Thank you for writing for me. I have a few unprintable words to add about what has happened to a mind and person of my age, my hometown, and my pov? For shame, Keillor.
I think I should give up writing on Substack. I grew up reading satire and like to try my hand at it from time to time but evidently there's no readership. Public discourse has become so absurd that satire is impossible. So I should shut up and go back and enjoy Vonnegut and Swift and Barthelme.
Hi Garrison: Some things can be satirized and some not as is the case with forms of stupid behavior. Tom Lehrer who was the greatest master of the genre gave up when W. Bush was elected. We're at that moment again. Probably best to stick with straight out criticism a la H.L. Mencken - if you really want to be understood.
Sorry, Garrison, that your response indicates a bit of petulance you needn't feel as I spent many Saturday nights listening to you on NPR always amazed at your extemporaneous abilities recounting the Lake Wobegon stories to say nothing of the steady stream of other such satire. As my comment indicates, however, Tom, who you must admit was a master, knew when to quit.
Your thin skin continues to show. Sorry to say goodbye after all these years. You should not alienate paying subscribers. As a former musical entertainer, I learned that a long time ago.
Well I, for one, think it was stellar! I laughed all the way through it! Of course, I'm a youngster (72), and so respectfully look up to my elders, Mr. Keillor, and may still be "wet behind the ears" and don't know what's good for me! Still I say, "Damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead!" Keep up the great work!
Since when is disagreement synonymous with public discourse becoming absurd? You are certainly intelligent enough to know you're going to get a blue ton of pushback when you write something as inflammatory as your recent post right after trump is a convicted felon x34. I'm all for due respect, but none is due just because of fame, wealth and privilege. You make huge assumptions that your readership is just like you and can spot satire so easily.
I don’t get this one! Maybe I am just not old enough yet, although I am currently caring for my mother with dementia. I thing the tongue went a bit too far into the cheek.
I like to think of myself as a clever Midwestern guy, so when my friends would tell me that they had been off visiting colleges with their kid, I would always ask about the climbing wall. I quickly learned not to do this unless I had a spare 30 minutes to listen. I should know better. When I was a young medical student in Southern California, I used to ask everyone how their screenplay was coming. Again, I quickly learned that I needed 30 minutes and became proficient in the stages of scripting. Later in life, I learned not to ask college aged kids on campus staring into their smartphones at night whether they had caught any Pokemons that night unless I had 30 minutes to give
Is your doorman cheeky enough to remove your tongue from your cheek? You, not unlike me, are medieval residue from the Dark Ages, when there were a lot of nights around a round table where poker and cigars were the only armor in our armoire.
Today, twelve ordinary Americans did what Republican senators refused to do. They protected the rule of law and held Trump accountable for his attempt to rig an election.
[However, after reading some of the comments above, this might be a good time to recall what has been called “The Great Internet Irony Paradox”, (aka “Why Irony Never Works on the Internet”):
1] In Internet discussions there is no statement or claim —no matter how clearly preposterous, no matter how blatantly outrageous, no matter how laughable— that can be made that someone, somewhere won’t be take it completely seriously, be offended by it, and denounce the satirist in the strongest terms.
2] In Internet discussions there is no statement or claim —no matter how clearly preposterous, no matter how blatantly outrageous, no matter how laughable— that someone, somewhere won’t make in complete seriousness.]
GK. If I could cite my “favorite” example of the phenomenon:
I used to hang out on History-discussion list. Unfortunately, for a period of time the list was infected by a Holocaust Denier, who proceeded to flood the list with standard garbage common to their species.
As a response one of the more-respected, long-time posters on the list simply copied one of the troll’s post replacing all references to the Holocaust with "World War Two” in an effort to make clear (as if that were necessary) how patently nonsensical —not to mention false— the original posts were.
And, regular as clockwork, one of the first responses to the satirist’s post was “Oh, yeah! My grandparents are coming to visit me from Poland next month. I’d like to see you try to explain to *them* that World War Two never happened!!”
This whole country is based on immigrants. Even the indigenous people who are suppose to originate from Asia were once immigrants. Immigrants are the reason this country is so great. "Give me your tired, your poor, / Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free," by Emma Lazarus. This is America. This is who we are.
I can't remember the last time I read something so tongue in cheek; I am sitting with coffee just cackling away and feeling sorry for those sweet folks who missed all the readings on irony in high school. We need more Jonathan Swift in the curriculum!
The window of opportunity closes for some risky things like hitchhiking to Minnesota by your twenties. Your public schedule in your 80s is far beyond the average audacity. I give thanks. And pray for our nation. We’ll watch that creeping romanticism.
Thank you for writing for me. I have a few unprintable words to add about what has happened to a mind and person of my age, my hometown, and my pov? For shame, Keillor.
I think I should give up writing on Substack. I grew up reading satire and like to try my hand at it from time to time but evidently there's no readership. Public discourse has become so absurd that satire is impossible. So I should shut up and go back and enjoy Vonnegut and Swift and Barthelme.
Hi Garrison: Some things can be satirized and some not as is the case with forms of stupid behavior. Tom Lehrer who was the greatest master of the genre gave up when W. Bush was elected. We're at that moment again. Probably best to stick with straight out criticism a la H.L. Mencken - if you really want to be understood.
Okay, Dave. I'll tell it to you straight. I don't want you to ever read anything of mine again.
