View From the Bushes

I've tried to keep my somewhat whacky political views out of this space for fear of alienating what little readership I had. However lacking anything else to write about tonight I thought I'd dip my toe into the pond and see what happened. I was watching this BookTV program on CSPAN2 today. It had Al Franken, Bill O'Reilly and Molly Ivins in a roundtable discussion. If forced at gunpoint to declare a political affiliation I would call myself a libertarian with conservative leanings, but when it comes right down to it I think Liberals are just more funny.

Perhaps I'll feel differently tomorrow, perhaps my less than stellar assessment of conservative humor was due to being completely unimpressed with Bill O'Reilly. I should mention that the program occurred right in the middle of dinner so I didn't catch much of the program, but it began with a call-in segment with O'Reilly. Some lady called in expressed her admiration for the show, but said that she felt Bill had been to hard on a relative of someone who had died on 9/11. Seemingly without pause Bill really laid into her. No humor at all.

Later in the program when Al Franken got up to talk about his book he was droll, delightful and maybe it was just my imagination, but modest. On the other hand O'Reilly seemed combative, clichéd and once again maybe my imagination, but sanctimonious. The big problem of course is the very dichotomous division between right and left, liberal and conservative as if there are only two possible schools of political thought. In any event I think I may have to declare this column dead on arrive, my main goal is to be humorous (like the liberals) and I think this is about as unfunny as I've been. Just keep moving nothing to see here.

Carpe Diem Quam Minimum Credula Postero,
Ross