A lot of people didn’t get the joke in my column against liberty. It was based on an actual WSJ column arguing against liberty by Thomas Frank, but I thought it became obvious it’s satire when I started arguing for slavery as the ultimate freedom — something Thomas Frank stopped short of. The Patriot Post put up part of it (excluding the slavery part), and look at all the comments condemning me. And when Fred Thompson linked to it (and called me “friend”; being a friend of Fred Thompson is equivalent to having super powers), even with a warning a few people didn’t get it. The thing is, it really seems like something a liberal would argue, because the central theme of all their government programs is that freedom is overrated. They just have too much sense to say that out loud — except for Thomas Frank.
Liberals aren’t capable of understanding satire. Yes, that’s right, the same people who are supposedly so deep in their thoughts that black and white cease to exist, replaced by numerous nuanced shades of gray, can’t comprehend “jokes.” That’s why they’re all taught “trigger words” so that they know when to laugh at a joke. Any time someone ends a “joke” with the words “George Bush” or “Sarah Palin” they know they’re supposed to laugh, so they do – even if the “joke” makes no sense. But, without those words as a guide, they’re pretty much lost.
the problem is it increasingly hard to parody anything because so much of our current reality seems to be parody.
Look at Anita Dunn. You might have thought once she was exposed as a fan of Mao that her job would be on the line. No, now we hear her husband is going to be the new WH counsel.
First, most aren’t as well read as you, so Thomas Frank would be unknown to them.
Second, your schtick as a satirist is not widely known
Third, some of your own regular readers were aghast until they got to the end
Fourth, it’s not too far reaching to assume that some of the uninitiated would be so worked up before they reached the end, that they just couldn’t “see” your point/objective.
Fifth, most people are so sensitive to or stigmatized by our overly PC world, that it’s easy to set them off, shut down their cognitive functions, and put them into knee-jerk reaction mode – before they’ve considered something in its entirety.
Sixth, most folks are too time constrained or lazy to read the “comments” (of your post). If they had, this misunderstanding probably wouldn’t have happened.
My advice – lesson learned and forget it. If you’re that troubled by being misunderstood, end similar posts with a “Gotcha ya” and explain it – probably with stick figures, in crayon.
These are the same people who list The Onion as one of their news sources, so it’s not terribly surprising. It’s a sad reality that you can’t parody the left any more: any potential satire becomes prophesy with the head cases supposedly running the country.
The reason CNN didn’t fact check this satire, is because they didn’t know it was…
MDr.: you hit it! there are too many people (left and right) that take themselves way too seriously. the libs had “Bush Derangement Syndrome”,or BDS, and now there appears to be a lot of “ODS”. i don’t enjoy most conservative blogs anymore.
Mimicry is satire: Steve Crowder videos
Satire is mimicry: Frank J.’s columns that come too close to Moonbat thought, thus they are outraged when they read the fine print that Frank J. is a humorist
Frank the Artist needs to write a ‘Special needs’ column for the Moonbats that don’t get Frank J Fleming’s satire.
This, Frank, is why you must always rememember to log in as “Scary Evil Monkey”.
Frank, perhaps Fred Thompson can give you a special Beta Capsule that you can use to switch places with him in times of trouble. That why you can press the button, Fred appears, punches hippies then switches back with you.
That would be awesome!
Your satire is great. The comments linked to are great for a laugh. These are freedom loving conservatives who are not getting it because the satire is 10x, on the mark
(and they do not seem to have a sense of humor).
and called me “friend”
Seriously, are any more accomplishments necessary in life? Just put that on your resume, quit work, and travel the world. And if anyone thinks I’m joking, I’ll ask you this: Which would you rather have, A.) Fred Thompson telling people you’re his friend or B.) a Nobel Peace Prize? Is it even close? (I guess the million dollars part of the prize is nice, but the government takes half and with inflation that will soon be nothing anyway.)
Bad news Frank; satire is a dead artform in these times. Too many people are looking to be Patrick Henry-esque firebrands
In Obama’s America ,
slavery = freedom, ignorance= strength, and
stupidity with an attitude = great intellect.
