Sermon
From Shakey Town.
 I just
read the latest Mark Morford editorial, "Dear
Tea Party: You will now get yours", and he absolutely nailed the
salient differences between the Republican
and Democratic parties in a way
in which I can only dream. The following two paragraphs
I've lifted directly from his column at sfgate.com for
your dining and dancing pleasure. Follow the link above
to read the rest.
Take it away, Mark:
Let's be perfectly clear: The modern Republican party
has one masterful, godlike skill unmatched by any other
org in this century: Its leaders are geniuses at deceit,
at leading throngs of blind believers into rabbit holes
of war and fear and factual inaccuracy, often using an
aggressively dumbed-down form of Christianity as a trump
card. Sexual dread, mistrust of youth, of women, of gays,
foreigners, of the ever-changing cultural landscape?
It's in the DNA. And the Tea Party chugged it like Coors-flavored
heroin.
And the Dems? The Dems wish they could be that masterful.
Progressives are just terribly weak in fearmongering.
There is something about the liberal spirit that values
independent thought and self-determination, that defies
screaming eye-glazed megachurch groupthink dread. This
makes it tough to hold power for very long. It's so much
easier to rally around sameness, conformity, institution,
fear of the Other. Right, Karl?
--------------
Thank you, Reverend Morford. And now on with our show.
-------------
"Mom always liked you best!"
 I was
but a wee tad when the Smothers Brothers got themselves
fired from CBS for daring to confront controversial subjects
on their comedy/variety program so I really didn't understand
the political
and economic whys and wherefores of that then highly-rated
show. All I know is that
as I grew older I enjoyed their albums, and still own
the whole collection.
So you can imagine my glee when NPR TV critic David Bianculli
recently published an exhaustively-detailed book on the
careers of Dick and Tom, focusing heavily on the CBS
years. It's entitled "Dangerously
Funny: The Uncensored Story of the Smothers Brothers
Comedy Hour" and I
happily devoured every hilarious and dramatic syllable.
One of my favorite anecdotes involves
the first interracial kiss on television and, no, it
wasn't
Star
Trek. In this case it was Rosey Grier dressed as
a
woman kissing the forehead of Mama Cass Elliot dressed
as a man, but still....
Keep in mind this was a time when Harry Belafonte caused
an uproar for simply daring to touch the arm of singer
Petula Clark
as
they
sang a
duet on her network special. The kiss was Tom's way
of flaunting convention right before the censor's eyes,
the only way he was really allowed to. Two years after
the show was cancelled Archie Bunker arrived in America's
living rooms and suddenly hardly any subject was verboten. The Brothers
were simply ahead of their time.
And before you dismiss the Smothers Brothers as a lightweight
comedy act keep in mind that Tom Smothers is one of the
few people mentioned by name in a John Lennon song. Don't
believe me? Go check
the
lyrics for
"Give Peace a Chance".
Grin.
--------
Addendum: I've been listening to lefty
talk-show host Randi Rhodes for years. I absolutely love that
woman but I've never heard her reference the Smothers
Brothers before... until today.
Quite the coincidence, eh?
Color me "pleased".
=Lefty=
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