Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 90

on political books

Why Aren’t Conservatives Funny?
An academic’s doomed attempt to explain why there are no good right-wing comedians.
By Joshua Green

A
A Conservative Walks Into a Bar: The Politics of Political Humor

by Alison Dagnes Palgrave Macmillan, 255 pp.

lison Dagnes, a political scientist at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, has a curious affliction: she thinks the comedian Dennis Miller is really, really funny. She wanted so badly to meet him and discuss his craft that she contrived to write an entire book on the subject of comedy and politics essentially as a professional excuse to fulfill this desire. Dagnes was working as a production assistant at C-SPAN in 1991 when she discovered Miller, who was then at the apex of his career, fresh off a successful run on Saturday Night Live and famous for his knowing, referential brand of humor. As she moved on to academe and he to HBO, Dagnes kept up what she calls her “steadfast devotion.” Miller styles his act as a stream-of-consciousness rant that is heavy on cultural allusions and was, back then, laced with an acid scorn toward the unenlightened— especially hicks, rednecks, culture warriors, and other right-wingers. Here’s the flavor of Miller’s comedy circa late 2000: And on Monday, movers went to the governor’s mansion in Austin, Texas, to transfer Bush’s belongings to Washington. The move itself took very little time once workers discovered that Bush had nothing upstairs. Now, I don’t want to get off on a rant here, but as a comedian, with George W. Bush coming into office, I feel like the owner of a hardware store before a hurricane. I hate to see it coming, but I have to admit it’s good for business. Then something odd happened. The attacks of September 11, 2001, turned Miller into a fawning admirer of the same president he’d once held in contempt. The change was striking not only because Miller was supporting a Republican, but because he lost his sense of irony and adopted the full complement of Fox News– Republican vices: the chest-thumping America-first bravado, the angry paranoia, the presumption of treasonous bad faith in anyone who didn’t share his views. This was especially jarring because the latter included most of Miller’s fans, who didn’t know what had happened to the guy. Dagnes, confused like the rest, watched her friends turn on Miller, and then watched the long arc of his career decline, from a failed stint hosting Monday Night Football, to a short-lived show on the financial network CNBC, and finally to his current role as comedian in residence at Fox News. Dagnes, who describes herself as “fairly liberal,” is touchingly devoted to her hero but also somewhat blinded by her fandom, because she attributes Miller’s

90

September/October 2012



Washington Monthly - September/October 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Washington Monthly - September/October 2012

Washington Monthly - September/October 2012
Contents
Editor’s Note: Where Credit Is Due
Letters
Tilting at Windmills
Do Presidential Debates Really Matter?
The Clintonites’ Beef With Obama
Party Animals
Introduction: A Different Kind of College Ranking
America’s Best-Bang-for-the-Buck Colleges
The Siege of Academe
Getting Rid of the College Loan Repo Man
Got Student Debt?
Answering the Critics of “Pay As You Earn” Plans
National University Rankings
Liberal Arts College Rankings
Top 100 Master’s Universities
Top 100 Baccalaureate Colleges
A Note on Methodology: 4-Year Colleges and Universities
Why Aren’t Conservatives Funny?
First-Rate Temperaments
A Malevolent Forrest Gump
Broken in Hoboken
Identity Politics Revisited
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - Washington Monthly - September/October 2012
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - Cover2
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 1
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 2
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 3
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 4
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 5
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 6
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - Contents
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 8
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 9
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - Editor’s Note: Where Credit Is Due
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 11
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - Letters
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 13
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - Tilting at Windmills
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 15
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 16
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 17
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 18
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - Do Presidential Debates Really Matter?
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 20
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 21
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - The Clintonites’ Beef With Obama
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 23
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - Party Animals
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 25
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 26
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - Introduction: A Different Kind of College Ranking
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 28
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 29
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 30
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - America’s Best-Bang-for-the-Buck Colleges
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 32
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 33
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 34
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - The Siege of Academe
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 36
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 37
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 38
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 39
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 40
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 41
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 42
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 43
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 44
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - Getting Rid of the College Loan Repo Man
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 46
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 47
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 48
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - Got Student Debt?
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 50
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 51
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - Answering the Critics of “Pay As You Earn” Plans
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 53
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - National University Rankings
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 55
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 56
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 57
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 58
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 59
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 60
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 61
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Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 63
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 64
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 65
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 66
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 67
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - Liberal Arts College Rankings
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 69
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 70
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 71
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 72
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 73
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 74
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 75
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 76
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 77
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 78
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 79
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - Top 100 Master’s Universities
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 81
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 82
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 83
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - Top 100 Baccalaureate Colleges
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 85
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 86
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 87
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - A Note on Methodology: 4-Year Colleges and Universities
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 89
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - Why Aren’t Conservatives Funny?
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 91
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 92
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - First-Rate Temperaments
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 94
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 95
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - A Malevolent Forrest Gump
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 97
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 98
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - Broken in Hoboken
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 100
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - Identity Politics Revisited
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 102
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 103
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - 104
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - Cover3
Washington Monthly - September/October 2012 - Cover4
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