10 Things That Make Me Joyful: Number 8

8. I am going to write this post at the risk of two accusations: first of all, that my positive, or “joyful,” posts are shorter than my negative, or “angry,” ones; and secondly, that I will be told I am writing about something so much more mundane and unimportant in comparison to issues like abortion, war, the economy, etc. On the first point, allow me to say that I am a human being, and as such I do not feel guilty for complaining more than I show gratitude. We’re all that way, almost without exception—I humbly wish that weren’t the case, but something in our DNA keeps us from going out of our way to acknowledge when things are good as opposed to bad.

Anyway, I’d like to write a little bit about one of the things that brings me joy in this realm. College basketball is the topic to which I refer. Tonight, as many of you know, was the annual spectacle known as “Duke vs. North Carolina.” Well, this clash of titans actually happens twice in a season, once at Duke and once at Carolina, but the game at Cameron Indoor (Duke’s very small but very exciting and ultra-traditional setting for all its home games) is generally the most exciting due to the intimacy and intensity of the environment. The “Cameron Crazies,” thousands of spoiled rich kids who attend the university, essentially jump up and down, scream, cheer, yell, cry, laugh, boo, emote during the entire course of the game. If you know anything about me, you probably know that I myself am one of them, except for the minor detail that I have to watch the games from home. I live much closer to Durham, North Carolina, than I once did, but am still a couple of hours away and not exactly in a position to buy tickets and attend the spectacles in person. ’Tis tragic.

Despite that, and despite the fact that I watched my Dukies collapse in the second half tonight against the confounded Tar Heels, I love it. Every minute of it. (Duke’s loss to Carolina is somewhat balanced out by my real alma mater Michigan State’s decisive victory at Michigan. So much for that series evening out again…let’s keep it that way for a while, shall we?) It’s exciting, it’s confusing, it involves courage and passion and teamwork and yet individual bravery and glory. I hear so many football fans complain that basketball is too erratic, too lucky, not physical or masculine enough. I beg to differ…personally, I love both sports. College football is another one of my passions. I used to attend many games at Spartan Stadium while a student at Michigan State from 2003 until 2005. Nonetheless, my best memories of watching sports will always be of basketball…of watching the Final Four while on spring break and seeing Duke win its first two national championships, back to back mind you, under Coach K; of seeing their third successful title game in 2001; of going to my first MSU game in the big beautiful Breslin Center; of seeing the 2005 Sparties take down both Duke and Kentucky, the first team to ever beat both those programs in the same NCAA Tournament… I hate to sound too much like Dicky V—it’s not my style to attempt to steal someone else’s style—but I completely fathom his devotion to, and desire for, the game. Had I played basketball myself in junior high or high school, I might feel this sensation even more strongly, but alas, I did not. That will always be a regret of mine. In any case, I can always watch. After all, “it’s awesome, baby.”

10 Things That Make Me Angry: Number 5

5. The Daily Show. I am going to be burned at the stake or tarred-and-feathered for writing this, but I’ve assumed for quite a while that one of those is my fate. Some of my friends have been telling me lately that I’m becoming too political, speaking my mind too much, offending them with my ideas and comments. Personally, I enjoy hearing them say that in some weird [perverse? I hope not] sort of way. Many of these are the same friends I’ve heard say horrible things about George W. Bush and the Republican Party at large for eight years, usually without me saying anything in reply. I sat like a conservative little mouse afraid of being swallowed by a big liberal cat—during parties, classroom sessions, after-school activities, you name it. Well, those days are over. I intend to be civil and respectful (if that’s even possible where politics are involved), but I need to unload the weight on my mind and chest about a very tangential, yet in many ways important, issue; namely, The Daily Show.

I’ll be honest…I think the program is awful. Not because of my own political views, although I will admit that I am human (surprise, surprise) and that, like any other human being, my opinions and ideas about life and society color my reaction to certain entertainment. But not always. I have always enjoyed Saturday Night Live’s political satire, which is characterized primarily by lambasting Republicans a la Sarah Palin (Tina Fey) and the first President Bush (Dana Carvey). I have found myself actually liking some of The Colbert Report from time to time, which in its own strange fashion has an underlying quasi-antagonistic affection for conservatism as much as the show tries to ridicule it. On top of all that, two of my favorite comedies, Seinfeld and The Office, are written from incredibly liberal worldviews. Not only that, the star of The Office is a longtime Daily Show cast member, none other than Steve Carell.