Sorry, Garrison, that your response indicates a bit of petulance you needn't feel as I spent many Saturday nights listening to you on NPR always amazed at your extemporaneous abilities recounting the Lake Wobegon stories to say nothing of the steady stream of other such satire. As my comment indicates, however, Tom, who you must admit was a master, knew when to quit.
So long, Dave. It's not petulance, it's principle: I don't write for humorless people.
Your thin skin continues to show. Sorry to say goodbye after all these years. You should not alienate paying subscribers. As a former musical entertainer, I learned that a long time ago.
Well I, for one, think it was stellar! I laughed all the way through it! Of course, I'm a youngster (72), and so respectfully look up to my elders, Mr. Keillor, and may still be "wet behind the ears" and don't know what's good for me! Still I say, "Damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead!" Keep up the great work!
Since when is disagreement synonymous with public discourse becoming absurd? You are certainly intelligent enough to know you're going to get a blue ton of pushback when you write something as inflammatory as your recent post right after trump is a convicted felon x34. I'm all for due respect, but none is due just because of fame, wealth and privilege. You make huge assumptions that your readership is just like you and can spot satire so easily.
Goodbye, sir, and good luck.
On par with Kennedy’s penguin joke.
Kennedy24.com
All Harvard students should drop out and become plumbers’ apprentices.
Or perhaps a requirement for graduation might be made for a semester-term of employment as a 'p.a.' with plumber based in Jamaica Plain or Dorchester.
Well stated.
I get the irony of your essay, but I am uncertain of the irony-on-irony of some of the responses. Will no one check the tongues and cheeks?
I don’t get this one! Maybe I am just not old enough yet, although I am currently caring for my mother with dementia. I thing the tongue went a bit too far into the cheek.
All power to you—I cared for my mom in dementia for 4 years. It took a lot out of me.
I like to think of myself as a clever Midwestern guy, so when my friends would tell me that they had been off visiting colleges with their kid, I would always ask about the climbing wall. I quickly learned not to do this unless I had a spare 30 minutes to listen. I should know better. When I was a young medical student in Southern California, I used to ask everyone how their screenplay was coming. Again, I quickly learned that I needed 30 minutes and became proficient in the stages of scripting. Later in life, I learned not to ask college aged kids on campus staring into their smartphones at night whether they had caught any Pokemons that night unless I had 30 minutes to give
Is your doorman cheeky enough to remove your tongue from your cheek? You, not unlike me, are medieval residue from the Dark Ages, when there were a lot of nights around a round table where poker and cigars were the only armor in our armoire.
Thank you New York.
Follow the facts. Plain and simple.
Today, twelve ordinary Americans did what Republican senators refused to do. They protected the rule of law and held Trump accountable for his attempt to rig an election.
Trump stared blankly ahead as the verdict was read. “Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.”
I WOULD have voted for Hillary in 2016 if she had said that she liked to grab men by the crotch!
And, hell, she can still say it and win in 2024. The field appears to be wide open, does it not?
Thanks Garrison. The apathy of our country towards the real challenges that face us is truly frightening.
Thanks, GK. That was great.
[However, after reading some of the comments above, this might be a good time to recall what has been called “The Great Internet Irony Paradox”, (aka “Why Irony Never Works on the Internet”):
1] In Internet discussions there is no statement or claim —no matter how clearly preposterous, no matter how blatantly outrageous, no matter how laughable— that can be made that someone, somewhere won’t be take it completely seriously, be offended by it, and denounce the satirist in the strongest terms.
2] In Internet discussions there is no statement or claim —no matter how clearly preposterous, no matter how blatantly outrageous, no matter how laughable— that someone, somewhere won’t make in complete seriousness.]
Thanks. Glad to have a reader.
GK. If I could cite my “favorite” example of the phenomenon:
I used to hang out on History-discussion list. Unfortunately, for a period of time the list was infected by a Holocaust Denier, who proceeded to flood the list with standard garbage common to their species.
As a response one of the more-respected, long-time posters on the list simply copied one of the troll’s post replacing all references to the Holocaust with "World War Two” in an effort to make clear (as if that were necessary) how patently nonsensical —not to mention false— the original posts were.
And, regular as clockwork, one of the first responses to the satirist’s post was “Oh, yeah! My grandparents are coming to visit me from Poland next month. I’d like to see you try to explain to *them* that World War Two never happened!!”
Has the obvious become too blatant to ignore?
Garrison Keillor, a perennial democrat, has a substack where he publishes articles he wrote years ago. Not so today.
A classic moth and the flame reaction appears to be underway. One can only hope that truth has finally caught up to the lie.
Is this our long awaited rediscovery of the Enlightenment?
Pray for clarity.
This land is your land, and this land is my land
From California to the New York island
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me
by Woody Guthrie
This whole country is based on immigrants. Even the indigenous people who are suppose to originate from Asia were once immigrants. Immigrants are the reason this country is so great. "Give me your tired, your poor, / Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free," by Emma Lazarus. This is America. This is who we are.
I can't remember the last time I read something so tongue in cheek; I am sitting with coffee just cackling away and feeling sorry for those sweet folks who missed all the readings on irony in high school. We need more Jonathan Swift in the curriculum!
Thanks. Good to have a reader.
Agreed. Both his tongue and cheek must be sore from overwork.
The window of opportunity closes for some risky things like hitchhiking to Minnesota by your twenties. Your public schedule in your 80s is far beyond the average audacity. I give thanks. And pray for our nation. We’ll watch that creeping romanticism.