Use Your Privilege

With all due respect to Comedy Central's Farce On Washington, I think sanity is the last thing America needs. The mainstream concept of "sanity," I mean. We are daily assaulted by The Sane, told what is Real and what is Not, what is Holy and what is Treasonous. BAM BAM BAM. Right into our skulls. The Sane never sleep and never stop. They are relentless.

Fuck Sanity.

Maybe I'm missing the satirical angle here, if there is one. When Jon Stewart apologized for calling Harry Truman a war criminal, I initially thought, "Hey! Nice parody of the wimpy, obedient pundit!" Then I realized that Stewart was serious. Had any other global leader ordered nuclear strikes on civilians, I suspect that Stewart wouldn't be so understanding. But this was an American president -- a Democrat no less! How ugly and partisan it would be to question Truman's action, or worse, satirize it. That is something an insane person would do. And as we know, Jon Stewart is among The Sane.

Again, Stewart could be putting everyone on. I certainly hope so, yet doubt it. You don't achieve mainstream prominence by calling our terrorist culture by its right name. And you sure as fuck don't mock it. Stewart knows his place. Just the other night he sat across from a man who oversees a vast network of theft, torture and mass murder. And how did our most celebrated satirist since Mark Twain react? With deference. Respect. Sanity.

If you have a taste for insanity, or those who don't proclaim themselves Sane, then come to Mottley's Comedy Club next Friday and Saturday in Boston. Barry Crimmins, the real Mark Twain of our times, makes his return to the stage. Joining Barry will be Erin Judge and yours truly, hoping to channel whatever satirical energy I can grab. But this is Barry's show. If you're anywhere near the Boston area, drop in for comedy, booze, and disrespectful observations. Should be fun. A rally for The Crazed.