Watching the Watchers...
It's difficult to go anywhere or do anything since we've elected our first black President...c'mon, be honest now.
As I alluded to yesterday, this IS history, and every single one of YOU are part of it, like it or not. I would have to admit that after you peel away the "promises", the rhetoric, and the pundit-strewn commentary, there IS something of substance to all of this.
Hell, even South Park jumped on this bandwagon with a cute episode last night.
All you had to do was think "Ocean's Eleven", and then mix in the political climate of this nation on both sides of the election results.
Without spoiling the episode for those that haven't seen it, all I will say is that the Smithsonian Institution, The Oval Office, and the word CHANGE were in full swing.
If for NO other reason, you have to hand it to the two guys who write this stuff...it was topical...AND funny.
On the other side of the fence, we had The Daily Show with John Stewart, and while he can be very humorous at times, I found HIS take on this election a bit bothersome, even though he had Chris Wallace from FOX News on his show. The Colbert Report had Ambassador Andrew Young (who isn't these days, but who really is?) on the show, and I found that a lot more enjoyable viewing.
The Chocolate News (which followed South Park) was just a shade more caustic, and I would expect a lot better comedy from David Allan Greer, as I've always enjoyed his work. This new show reminds me of the Chappelle Show, and while I admit to having laughed at ONE specific episode of Dave's now defunct program (the episode about the old black blind man who thought he was white and was a racist), I think David Greer can do MUCH better. In fact, no one can mimic the "white experience" better than Greer (imho), and I find that VERY funny.
((Caution - Segue Alert))
Now you're probably wondering WTF am I doing reviewing all these shows?
Simple...I'm taking stock of our ability to laugh at (and with) ourselves.
Let's face it, when it comes to being able to DO that, we have few (if any) rivals.
I feel bad for kids growing up today, not being able to enjoy the likes of Slappy White, Redd Foxx, Godfrey Cambridge, and Nipsey Russell.
Those were comedians who made us laugh at ourselves, black OR white, because they were observant.
During the days of the Civil Rights movement, black entertainers were every bit as funny as their white counterparts. Some even funnier.
And it was those men and women (anyone recall Moms Mabley?) who pioneered much of the entertainment world, and not only FOR blacks.
--Jeff Foxworthy makes fun of rednecks...and I don't hear any stink from the ACLU about that.
--Chris Rock makes race class "distinctions", and that draws many a raised eyebrow, however.
--Bill Cosby talked about life in general and his neighborhood...brilliant.
--George Carlin lambasted the "establishment"...fantastic.
--Rodney Dangerfield discussed his ups and downs in life...wonderful.
--Norm Crosby butchered the English language...marvelous.
And so on...
We've turned a corner when it comes to comedy, and even how we seem to perceive ourselves, or at least WISH to be perceived.
In today's global society, we're all "on stage" as it were. Privacy is becoming as much a lost art as is good clean humor.
Whatever we say or do can be viewed all over the world in any country having access to the Internet with a few simple button taps.
And much of this is done in the "name" of humor.
Now, it's always been noted that what is funny for one can often be tragic for another, and today, truer words were never spoken.
We have the ability to place anyone doing anything anywhere for any reason at any time, thanks to our technology.
And is that necessarily a good thing?
What have we, as a society become, that we "have" to know everything about everyone all the time?
We're nothing more than electronic voyeurs.
We love to peep into those "windows" (pun intended, except for MAC users) in other peoples' lives to see if we're missing anything.
Personally, I don't subscribe to that, because most all of what goes on in OTHER folks' lives doesn't affect mine. My main concern is what is happening in MY life, and the lives of those I care about. The only exception is when something "external" has some effect on the "internal" workings on my or my family's life. Then it becomes MY business.
Now I said all that to say this:
We do, in fact have our FIRST black President, and make no mistake, he WILL be under scrutiny, for two main reasons:
1) He's the PRESIDENT.
2) He happens to be AFRICAN-AMERICAN.
Regardless of whether the MSM all loved him or not, if he does something that's not in THEIR interest, they WILL turn on him like a rabid dog. If Obama does anything that disturbs the status quo of the "Ivory Palaces", he will be taken to task, because if there is ONE thing I've seen happen with regularity, it's that people ARE fickle.
They can love you today, but detest you tomorrow.
Doesn't matter if you're the President or not.
Take a pro football team; One week, they're winning and the best thing since sliced white bread. Then they lose one or two games, and suddenly they're the sacrificial goat being taken to slaughter by the same people who praised them several weeks prior.
Like I said...fickle.
So pay attention to the climate in Washington (through media sources).
It will tell you HOW things (actually) will be going, if you know WHAT to listen for.
Obama is now under the microscope, as is every other politician elected. And the people will want some "bang for their buck", as it were. The special interest groups that dumped MILLIONS into political coffers will want THEIR return on THEIR "investment" as well.
And many times, they hate to kept waiting.
Still, you can never please ALL the people ALL the time. It will be fun to watch WHO gets pleased...and for HOW MUCH of that time, though.
The down side will be to see WHO gets hosed...and for how long.
For every winner, there has to be a loser.
That's just the facts, any and all humor not withstanding.
Maybe we can just laugh it all off...