Making Ourselves Obsolete, Part II: Our House

I surely wasn’t going to dignify the apalling Fresh Prince with a blog on this topic and am not doing so here.  However, when an obvious copycat threatened comedian David Chappelle this week, my need to (for what is it worth) educate kicked in.

Call the “ Audience Behavior Police”! These nuts are slapping and stabbing at the wrong people!  “Shooting the messenger”!  Its prime-time for lunatics who need to be in mental institutions! A gun with a knife sticking out of it? What is this, an Austin Powers movie??

A society who increasingly cannot laugh at its imperfections is a society in trouble, which needs a moderation ointment to promote healing.

Its a moral decay in one sense, since the role of comedy historically goes back to Shakespearean time – or further… Back then they might throw a tomato or an egg to express displeasure with an act – or one could always just “boo” or hiss – but  never  charger the stage!

That… is patently uncivilized behavior!  There is such a thing as Theater Etiquette. *

We must appreciate satire, understand and study it from sexual jokes to parody and creative critiques of the issues of the day!  I wonder, did this guy who rushed Mr. Chappelle in the midst of his show have “appreciation classes” in grade school?  I for one, remember music appreciation, sex education and driver’s education – or have these non-adacemic classes been labeled “too expensive during the past thirty years or so?  “Hygiene class” is another example which comes to mind.

Would you run up to the movie screen and slap at or slash it when displeased with the actors or a scene?  Next thing you know someone will want to hold the projectionist responsible for the content of a movie (do they still use human projectionists, or is it computerized now?).

Exacerbated by information overkill and the greed-driven catalyzing of extremist hate broadcasting, on and off-line, it feels like a minority of prejudiced, partial-misanthropes are trying to drag us backwards in time, taking away what previous generations (like mine) achieved in the 1960s and 1970s, to better life, such as voting rights, abortion rights and women’s equality while ignoring today’s plagues of gun violence, lenient bail rules, and unjust war in Ukraine and the dumbing-down of citizenry.

I’ve noticed that one of the first signs of a society’s house of cards collapsing is the encroachment of extreme intolerance and anarchy. You can see the backsliding today with the pro-life zealots and increasing, daily gun crime in our largest urban city and people carrying guns in their vehicles; you can notice it on the roads while driving with more speeders and less/misplaced courtesy outside of the traditionally accepted “rules of the road”.  We cannot go back to puritanical times, no mater how some pruds might pine for it.

Maybe Chappelle and other comics should take up Marshall Arts; it would be truly hilarious to see one of these stage intruders decked by a defensive “karate kick”, Bruce Lee-style, and fall away from his intended victim, the entertainer!  Having tried stand-up comedy for a while during my career, I can tell you that it is an art and its not as easy or cavalier as it looks. Those who do it well and effectively are truly talented.

Due to the signs of the aforementioned upheavals and other’s I’ve probably left out, the biblical saying from Matthew 12:22 comes to mind, “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand.”  There are plenty of examples throughout history of this coming to pass.

In order to save society, not become known as the “DSA” (Divided States of America) and maintain a majority of more moderate thinking, a  famous quote by our President John F. Kennedy is worth restating, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country!”

I am encouraged for our reunification because I notice that, as when George Floyd was murdered on-camera for all to see, today’s youth are keenly watching the pending injustices unfold – and seem to be boiling again, raising their voices to oust the zealots who would take us back in time, at the “mid-term” voting polls.

*Suggested reference material:  “The Reasonable Audience; Theater Etiquette Behavior Policing and the Live Performance Experience” by Dr. Kirsty Sedgman

CryBabies,”Obamaspill” and I’m the Good Humor man

Below is an email I received from a man who used to be on the radio with me as a Community Volunteer on this University radio station. He likes to bounce things off of me, his educated Black American “brother” and that is all well, and good.  It is how we SHOULD communicate. We usually have good laughs about it; we all are ONE.  Maybe he knows I am really “the Good Humor Man” – like the sign implies, a chocolate bar on the outside, but creamy vanilla on the inside – as I was raised by my middle class Black American, first-of-their- free-generation-to-be-able-to-do-civil-service-jobs-across-the- board parents – of course.   However, this one I had to push back on him about. Please read the original email in-part below and first, then my response to it and judge accordingly.  Email address deleted to protect the guilty.

