A Dialogue with Donahue

From AlterNet, an interview with one of my favorite liberals, Phil Donahue:

KLUGER: Is it possible to be anti-war in this country and have your own show?

DONAHUE: Yes -- if you're a comedian. You can't report on the war and have your own show unless you're funny. It's got to be "I oppose this war….ba-duh-bum!" Don Imus is against the war, Jon Stewart is against the war. Bill Maher and Al Franken are against the war. They all have good consciences -- and God bless them all, I wish we had more of them. But what distinguishes them from the rest is that they're all funny, so they can have their own show. Bill Moyers can't.

Click here for the rest.

That's just one of the many reasons that I still love Donahue: this is a brilliant observation. Like the fools of the Middle Ages, who were able to speak truth to power only because nobody took them seriously, the only liberal voices allowed to speak plainly in the corporate media today are those that also tell jokes. I guess that's what happens when you have a king instead of a President.

But that's just a tease. This interview, mostly about the media, is all over the place and well worth reading. I've loved Donahue since I was a kid, and I have no doubt that he was a part of the gumbo of cultural influences that ultimately made it impossible for me to maintain my youthful conservative views. Today, I see him as a sort of liberal elder statesman. He doesn't have his own show now, but he's just as sharp as ever, and as a former media insider, has remarkable insight about just how bad things have become.

Go check out the interview. It's good stuff.



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