comedic

  A great deal of comedy is predicated upon making people uncomfortable and a bit nervous. They are the emotions that will easily get people giggling. The psychology isn't difficult to understand. The topics are usually those things we know to be inherently wrong to discuss openly. It is based in saying what others thoughts might be, out loud. I believe it has grown in popularity because it requires so little thought to compose. Put together a sting of expletives, reference body parts or sexual desires, and you pretty much have it covered. Jerry Seinfeld has made his whole career just pointing out the silly things people do or obsess about. He called it observational humor. Try doing that in real life and you will quickly get called names, like bully or judgmental. The nightclubs are the hot bed for this type of comedy. Get a bunch of people drinking and start telling "adult" jokes. Inhibitions being somewhat lowered the crowd is ripe for the picking. The great Red Fox was a master at that. In his time however those recordings could only be listened to on records bought in dark corners. Blue is what they were called. They were recognized as "naughty" and that was the appeal. No matter how old we may get a part of us always enjoys that feeling that we are getting away with something. We enjoy participating in some activity that we know to be juvenile. In todays world we don't even try to hide that, we broadcast it as, progressive. 

  That has always been the case throughout the history of mankind. Making progress. But what does that really mean? Progress implies making something better, an improvement, achieving some goal. We often say, I'm getting there. The question is, where are we going? What is the ultimate goal of man? That is the question isn't it? Why are we here? It's the question man has been asking as long as he has been making progress. Until we identify the goal I don't think progress can really be made at all. The best we can hope for is harmony. Based on the number of wars, conflicts and unrest throughout history I have to say, we haven't made much progress at all. That isn't to say we shouldn't keep on trying. But we should stop just laughing it off and get serious. Being serious requires making serious choices. Choices that are best for the majority! Yeah it stinks to be the minority, but somebody has to be that.

  It was exactly 160 years ago today that confederate forces chose to fire upon Fort Sumter thus beginning the civil war. The reason that choice was made was an economic one. All the other reasons, justification, and excuses aside, money was the motivator. It was the interest in maintaining the status quo that forced their hand. The northern sentiments were one of making progress. The Republican party was formed to prevent the spread of slavery, particularly in Kansas and Nebraska. It was an attempt at progress, a movement more toward what the constitution reiterated, all men are created equal. The southern plantation owners realized what an impact that could have on commerce and wanted that stopped! Fort Sumter was located in Confederate territory and the confederates wanted to send the message that they were in control. It was really a matter of symbolism more than a tactical decision. We all know what followed. 

  It could be said that the incident that took place in Washington DC on January the 6th was a similar thing. Depending upon your point of view it was either a protest, a riot or a siege. In my view a clear message was sent to our elected officials, we the people, aren't going to stand for much more of this nonsense. The general feeling is the election wasn't fair and honest. Now we can argue and debate about that all day long but it will not change the perception. What is real to you, is reality. Yes, it is as simple as that and in that lies the frustration. Just as those southern plantation owners felt their livelihood and way of life was threatened, so too, middle America feels that way today. It is interesting to note that it was the middle class, factory workers and such in the north that wanted to stop the spread of slavery. Those folks were the base of the newly formed Republicans. There intent was to maintain the Republic, just as Franklin urged them to do, "if they could but keep it" as he put it. That is still the goal of the Republican party. The democrats would replace that Republic with a democracy and that is what we are currently witnessing. I pray daily that a revolution, a civil war, isn't the final result. The division is real and palatable. The fact that the Democrats would erase all that history, in the name of progress, isn't lost on me. If we erase that history, just forget about it altogether, we certainly will be doomed to repeat it. Progress can only be made by moving ahead, not by falling back. 

  Sit back and look at what is being promoted today. All the "identifying" and "defining" going on. All those topics that make us uncomfortable, nervous or otherwise unsettling to us are being discussed. But that isn't the real truth of it is it? No, all those topics are being forced upon an unwilling public by legislative processes. Many people are just laughing at that, going along with the crowd, intoxicated with their "freedom." The idea of freedom having been perverted to mean, I can just do whatever I like or feels good. It's freedom without responsibility. The responsibility being shifted to government. But progress, real progress and change can only take place in the hearts of men, it can't be legislated. 

  Here we are, one hundred and sixty years on still faced with deep divisions. Who creates that division? The answer is government, government creates the division based in political ideology. The premise was and should remain, We the People, not our legislators. That is why the integrity of the election process has struck such a discordant note. That process has been called into question. The very people that are in government, the legislator themselves, create that division for nefarious reasons. It is a concept the founding fathers were aware of. Indeed John Adams said: "   "There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other."  He was a pretty smart guy. Today we are faced with those in the audience just laughing it up, going along with the crowd, allowing all manner of improprieties, to satisfy their own base desires. In my opinion more of us just need to stand up and walk out on the show!