No, my real problem is Stewart and his show. I don’t deny that he’s a smart man, or a clever man, or even a man with some good insights into the current political and social mess in our nation. On the contrary, what really frustrates me about TDS is that it ridicules the problems it helps create. The show lampoons the incompetence or idiocy of the leaders on Capitol Hill—OK, fair enough—but then feeds such one-sided comic propaganda to its viewers. If you’ll recall, Jon Stewart lashed out at Tucker Carlson and company on CNN’s Crossfire a number of years ago for being partisan hacks and was praised throughout the press as a newfangled bulwark of moderation and objectivity. (How they reached that conclusion I’ll never know. The gent hosts a half-hour fake cable news show that uses constant vulgarity and crudeness. Maybe I’m just narrow-minded.) Yet, we watched night after night after night…after night…after night…of Bush-bashing, Cheney-chomping, Rice-rending. After a while, it became embarrassing to watch. Was there no one else to ridicule? What about David Obey, the gravelly voiced Wisconsin Democrat who saw to it that his own son got a lucrative government contract and almost started a fistfight with Republican Tom Delay over some miniscule issue on the House floor? No joke there? Or what about Robert Byrd, the former Ku Klux Klan member who just happens to be the oldest Democrat in the Senate? No need to ridicule the hypocrisy there? Republicans are excoriated if they get caught shopping in the same department store as a racist, but it seems fine for one of the Blameless Party of Diversity’s senior leaders to be an ex-cross burner. Such consistency.

Anyway, my main purpose in writing this particular post was that of addressing Stewart’s February 10 program. In a segment “reporting” (I hate to use that word to describe what it is that he and his cronies do) on President Obama’s recent trip to Elkhart, Indiana, to discuss the government’s economic stimulus package, Stewart had this to say:

“Wow, the RV Capital of the World. You think your town’s got troubles? Imagine your main industry combines the slowdown of auto manufacturing with the plunging values of the housing sector. Figure out how to put a bank in the trunk; maybe the whole town disappears.”

I was flabbergasted…well, not especially. I am used to the New Left’s petty sarcasm, condescending humor, and ridicule of those everyday American workers, women, and minorities it claims to serve. Several thoughts ran through my head after I heard this: first of all, why on Earth is Fox News broadcasting this as a lighthearted end to one of their news programs when they have a perfect opportunity to expose Stewart for the charlatan that he really is?; secondly, when did it become OK for liberal comedians to make fun of the bad economy and those suffering because of it, especially in the town that has had the highest rate of unemployment in the entire U.S. during this “recession”?; and thirdly, how does Jon Stewart have the lack of shame to put down an industry that has provided thousands of jobs, an entire city’s well-being, endless amounts of joy to American families for decades, and a rigorous, vigorous work ethic that has epitomized the U.S. since its inception? I guess he wouldn’t know anything about that; I’m asking an awful lot from a comedian with poor comic delivery, endlessly clichéd put-downs of the opposing political party, and no sense of what constitutes real news. Oh, and he would certainly have no sense of what compromises actual work. Apparently in his mind making mindless jokes for a silly 30-minute TV program (more like 22 minutes, really) about the daily events in our nation is more respectable labor than working on an assembly line drowning in sweat and grease for 9 or 10 hours every day. Sound logic.

Not only that, Elkhart, despite being a heavily unionized urban manufacturing center, is located in a state that voted for George W. Bush twice, so they’re probably not worthy in Stewart’s eyes of fair treatment. Sorry, Jon, I was expecting too much of you and your long-overdue-for-an-unrenewed-contract “news program.” The scariest thing of all is that so many young collegians and high school students watch The Daily Show and truly believe it is hard news. These are the same people who call Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity devilish propagandists; never mind the fact that those men actually have guests with diametrically different viewpoints. What sad times we are living in. Do me a favor, Stewart…next time you feel obligated to put down a little American town that’s done quite well for its size, pick one that isn’t half an hour down the road from where I grew up. That way at least it won’t have the added personal poison that compels me to write these long, rambling diatribes. If I'm wrong--if in fact The Daily Show has made fun of Democrats or treated them with a fair amount of derision--then please inform me. Feel free to mention some concrete examples. But at this point, I'm rather convinced that they have no intention of being "objective" comics (something I'm not sure is possible) and every intention of being quasi-funny partisan hacks.