The world is filling up fast with mockers. Not comedians, just mockers. Our humor has become so politically grounded and one-sided, that most young people have been indoctrinated in mockery as a de facto life medium.
You'd have to be a student of Will Rogers or Shakespeare to understand how funny politics can be, without being partisan. Yeah, go Google up Shakespeare Politics and Will Rogers and you'll fare better than reading this blog, and may be smarter afterward. Who knew that, "All I know is what I read in the papers," would be the grimmest irony of all? That's comedy gold, however. Jam-packed full of Truth, in a few words, and it touches both shores of political life. No mockery is needed, because the painful truth delivered while twirling a lariat is just funny.
Today's comedian can only shove his hands in his pockets and jingle his junk while he raves on about what he thinks, never seeing the beautiful opportunity of incongruent realities. He'd never survive in a king's court.
Mostly, the mockers' brand of comedy carries the stench of predictability. An agile mind cannot be entertained by mockery; possibly it can be "a"mused, but not actually engaged. It's so easy to do when your target is bigger than you. Just point and shoot. Anybody can let mocking arrows fly, to the approving noises of the audience, but so few actually hit the mark of Truth. The twang of the string is all they really want.
Mockery is usually the weak man's ploy and can only be employed to any effect against a perceived threat. Which means that anyone tasked with upholding Hard Truth is a prime target for the jack-a-napes and mewling milquetoasts. With enough jackals, even the most powerful Truth can be rendered powerless.
But, it's best to keep a sunny disposition about national politics if you want to stay sane. An old preacher friend used to say, "Republicans lie. Democrats lie. I just happen to like one set of lies better than another."
And really? That's a healthy attitude, even in the midst of our current crisis. Even your most revered politician is likely lying to you, either out of personal expediency, or national expediency... or just because the truth isn't working.
The hearers have to suspend disbelief, or go mad with paranoia.
And I'd almost-- almost-- rather listen to a politician lying than a mocker mocking. Mockers haven't the gravitas of a Shakespearean jester. Jesters were a much better muse for the politically inclined, as their barbs were founded in the funniest thing around: Truth. And Truth is hard to come by; that's why comedy is hard and dying is easy. Tragedy writes itself without regard of life or circumstance, but Comedy needs an outside observer with a mind large enough to put A next to Z and come up with 42.
Mockery plays to the lowest of natures; the decaying intellect infused with self-regard. It is picked up by lesser minds-- more innocent, but culpably lazy-- and repeated with a sniggering snort and an email forwarding list of amoebic friends.
Or on a blog...
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