Friends First
I'm pleased and proud to have Harry Shearer, my old friend, here on Ricochet for a bit. His new movie, The Big Uneasy, is really exceptional. Don't miss it.
It's got lots in it to infuriate everyone, but if you're a conservative, you'll especially be challenged to re-think the purpose and effectiveness of the Army Corps of Engineers, which despite its gloried history really seems like a Congressional boondoggle -- the private construction company dedicated to getting incumbent members of congress re-elected by building big things in their districts.
Harry's a dangerous lefty, of course. At least that's what I call him whenever I can. I think I've suggested, over dinner and excellent wine, that he be arrested and thrown into federal prison. For his part, I think he's parried that I'm a hypocritical conservative and has mocked the way my voice rises in pitch when I'm especially cornered in a debate. I'm often cornered that way by Harry.
And then we finish our wine and laugh and cackle evilly about the various people in the entertainment industry whom we despise, and we talk about our dogs or whatever else seems to be going on in our lives.
I'm tempted to say that friendships like this don't exist, especially in Hollywood, because it's monolithically left-wing, and partisan, and Harry isn't either one of those things. (He'll reject the label of left-wing, and with justification, although I do enjoy calling him a dangerous anti-American pinko. And he is a dangerous anti-American pinko...) But I can't really blame Hollywood.
I blame a sense of humor deficit. Our side has it, too. The essence of friendship is shared laughter, and it's impossible to laugh with someone if you're screaming at them, or if you're convinced that they're immoral hate-mongers or...well, you know.
It's a friendship killer, I think, this idea that it's all a fight, a war, a twilight struggle for the soul of America -- we get so caught up in it we forget that it's possible to have rich and close friendships with people whose politics are different, without reading them out of polite society. Where I live, this comes more often from the left -- I cannot count the times I've been told, to my face, something like, "You're a conservative? But, I mean, I like you. You don't seem evil" -- but I'm sure it happens to both sides, depending, I guess, on where you live.
Harry and I agree on a lot of things -- we agree, for instance, that his new movie is excellent; we agree that the press is a ludicrous bunch of pompous blowhards -- and we disagree on a lot of things, too. We vote differently. I vote for the Real American; he votes for whoever seems the most like Trotsky. But we're friends first. We laugh at (mostly) the same things. Often, that's each other.
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Comments:
Jun '10
Re: Friends First
OK. Trot him out and we'll take a look at him.
Jul '10
Re: Friends First
Looking forward to the documentary but suspect that most conservatives have not been fans of the Army Corps of Engineers for some time now.
Jul '10
Re: Friends First
Harry gets a pass because when he does snarky-Lefty, it's actually funny.
Re: Friends First
I've tried disliking Harry for years, but I'm simply unable to do it. Besides, he's funny. How can you dislike funny?
May '10
Re: Friends First
Kenneth is exactly right. Harry is critical and funny in a way that (I think) Jon Stewart is critical and funny, and in a way that Bill Maher is so, so, (so!) not.
And FWIW Rob -- This is a Big Idea you are developing in real time here on Ricochet, worthy of your prodigious intellect, humor and talent as a writer. Maybe it's time to think about writing a slightly-more-serious-than-usual book.
May '10
Re: Friends First
Doh!
The Deep South conservatives I grew up with never have anything good to say about them. I'm not sure the Corps was always that way, though.
Jul '10
Re: Friends First
Trace Urdan: Kenneth is exactly right. Harry is critical and funny in a way that (I think) Jon Stewart is critical and funny, and in a way that Bill Maher is so, so, (so!) not.
And FWIW Rob -- This is a Big Idea you are developing in real time here on Ricochet, worthy of your prodigious intellect, humor and talent as a writer. Maybe it's time to think about writing a slightly-more-serious-than-usual book. · Aug 27 at 10:52am
Bill Maher use to work for me, as a shop-boy in a Gap store in Manhattan. The 100% consensus of the staff was that he was a nasty, nasty piece of work and I fired him for just being an all-around downer.
Re: Friends First
A sense of humor deficit is certainly part of it, Rob. However, I have always also gotten this feeling from my friends on the left that 1) they like me, but 2) the only way they can square that with my views is that I'm somehow un- or mis-informed. Like, if I only read the Times editorials more I'd just come around to their way of thinking. Or if I really saw how deep, dark, and nefarious my fellow conservatives are, based on profiles in Mother Jones, or something, I'd be won over. That's a frustrating element to battle in a friendship. Mutual humor -- along with mutual respect for the process of coming to different opinions -- would be a welcome joy for me in my friendships with liberals/Democrats. I haven't found that yet. Still looking :)
May '10
Re: Friends First
You can't dust for vomit...
Aug '10
Re: Friends First
I'm made to wonder how the hell Rob knows for whom I vote, then I remembered for whom he votes, and the rest made sense.
Aug '10
Re: Friends First
Also, is it just me, or does Rob's profile picture look a lot like Orson Welles just before his Paul Masson period?
May '10
Re: Friends First
The only talent I have (besides height) on Rob is being able to raise a single eyebrow.
Jul '10
Re: Friends First
We don't cotton to strangers pokin' fun at Rob here, pal. Put a sock innit, if you wanna be invited back.
May '10
Re: Friends First
Kenneth
We don't cotton to strangers pokin' fun at Rob here, pal. Put a sock innit, if you wanna be invited back. · Aug 27 at 7:03pm
We don't cotton to folks who don't cotton round here.
Are we talking the Dean Martin Roast days? Yikes, he was huge back then. And by "he" I mean Rob.
Edited on August 28, 2010 at 1:51pmRe: Friends First
I am big. It's the dais that got small.
Thanks for the assist, but I can take Harry's insults. I've been taking them for years. Happily. Because I know, like Peter, that he'll eventually see the light and come over to our side.
May '10
Re: Friends First
Rob,
Clarification? Do you know like Peter or will Harry, like Peter, eventually see the light, etc? And do you mean Peter Robinson? I'm not making a joke or anything; I just found the sentence a little confusing. Not sure how to edit it...unless you put the "like Peter" next to the appropriate pronoun. How's that?
Am I the only one confused here?
Also, Harry, welcome to our little party. Men of good will are always welcome company. Especially funny ones! I think I'll stop now before I start gushing over your comedic accomplishments.
Jun '10
Re: Friends First
Caryn: Rob,
Clarification? Do you know like Peter or will Harry, like Peter, eventually see the light, etc? And do you mean Peter Robinson? ...Am I the only one confused here?
I took Rob to mean St Peter, who denied the truth "thrice before the cock crows"
Aug '10
Re: Friends First
Rob Long knows a remote farm in Lincolnshire where Mrs. Buckley lives...
Jul '10
Re: Friends First
As usual, I'm a bit late to the party. Some of my best friendships have been with raving lefties, and some of our best times have been extended political brouhahas over beers in a smoky bar. These usually start with clever rhetorical techniques, then logical traps, then feigned amazement ("you can't really believe that!"). And eventually you reach a point where you realize that you just differ on fundamental, basic principles on what is right and wrong. Then you order another beer and switch the subject to sports.
Personally, I would pay good money to be the waiter watching Shearer and Long do that routine. I suspect it is an entirely different level of discourse than that with which I am familiar (rigth wing drunken Irishman and teetoalling socialist Jewish stutterer debating the world's problems after a Toastmasters meeting).