Yeah, Andy Borowitz is showing vague signs of stress at the number of people taking his Wednesday piece seriously. He was president of the Harvard Lampoon in 1980 and after graduating served as the writer for television comedies Square Pegs and Facts of Life and creator of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. He has been doing daily political commentary since the late 90s, and unlike other Huffington satirists like Ann Coulter, he is not used to attention from the class of folks who cannot detect a joke from context.
I understand how it happens though. Compare his piece to the transcript of Robertson's actual remarks. Which is funnier? Which is more ridiculous? Which is less believable? It's rather like a comment Rich Little once made, about Ronald Reagan being his greatest rival. Basically he was reduced to just repeating things the man actually did in fact say.
Just for clarity though, note that the piece shows a tv evangelical expressing remorse for something that does not involve him getting caught in a hotel room, and includes profanity. A real story would be something like him discovered almost smothering a young boy, both of them naked, and explaining that what he was really doing was an ancient Biblical method for taking the child's temperature. "But ah can see how people might think ah was actually being an insensitive you-know-what". Feel the difference.
Borowitz plays with Barry, Matt Groening, Stephen King, and a rotating cast of backups like Bruce Springsteen in The Rock Bottom Remainders. Hear their version of "Last Kiss" live before you die.
I picked up one of the two guitars I'd been using, and just as we were about to start, Stephen King tapped me on the shoulder and said, 'We have a special guest.' I turned around, and there was Bruce Springsteen. I still don't know how he came to be at this convention; I don't believe he's a bookseller. All I know is, he was picking up the other guitar. My guitar. "Bruce," I said to him. "Do you know the guitar part to Gloria?" This is like asking James Michener if he knows how to write his name.
Re: Pat Robertson says Limbaugh is "deeply insensitive."
Maybe so. however, Limbaugh is a key poster boy for the right. I don't doubt if The Beckinator or that floozy Palin come out and say some dumb shit just like this.
Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people -Carl Sagan
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring. -Carl Sagan
Show other "main stream christians" an example, speak out and, eventually, remove the idiocy from your religion!
Fat chance that.
Let's just all be honest and admit that people like iano need people like Pat Robertson to express what they dare not express from their hearts due to PC.
Re: Pat Robertson says Limbaugh is "deeply insensitive."
Pat Robertson called Limbaugh's remarks "deeply insensitive."
I think the original comments about Haiti, by Robertson, were more insensitive. Evidently it takes an insensitive person to figure that one is more insensitive. As far as I'm concerned they are both A-holes.
There is no better love between 2 people than mutual respect for each other WT Young, 2002
Who gave anyone the authority to call me an authority on anything. WT Young, 1969
Since Evolution is only ~90% correct it should be thrown out and replaced by Creation which has even a lower % of correctness. W T Young, 2008
He suggests the Haitians made a pact with the devil. We are agreed this is either true or false.
The problem is that not all Haitans make "pacts with the devil." 80% of Haiti identifies themselves as Catholic practioners. A tiny fraction of the populace still practices Voodoo, not that it matters. Lot and God's conversation about if there is even 5 righteous people in S'dom that he would spare the city comes to mind.
The issue is that human beings in the thousands have died in a tragic way and the first thing that comes to his mind is Voodoo and how they deserved what was coming to them.
What a mindlessly idiotic and insensitive thing to say for a man of God who is broadcasted all over the world.
You seem to be condeming a guy for believing something that, if true, would reasonably be the case
You seem to be defending him by minimizing his careless statements.
There is nothing reasonable about what he stated. He's a wolf in sheeps clothing, bottom line.
"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." --John Adams
"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence." --John Adams
I am not a big Keith Olbermann fan but he pretty much hits the nail on the head with this one:
One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we've been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We're no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It is simply too painful to acknowledge -- even to ourselves -- that we've been so credulous. - Carl Sagan, The Fine Art of Baloney Detection
"You can't convince a believer of anything; for their belief is not based on evidence, it's based on a deep seated need to believe." - Carl Sagan
"It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World
I wouldn't say the MOST. He just gets the most airplay and has the largest audience. Just a run of the mill fundy to me.
True, true. He just has one of the largest audiences and gets a lot of air time. I swear that most fundies are people who can't or don't think for themselves but would rather have someone do there thinking for them.
One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we've been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We're no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It is simply too painful to acknowledge -- even to ourselves -- that we've been so credulous. - Carl Sagan, The Fine Art of Baloney Detection
"You can't convince a believer of anything; for their belief is not based on evidence, it's based on a deep seated need to believe." - Carl Sagan
"It is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring." - Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World
I swear that most fundies are people who can't or don't think for themselves but would rather have someone do there thinking for them.
Actually, I don't think this is true. Fundies do think.
In another thread, I had a life and death debate with someone about torture. I mentioned the following many times in that thread, that we live in a politically correct society nowadays. If you say something that is not politically correct, you get shouted down.
I think most fundies think for themselves and believe what televangelists say. The thing is fundies also realize some of what they believe aren't very politically correct, so they stay quiet and allow people like Pat Robertson and Rush Limbaugh say those things for them.
Again, my proof of this is the revenues that people like Robertson and Limbaugh generate.
Perhaps there is indeed a silent majority after all. They keep their mouths shut and their wallets wide open.
Re: Pat Robertson says Limbaugh is "deeply insensitive."
To be fair, a lot of the conservative religious and political figures are giving Robertson and Limbaugh criticism. There are not many as crass and uncompassionate as those two.
Justin of Raleigh, North Carolina: "Why does Obama say if you want to donate some money, you could go to whitehouse.gov to direct you how to do so? If I wanted to donate to the Red Cross, why do I have to go to the White House page to donate?"
Limbaugh: "Exactly. Would you trust the money's gonna go to Haiti?"
Justin: "No."
Rush: "But would you trust that your name's gonna end up on a mailing list for the Obama people to start asking you for campaign donations for him and other causes?"
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