Funny Conservative Authors

I read Al Franken's new book recently ("Liars and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, etc."), and something occured to me. Most of the people writing these political/polemical books are utterly humorless, but Franken is an exception. His new book does a lot of things well (calling O'Reilly, Coulter, Hannity et al. on their bullying and occasional hypocrisy) and some things not so well (he's often not much better about supporting his claims with factual evidence than the rivals he detests), but through it all, the book is hilarious. In one chapter, he tries to infiltrate Bob Jones University with a Harvard student posing as his son (his real son refused to play along) assuming that no one would recognize him. There are some hilarious comic book-like sections featuring "Supply Side Jesus" and "the Chickenhawk Battalion" (a fictional story placing Rush Limbaugh, Dick Cheney, Dubya, George Will, and others -- "hawks" who never actually served in the military, or did so under less-than-valorous circumstances), and some sharp observational work.

Thing is, I really don't see any equivalent to this sort of book on the right: a genuinely, objectively funny book that just happens to lean to the conservative side. I have my own theories as to why this is the case -- a lack of Jews, Blacks, or other oppressed minorities, perhaps -- but I have yet to find a single conservative author who can match Franken, Aaron McGruder, Berke Breathed, or any other top liberal humorist. There are a few anomalies; Andrew Sullivan and Christopher Buckley come to mind. But Sullivan is gay (oppressed minority!) and Buckley isn't really all that conservative, so maybe he doesn't count.

Can anyone come up with some genuinely funny conservative authors (i.e. authors who are not funny only to people who share their views)?

Fundamentally incompatible, I'm thinking.

Fox News in general is hilarious. Really!

Franken is a freaking comedian. The man was employed with SNL for crying out loud. If ever there was a bad example, it's him.

Most conservatives, as well as liberals, are just way too dogmatic about their beliefs. They do things because their respective parties are for them, or because their opposing parties are against them.

Hanity in particular pisses me off. ;)

Ok... then why are most comedians liberal?

hmm, why would fun loving comedians be liberal, instead of conservative. I think this is a easy one folks, lets look at the words

Comedian
Liberal
Conservative

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Originally Posted by Tracer

Ok... then why are most comedians liberal?

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Because they are the uneducated dregs of society? :p

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Originally Posted by IronPlant

hmm, why would fun loving comedians be liberal, instead of conservative. I think this is a easy one folks, lets look at the words

Comedian
Liberal
Conservative

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I, uh . . . I don't get it.

Basically every single person it seems in any "creative" major is a liberal. No clue why but it sure pisses me off endlessly.

i have been thiniking about this and i think there are a few responses that might work, none obviously are authoritative, but since i love stand up, here are a few thoughts.


1. many conservatives are actually pretty funny, examples are john McCain who was very funny on the daily show, and bob dole who usually blows jay leno out of the water when he is on the show,and he and conan tend to vibe beautifully. Plus, bill maher is technically a conservative, though he would be more correctly considered in line with the libertarians. And if you are familiar with Thomas Sowell he gets some really good, dry humor in his column. so there are conservatives out there, just lower profile.


2. comics tend to come from blue collar or middle class backgrounds, usually fertile ground for democrats, due to their populist roots and strong union affiliations(though not as much nowadays they fared very poorly in the more southern rural areas and typically blue collar areas in the last presedential election.). so naturally from that background, they are typically more liberal. Plus, not that a lot of the better known writers are baby boomers,they are typically more liberal.


3. there is a public perception that conservatives are more stern and disciplined whereas liberals are more fun. keep in mind, bill clinton did turn the democrats into the "party of the blowjob" so they are more identified with fun. My favorite comparison is, republicans are the stern uncles who make you save your money and go to the dentist, whereas the democrats are the stoner uncle who lets you take a hit off his joint and play videogames till 3 am. one is responsable, one is fun.


4. conservatives are typically older, look at today's stand up comics, i dont see a lot over 30. Witht he notable exception of the baby boomers, who i argue never grow up, the funny comes from the young.


5. You mention franken, and he built his reputation on snl as a writer long before he became so visably political, so he had heat already.


6. owing to the steriotypes in 3 most conservatives buy into their own hype,they try to play the humorless , all business, scolds becasue that is what they feel their party is, look at bob dole post election vurses during the election. he turned from an un-coordinated vampire to a happy, clever old guy with a ton of dirty jokes, he even put out a book of presedential comedy a few years ago. Its sad we get stuck in that rut,more conservatives should try to break the steriotype.

7. WAIT, you are saying that stone, veggie and i arent funny??? bastard!

Dennis Miller: Extremely intelligent, funny as hell and Conservative.

I suppose humor and political stances are inherently tied. Not to say conservitives aren't funny - they're just funny to other conservitives? Perhaps. I'm still not seeing the humor in many of them besides the truely absurd styleings of Pat Buchanan. Even just restricted to this board, there's not one conservitive-minded poster who I think is funnier than the vast majority of Liberal minded ones. Stone, veggie and frostwolf certianly included.

"Yes, we call that the Dennis Miller ratio."

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Originally Posted by frostwolf ex

1. many conservatives are actually pretty funny, examples are john McCain who was very funny on the daily show, and bob dole who usually blows jay leno out of the water when he is on the show,and he and conan tend to vibe beautifully. Plus, bill maher is technically a conservative, though he would be more correctly considered in line with the libertarians. And if you are familiar with Thomas Sowell he gets some really good, dry humor in his column. so there are conservatives out there, just lower profile.

