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The Illusion Of Revolution

quoth the raven's Photo
by quoth the raven
Tuesday, May 07, 2024 - 11:25

Submitted by QTR's Fringe Finance

One of the topics I discussed with Matt Taibbi during my interview with him this weekend was the palpable loss of soul that has taken place on the Democratic side of the political aisle. And, as Matt Damon reminded us in Good Will Hunting whilst quoting Henry Ward Beecher:

“Liberty is the soul's right to breathe, and when it cannot take a long breath laws are girded too tight.”

In my interview with Matt Taibbi, I told him that I used to read him when he wrote for Rolling Stone decades ago and admitted that I often wondered if the 20 year old version of me then would loathe the 40 year old version of me I’ve become.

I brought this question up because I find it important to keep myself in check. Is the world really changing and becoming so radical that it’s on the verge of breaking, or have I just grown older and become as allergic to “normal” progressive causes as the people I routinely dismissed as racist, homophobic, conspiratorial right-wing shitheads when I was in a touring band with leopard print hair in my early 20s?

My discussion with Matt also touched on the topic of the arts. He pointed out that nowadays there really isn’t any great new music, art, poetry, or film that feels like it moves the needle in the way that classics of the last four or five decades used to.

During the course of our discussion, I remarked to Matt that I thought George Carlin was probably the last great left-wing comedian, even though he may have described himself as an independent.

And then, as if the universe heard me wondering aloud and wanted to offer up an answer, I woke up yesterday morning, and my entire Twitter feed was clips from the roast of Tom Brady.

For those unfamiliar with the format, roasts, as made famous by Comedy Central over the last decade or two, are widely accepted “safe spaces”... for comedians. This means it’s widely accepted that people are allowed to say whatever the fuck they want and that no joke crosses the line. The roasts of the last two decades have been extraordinarily successful because of this. When comedians are unleashed to take digs at one another and there is nothing off-limits, genuine comedy and laughs happen.

The roast of Tom Brady was so popular on the internet yesterday morning because the content—including jokes about Tom Brady’s wife leaving him and the now-dead former Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez—truly was as ‘on the edge’ as it could get.

Yet, despite the fire breathing comedians that pierced the membrane of the PC bubble repeatedly, there was nary a Karen to be found, nary a censorship report being sent to a censor, and nary a protester to be seen. For an hour or so, the soul of the nation was allowed to breathe, and people were too busy cracking the fuck up to be offended or care, even when the crudest and meanest things were said.

It’s moments like these, Ricky Gervais hosting an award show or a Dave Chappelle “controversial” Netflix special that now serve as the reminders of what made the nation great to begin with: free speech.

During my conversation with Matt Taibbi, we examined how free speech used to be the hill that Democrats would die on. As Matt told me, it was the one issue that was non-negotiable. Matt and I both believe vehemently in free speech and I still consider myself to be liberal in the classic sense. As a self-described libertarian, the prefix lib- puts me almost all the way...(READ THIS FULL ARTICLE, FREE, HERE).

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