Copacabana

Beating a dead horse isn't really funny

I was going to avoid talking about this but watching Rachel Maddow with the interminable smirk on her face interview someone yesterday from Air America (I think) who said that a sign a tea party attendee was holding that said "Obamarx" was "mildly racist" (okay, wtf? How is calling the man a socialist a racist statement? It may be inaccurate -- remains to be seen -- but it hardly speaks to race. The straw-grasping is getting waaaaay out of hand...) just forced my hand. Here's the deal -- MSNBC's little sexual innuendo is offensive, and not for obvious reasons. It's offensive because it's ham-fisted and, frankly, unfunny. And as someone who really appreciates a good dirty joke, that's just unacceptable. It's a groaner of a joke -- much like the one my brother told in mixed company a week or so ago that, were it not for the saucy content, would have been "a Dad joke," as Lord Somber calls them. They beat you over the head trying to be funny. And when they're bawdy, you look around to see if anyone heard that might be offended. That's one of the only reasons groaners are funny. Because they're daring.

But you MSNBC have removed the daring part by broadcasting this groaner over and over and over and (yawn) over again. To all of us. No sly under the breath delivery or polite attempts at shock. Just a little in your face with a weak bathroom pun.

Perhaps even more offensive -- and I go back to my brother and his groaner -- is that not only have you resorted to essentially playground tactics because you disagree with the tenor of the protests (leaving out that, were you good at your job, whether or not you agree would not affect your coverage of said NEWS event) by demeaning in a sort of last resort way something these people take seriously like their right to protest what they consider unfair policy, but there is implicit hypocrisy in your action because I'm 100 percent certain had you been in the company of my brother when he let his groaner fly you, Rachel Maddow, Anderson Cooper, and David Schuster, would have been the first to look down your elite little noses at his dirty attempt at humor. But here's the thing. His was delivered well -- subtle, strong pun, quick, off-the-cuff timing. Yours? I'll let you know the next time I hear it. In about five minutes.

Oh yeah, and don't even get me started on the irony of the crack CNN reporter who complained that the tea-parties weren't "family viewing." Ever tried explaining the MSNBC play on words to a child who may be up watching the news wondering why the talking heads giggle every time they say it? Family viewing indeed.

Just FYI, here's what the tea parties were actually about. If you can stop laughing long enough to read.

The Obama administration will be hard-pressed to avoid raising taxes on the middle class, according to economists crunching federal budget numbers in the lead-up to tax return day — today, April 15.

President Obama’s proposed changes to the tax code, combined with exploding entitlement costs, will lead to ever-growing debt, according to independent estimates. The big question for Obama and his economic team will be whether he can meet the rising costs with increased tax revenue only from small slices of the electorate. …

“You just simply can’t tax the rich enough to make this all up,” said Martin A. Sullivan, a former economic aide in the Reagan administration who said he backed Obama last fall.

“Especially just for getting the budget to a sustainable level, there needs to be a broad-based tax increase,” said Sullivan, now a contributing editor at Tax Analysts publications. “If you want to do healthcare on top of that, almost certainly, it just makes [a middle-class tax increase] all the more certain.”

posted by Lola @ 1:50 PM