A friend noted to me the other day that if we didn’t get some humor in the political world pretty soon, that alone would be the death of the country (or words to that effect). So I thought the following interchange on The Daily Show worth noting:
Last night on “The Daily Show,” Jon Stewart was chatting with Ralph Reed about a variety of election-related news regarding people of faith (Reed was the former head of the Christian Coalition, before destroying his reputation by hooking up with disgraced GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff.)
Stewart noted, “There’s talk that 40% of evangelicals will go with the Democrat [on Election Day]. When did the evangelicals lose their values?” Reed responded, “I don’t think that’s supported by the polling data. I think if you look at most of the general-election polls, McCain’s getting about 60 to 65 percent of the evangelical vote.” (Steve Benen, The Carpetbagger Report.)
So, maybe before we get the humor, we need to get the math or the logic straightened out. It used to be that there were facts and then there were opinions about facts. The facts we could agree upon, but the opinions we didn’t agree upon. Then we moved to all opinions all the time and whatever the topic, everybody’s opinion was given equal weight, whether they had command of the facts or not. Now, with Stewart reporting a fact about what the polls say--that 40% of the evangelical vote is likely to go to Obama--and Reed countering that Stewart is wrong about the fact because Reed’s view of the fact is that 60% of the evangelicals are supporting McCain. And the fact is that the poll says both of those things and they add up to 100%.
So, are we back to agreeing on the facts? Or we now taking the position that there are two sides to a fact, even though everyone agrees on the fact itself? Humor would surely help.
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Perhaps the inability to do the math of 40% + 60% = 100% is indicative of the factionalization that is plaguing our society at every level. Local Point Bob politics is full of people pissed off at each other, trying to grab any attention for themselves. State politics has long drawn out fights over who won the Governor's seat. People up here still feel like George Bush and the Republican party stole the last Presidential election. Factions, dissent, anger - it seems to be pervasive in all aspects of life.
That is why I felt like there needed to be more humor in life, and in government in as well. Humor helps us not take things so seriously. Humor and laughter brings us closer to inner peace. Humor helps us to not be so attached to our self image. If people could have some emotional distance from the things they do and believe, perhaps we would not be killing each other in wars and in anger. I just felt that more humor and lightness in our governing elite would trickle down to the masses; they could be a good example instead of a horrible warning.
Our modern era seems to be a heavy time, the Kali Yuga of Hindu religion, the age of destruction. I'd like to at least go out with a smile on my face.
Recommendation for reading: The Funny Times, out of Cleveland, a monthly newspaper of cartoons and humor essays. www.funnytimes.com
Rose
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