Great article , Frank. Very well done!
“Freedom of choice
Is what you got
Freedom from choice
Is what you want” – Devo
Satire is not appreciate these days…..only the negative division of the country gets people’s attention. Here’s the reality these days:
1. From bondage to spiritual faith;
2. From spiritual faith to great courage;
3. From courage to liberty;
4. From liberty to abundance;
5. From abundance to complacency;
6. From complacency to apathy;
7. From apathy to dependence;
8. From dependence back into bondage
Everyone is too worried about their job/bills to pay & the future for their children. It’s gonna get worse. Just read this new book & it’s a shocked for reality. If you want a little satire & a reality check then see how a small town in America fights federal tyranny & ends up starting the 2nd American Revolution. It wasn’t their choice, but we all know how the feds don’t like anyone taking a stand. It’s a great book to read.
http://www.booksbyoliver
When did Mimi cry? Who is Mimi, anyway? I’m confused…as usual.
If there had been TV back in the early 1700s, and thus an audience, consisting of most of the people of Ireland, that was conditioned to just sit back and unquestioningly accept input from external sources as long as it was called “entertainment,” Jonathan Swift might have been hung, drawn and quartered for his “Modest Proposal.” They would have taken him seriously.
TV makes people stupid and numb, so today we live in an almost zero-satire-tolerance world with an ugly sort of reality that encourages us to eat our pets (to save the Earth) instead of our children (those that we allow to see the light of day, anyway).
That was a great column, Frank, and it worked: when I got to the bit about slavery at the end, the whole thing just blew me away. Don’t let the zombie cries bother you — there are liberals who still have working brains, too, just like us; unlike us, they can’t come out and say, “wow! that’s great satire!” They have to howl along with the crowd, or the zombies will eat them. But having seen the light, they can’t go back to the dark ignorance ever again. Reality will mug them more and more, and eventually they’ll lose their fear of zombies, gain some self-respect, and discover that they have become conservatives.
Then the zombies will eat them, and we can shoot the zombies while their attention, such as it is, is distracted.
But a few of those new conservatives might make it to our lines, and every single one of them counts. Never give up hope!
The comments made by the patriot/conservatives reading The Patriot Post are indeed looking for Patrick Henry-types for inspiration. Let’s face it, when you see what’s happening to our country, one responds with emotion. Patriots respond with anger, Libtards respond with maniacal laughter, The Unfair, Unbalanced,and Unmedicated respond with satire.
Patriots read the satire and realize it’s too close to the truth, and get angrier still. Libtards read ( those that can read ) it, and if there is any sanity in them, think,”Uh-oh, their on to us.” The majority of Libtards continue laughing maniacally. >>>”Some men just want to watch the world burn.”—Alfred, in’The Dark Knight’
Eh, my favorite was when there was a huge ‘controversy’ as to whether what you wrote was satire or parody.
Funnily enough, that was neither satire nor parody, they were serious. They were patting themselves on the back for being all nuancey as they argued ‘satire’ v ‘parody’.
That was funny.
I guess your satire needs to be not so close to reality.
Like, for instance, you could call Obama a communist or something.
Wait . . . what?
I know it’s hard to deal with Frank, but remember some people back in 1725 didn’t get Swift’s “Modest Proposal” either. Keep up the good work and don’t let the maroons get you down.
I think some of those people follow Fred Thompson on Facebook because they think he is really the DA in New York City.
jcp: no way he could be the DA in NYC. He’s running Dulles Airport!
Frank: it just comes down to this. liberals are beyond parody, so its eally hard to tell when people are kidding. i said to more than a few people passing it on, “if you know frank, you know it is a joke.” but if they don’t know you, yeah, its hard to tell.
This has happened to you before, Frank J. Remember when that guy quoted you on his blog and then CAIR complained and his blog account was suspended?
http://www.imao.us/archives/006999.html
Serves you right for doing satire so well.