The president we deserve

The president we deserve December 3, 2016

Donald Trump is the president the Facebook generation deserves.   That’s what my boys said.  And they’re right.

We’re not a polite society.  We’re not a nice society.  We’re not a society with manners.  We certainly don’t seem to have an idea about ‘the common good.’  We seem happy with whatever is done or said as long as our side comes out on top.

So one the channels we have shows old shows.  Not the usual shows you see in reruns, but shows like Johnny Carson.  I was watching that last night, mostly for old time’s sake.  The guest was Chevy Chase, promoting his movie The Three Amigos.  The usual chatting ensued.

The other guests that night were Siskel and Ebert, the famous movie critics.  I get the impression it was their first appearance on Carson.  They had the usual banter, and had fun with Chase sitting next to them.  They talked, joked, and seemed to enjoy the show.   Then Carson asked what movies in theaters were the best.  The two gave their opinions.

Then Carson asked which movies in theaters were the worst.  After a few giggles, Ebert sat forward and said he thought The Three Amigos was the worst, and he couldn’t recommend it.  Woof.   The audience booed.  Carson hemmed and hawed.  Finally Carson said that if he’d known they would say that, he wouldn’t have asked.  He then let fly at the two critics by saying their opinions don’t amount to a hill of beans when it comes to success.  You could feel the difference in the show.

I still remember that episode.  That’s also why I watched.  The next day, the media was abuzz about the fact that when the show went off, Carson lit into Ebert for doing that.  Carson was known to do that on rare occasions.  It was rude, impolite, and there was no reason for taking a swipe like that.  It was not good manners.  Think about that for a minute.

Fast forward to today.  Bill Maher.   Jon Stewart.  Comedy Central.  The modern late night comedy shows.  Can you imagine anyone even caring?  Worse things like that are said to guests.  If someone did something like that, we’d cheer!  Hey, fight!  We love this stuff.  Look at Reality Television.  Half of it is this sort of thing cubed.  We love seeing people squirm.  We love watching the fights.  Jerry Springer might be a joke, but his brand of entertainment, filtered, modified and repacked, is the basis for most modern comedy and entertainment today.  We love it, especially if the people getting burned are on some other side of some other fence.

The generation of Carson?  Yeah, they would have had every right to be offended at the horrible things Trump said.  Our generation?  Not so much.  Not unless we’re prepared to drink deep from the cup of mind blowing hypocrisy.


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