Framing the Dialogue

How are God and Barack Obama similar…Neither has a birth certificate

How is God different than Barack Obama…Obama gets better press coverage

How is God different than Barack Obama…God does not think he is Obama

How is God different than Barack Obama…Liberals love Obama

How is God different than Barack Obama…God asks for only 10% of your money

How is God different than Barack Obama…God’s plan to save us is actually written down for people to read.

Rush Limbaugh used many of these jokes on a recent segment of his radio show.  The first joke was a little controversial in that there are a number of American citizens pursuing Obama through our courts to force him to produce a birth certificate.   An Obama political action committee has reportedly paid over a million dollars to a law firm fighting these lawsuits. 

In South Park Conservatives, Brian C. Anderson explores the use of humor to combat liberal mainstream media (redundant terminology) bias.  The basis of the South Park Conservative label is the Comedy Central show; South Park.  Creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker hate conservatives, but really hate liberals.  They admit to being “more right-wing than most people in Hollywood” partly because Hollywood types are so out there on the Left.

“People in the entertainment industry are by and large whore-chasing, drug-addicted *&%$ups, but they still believe they’re better than the guy in Wyoming who really loves his wife and takes care of his kids and is a good, outstanding, wholesome person.  Hollywood views regular people as children, and they think they’re the smart ones who need to tell the idiots out there how to be…and that’s why South Park was a big hit up front, because it doesn’t treat the viewer like a ____ing retard.” 

South Park, now in its 13th season, regularly blasts mainstream, politically correct ideologies in a not so reverent manner.  The show is not for kids or for those not used to coarse language.  A favorite of mine is when they poke fun at former VP Al Gore.  Mr. Gore, it seems, is speaking out about a mythical creature and is making appearances to garner support against the Manbearpig.  I take it as a dig at his “the planet has a fever” shtick that won him a Nobel Peace Prize.  You can watch a clip here.

In “The Revolt against Liberal Media Bias,” Anderson explores the rapid growth of alternative media (talk shows, Fox News, blogs, etc.) as a balance to mainstream media liberal slant.  The success of many of these outlets is due to their use of humor to expose media bias.  The author gives these folks the name “Anti-Liberals.”  Rush Limbaugh used the Obama jokes to poke fun at our President’s apparent view of himself.  Some in the MSM also have drunk the Kool-Aid and believe that he is “like God.” 

South Park Conservatives also theorizes why liberal talk radio does not sell.  In an appearance on the Phil Donahue show, former New York governor Mario Cuomo, who had hosted his own failed talk show, explained that Conservatives write their messages with crayons while we use fine-point quills.  It always amazes me how these elitist snobs expect the unwashed masses to listen and accept their Liberal views.  It is no wonder that South Park Conservatives flock to alternative sources; places where the establishment does not tell us how dumb we are. 

Al Gore as Manbearpig.

The book explores other instances of media bias and how alternative media acts like a watchdog.  Rathergate is a good example of alternative media “policing” the MSM.  What may be the most interesting chapter is about the rise of conservatism on college campuses.  This is also the most funny to me as I was born in the 1960s, but was too young to be part of the counter-culture of that decade.  The “establishment” at college campuses today is the very same hippies that rebelled against the establishment.  These hippies  became what they protested.  The Conservative college students are now the protestors.

The book is a worthwhile read and you will get many websites to explore.  One of my favorite websites that I read daily, other than Drudge, is NewsBusters.  They have a humorous news feature called NewsBusted that is updated every Tuesday and Friday (they have not used any of my story ideas…yet).  

Let’s continue to support alternative media, especially this blog.  Tell your friends.