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Yeah, sure, many conservative politicians may be personable or even funny on a personal level, but they are still not funny in the way I'm talking about. They're not really capable of the sort of ironic, biting detachment so necessary to good, humorous writing.

Bill Maher is funny, yes, but he is conservative by no definition of the word.

Thomas Sowell is about as funny as Mallard Fillmore, which is to say not at all.

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2. comics tend to come from blue collar or middle class backgrounds, usually fertile ground for democrats, due to their populist roots and strong union affiliations(though not as much nowadays they fared very poorly in the more southern rural areas and typically blue collar areas in the last presedential election.). so naturally from that background, they are typically more liberal. Plus, not that a lot of the better known writers are baby boomers,they are typically more liberal.

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Yeah, that's what I think too. They say all comedy comes from suffering, and that you can't be funny unless you have some understanding of the concept. Still, I don't understand why there aren't more (or any, to my knowledge) truly funny conservative authors from these sorts of backgrounds.

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3. there is a public perception that conservatives are more stern and disciplined whereas liberals are more fun. keep in mind, bill clinton did turn the democrats into the "party of the blowjob" so they are more identified with fun. My favorite comparison is, republicans are the stern uncles who make you save your money and go to the dentist, whereas the democrats are the stoner uncle who lets you take a hit off his joint and play videogames till 3 am. one is responsable, one is fun.

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That's not really what I'm talking about at all. In my experience, conservatives (at least the ones who are my age) do all this stuff as much as liberals do. Inversely, one doesn't have to partake in this sort of behavior to be funny. "Fun" perhaps (by some people's limited definition), but not funny. You can have a gift for humor without lighting up a single bong in your lifetime.

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4. conservatives are typically older, look at today's stand up comics, i dont see a lot over 30. Witht he notable exception of the baby boomers, who i argue never grow up, the funny comes from the young.

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George Carlin, Steve Martin, Eddie Murphy, Martin Lawrence, Richard Belzer, Steven Wright, Bill Maher... actually, most of the good comedians are over 30.

But I don't really think age has an impact on it. Conservatives are a much more diverse lot these days, which makes me expect that there'd be some funny new blood out there, but alas I have yet to see it.

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7. WAIT, you are saying that stone, veggie and i arent funny??? bastard!

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Not at all. You all have your moments.

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Dennis Miller: Extremely intelligent, funny as hell and Conservative.

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I've heard this lately, and to be honest, after watching his comedy for over a decade I don't understand how anyone can consider him "conservative." Then again, I haven't read his books or seen his HBO show, so maybe he became a right-winger after a decade of bashing the Reagan/Bush administration on SNL. *shrug*

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Originally Posted by sleeveboy

I've heard this lately, and to be honest, after watching his comedy for over a decade I don't understand how anyone can consider him "conservative." Then again, I haven't read his books or seen his HBO show, so maybe he became a right-winger after a decade of bashing the Reagan/Bush administration on SNL. *shrug*

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Well, I've watched him plenty, through SNL to now, loved his HBO show and have seen plenty of interviews with him. Just because he bashes other conservatives doesn't make him any less conservative. He calls himself conservative and even does a comedy spot on Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, which Colmes (the Democrat) never agrees with. I saw an interview not too long ago with him asking him how he deals with being a conservative in a really liberal town and industry. He said most of his friends are liberals and they just have to agree to disagree. You could probably download some of his "Rants" (that's what he called his show closers on HBO) from a p2p.

All that I have to add is this: Franken was funny on SNL, and on that show he's a comedian. Franken's books, while funny, are trite, mean and hateful. In real life, he passes off his vitriol as satire when his scathing intentions are clearly seen underneath. I loved the Rush book, it was great. I haven't read the one about Fox News, but I'm sure it's hilarious. That doesn't change the fact that he's ill-meaning and rude underneath the thin layer of comedy.

And that's coming from a registered Democrat and a liberal.

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Originally Posted by Tracer

I suppose humor and political stances are inherently tied. Not to say conservitives aren't funny - they're just funny to other conservitives? Perhaps. I'm still not seeing the humor in many of them besides the truely absurd styleings of Pat Buchanan. Even just restricted to this board, there's not one conservitive-minded poster who I think is funnier than the vast majority of Liberal minded ones. Stone, veggie and frostwolf certianly included.

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Stone used to be REALLY liberal up until like a year ago, then he started changing his opinions. But before he started changing, he didn't seem to care about being funny. He's always been a really focused, serious guy.

Almaci's funny, but I don't think he's trying to be, kind of like Pat Buchanan. ;)

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Originally Posted by Calliander

All that I have to add is this: Franken was funny on SNL, and on that show he's a comedian. Franken's books, while funny, are trite, mean and hateful. In real life, he passes off his vitriol as satire when his scathing intentions are clearly seen underneath. I loved the Rush book, it was great. I haven't read the one about Fox News, but I'm sure it's hilarious. That doesn't change the fact that he's ill-meaning and rude underneath the thin layer of comedy.

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I think you should read the "Liars" book. I don't think it's trite, mean, or hateful at all. Passionate, perhaps, but also quite honest and occasionally even humble.

See, to me, Franken always has that "humble" air about him. Did you read that "Oh! The Things I Whatever!" whatever book? He uses that self-deprecating stuff a lot to sort of balance out the absurdity of some of the things he says. I'm at work right now without the books in front of me, so don't ask for me to prove it yet, but he does say some pretty far-out-there things.