—–Original Message—–

From:

To

Sent: Fri, May 28, 2010 4:24 pm
Subject: oh just another political observation…that might piss some of you off…lol

took them several weeks to get their story straight on this one.  and it wouldn’t have come to this point had a fox journalist not asked obama about it yesterday at his “blame the oil company” press conference of which even cnn and msnbc are saying was horrible.  and after their lunch yesterday, bill clinton, who has never lied under oath, takes the hit.  lmao.  this is undoubtedly one of the most corrupt administrations to come along in years.  and the main stream media is slowly but surely having to wake up and acknowledge it.   and imagine had the oil spill taken place under bush’s administration.  the press would be screaming about it and blaming him for it and the total lack of response to it.  ironically very little has been done by the current administration about it.  how many weeks has it been now?  of course i am skeptical of all politicians and o has given me more reason to be.  he’s proven to be just another puppet.  and i loved his comment about how desperate the oil companies are getting having to drill for oil miles beneath the ocean floor.  duh, since we refuse to allow them to drill our biggest on land oil reserves what are they supposed to do.  it appears to be much safer and ecologically friendly to drill on land, so maybe they will wake up and issue more on land oil drilling permits.  but i am not holding my breath. I mean if we can ban all domestic oil drilling, then the middle easterners will hold all the power.  rock on king o rock on.  ha!

White House Used Bill Clinton to Pressure Sestak…….blah, blah blah…

 And the Achilliad response;

Now I like a good humor bar as much as the next guy and maybe more than many but…no LOL here.

I don’t “do” politics or religion…too divisive.  However, I WILL say this, and whoever can take it back to the racist talk radio pundits like Limbaugh who just want to nit-pick the First Blackish President of the United States and stir the caldron of hate.  President Obama (as much as you do not like to “hear” that expression) did not CAUSE not bears any “responsibility” for the BP/Deep H2O Horizon ( sounds like a sci-fi movie btw) oil spill disaster.  Actually No President can do much about a sudden natural or as in THIS case, man-made disaster.

Let us reset the timeline TRUTHfully now…

If we are to play the “blame game” visa v ANY of our recent leaders then Jock Ewing aka George HW Bush and his evil son “JR Ewing”, or “dubya” of the oil barons of the group should bear the brunt of it for putting in-place the access to drill in the Gulf of Mexico for US and worldwide oil companies, as well as those going back to the 1940s who began to drill and did not advertise it to the civilian population. 

Last time I checked, President Obama (I LOVE to say that) was not on-duty when those deals were made with a WINK and a Nod like the old “good ole boys (white man) network is legendary to do.  So STOP  the stereotypical race baiting double standard NOW .  The Bushwakers and Reagan endorsers are more complicit than our present President EVER will be over the past twenty years, and President Obama is only trying desperately to clean-up their mess while not seeming subservient in the role of another Blackish man having to clean-up after foolishly arrogant and greedy “white guys”.  This will have nothing to do with his “legacy”, none of us is perfect and last time I looked the most recent really “corrupt” Presidency was Richard Nixon’s. 

I know some white American people (esp. males) have trouble with a Blackish man in the Presidency, but get over it…it is our turn and NOW you get to see what it has been like for “US” lo these many past scores and decades, when our voices went unheard.  And what is with this calling him a “King”?  Oh, soo do some want to be like England again, eh?

 ’nuff Said’ as Marvel Comics’ Stan Lee used to say.  The plug needs to be pulled on hate talk radio; those who advertise on these divisive shows should be ashamed of themselves and their bank accounts funneled to those of us regular positive and friendly people who can use the money.

Hey! What ever happened to the Good Humor Man Ice Cream Truck, anyway? I loved those creamesickles!