On nonscience smear campaigns 23 Jan 2010 In Scientific American: … the only strong evidence we have that Oklahoma Senator James M. Inhofe isn’t a clown is that his car isn’t small enough. Politics Pop culture
Politics Political oxymorons 4 Nov 2007 I have a rule: a political party is usually the exact opposite of its name. Hence, the Liberal Party of Australia is not liberal, the National Party is not national, the Labor Party does not represent those who work, and Family First… well, what can one say? Read More
Academe Time to re-evaluate higher education 2 May 201122 Jun 2018 When my grandfather was a boy of 14, he started a career as a fireman that led to him being the chief of the Melbourne Metropolitan Fire Brigade in the 1930s. While he did this he gained an engineer’s certificate, but he was working, earning and building a career. He… Read More
Evolution Desecration, blasphemy in public, and manners 12 Jul 2008 When does a person’s religious beliefs constrain someone who is not religious? What sorts of redress can a religious person expect in a secular society? These questions arise from the recent to-do about PZ Myers defense of the stealing of a communion wafer from a Catholic church. As a result,… Read More
…on the theme of civility (or the edges of it) – I think there’s a strong relationship between civility and (good) humour… hard to be spittle-flecked when you’re smiling
That reminded me of something I had forgotten. Thanks. You can find that relationship between hospitality and satire in the work of early med. Irish poets. Satire was used as a means of ensuring the host met his obligations with regard to food and gifts, which were legal obligations. But satire resulted in ill- humour for the victim as it had magicall associations. i.e youre face would turn red and blemished as a result (a king could not hold office if he sufferd from any physical blemishes) The satire of the poet and the recorded curses of the Irish preist are more or less identical to each other. Irish satirists legal status was downgraded by the church you find them ranked alongside prostitutes, farters (a type of proffesional entertainer) and druids as the attenders of parties thrown for the undead in early legal texts. In contrast to the parties thrown by the sons of life attended by the pious. Humour has a relationship with the legal world at this period and of course later the encyclopedia. But boy do I go on at times. Its my subject of the moment and I find it rather entertaining.
Wow. I can move from humour, satire, cursing and arrive at prophecy. As 3 of the 4 all have a similar narrative pattern in texts and a linking theme as they are predictive of future events. That random association with youre words may just have saved me months of walking up dead ends C.L.K. and gives me a number of interesting thematic links to play with. I am a somewhat happy and over excited off topic bunny.
Sad thing is, I once lived in Oklahoma, and Inhofe is actually representative of opinion there, by and large.
Sadly, you are right. I lived there until recently, and too many people there view ignorant clownishness as a sign of folksy authenticity. The local politicians are even worse.
But he did set up the expectation that all you need to have Deep Thoughts is to be folksy. What people fail to realise is that Rogers was a genius.
OK has produced some people who are folksy in a good way. Will Rogers and Woodie Guthrie come to mind. And the Flaming Lips are clownish in a good way. So that’s something. But, alas, Toby Keith is probably a better representative of the current cultural atmosphere in the state right now.