing into a web based spread sheet, I could search my 700 channels, something I’ve never seen since, I realized there was nothing on. So I used to leave it running Fox News, as they used to crack me up several times an hour.
Bill, I really liked Crossing Lines too. I started watching Crossing Jordan on netflix (mostly because I saw it infrequently when it was on and I like the episodes that I did see) only to discover that the episodes that I saw were much later in the series and how that show got passed one season before being canned was beyond me…the first season is just bad, and so over the top cliche, the supporting cast and their storylines were more interesting than the main casts ones