From 'Funny Ha-Ha' to 'Funny Peculiar'

Is the terminally fledging liberal yak-net Air America a retirement home for comedians whose career has hit the proverbial wall.

 

It's getting to look that way.  Especially when one their top hosts Janeane Garofolo seems to be suffering from a case of early onset comedic senility.

 

The biggest sign that poor Ms. Garofolo's mind is not quite connected the planet we mere mortals dwell on, happened at a recent appearance on TV to comment on the President's State of the Union Address.  While everyone was impressed with the courage and tenacity of the average Iraqi voter Comrade Garofolo apparently wigged out, calling the purple finger of freedom 'disgusting,' the Republicans who support craziness like democracy 'Nazis' and then topping it all off with a heartfelt Nazi salute.  Read the details here.

 

All she succeeded in doing was make herself, and all those who support her views, look idiotic and ignorant of even the most basic facts of history.  And let me tell you, those who follow a washed up comedian for political advice, don't need any extra help to look idiotic.

 

But she isn't completely to blame.  She suffers from an all to common disorder found in entertainers whose once fashionable and high-flying careers fall faster than a kite made of bricks. 

 

One day they're flying high with HBO specials, movie deals and trendy award show hosting gigs.  And then one day they wake up and realise that there's a layer of dust on therir phone and their agents have to look in the back of their files to remember that they were once clients.  The comedian suddenly realises that they're not hot tickets anymore.

 

But it can't be the fault of their material, they'd been doing the same bits since 1992, and they were on top then.  So they rationalize it in their minds with declarations like:

 

It must be the audience's fault.

 

They've become too dumb to 'get me.'

 

I'm still relevant!

 

And to maintain the illusion of being still relevant they then turn to politics.  They don't actually go out and learn about politics, they just click on the first website they can find with the Ed Asner seal of approval, and declare themselves experts.  And with their newfound expertise they begin their rebellion.

 

You see, they're not really rebelling against Bush. 

 

They're rebelling against the audience that rejected them when they stopped moving with the times.  So they attack things that their former audience holds dear, like democracy, religion, and an increasingly popular Bush administration.  Because the audience that 'betrayed' them supports them, then they must be evil, and that's the real fuel for their vitriol.

 

My suggestion for Mr. Franken and Ms. Garofolo, take some time off politics, and try a little therapy.

 

Then write some new jokes about your therapy, and start hitting the clubs again.

 

Who knows, it might make you funny again.

 

And I'm talkin 'funny ha-ha' not 'funny peculiar.'