The political satire commentaries - Chris Rock

Comedians as political commentators will be the topic of the blog for a little while because I believe their influence on the public debate is insufficiently appreciated.

I'm going to spend some time and energy to show that there is a link between entertainment and politics. People in both fields tends to overlook the other. Policy analysts are dismissive of media writers and most of those in the arts pay little attention to what political wonks have to say.

Since I regard myself as a little bit of both (media/policy writer), I want to offer up some example of entertainers that have merged politics and comedy as examples of how combining the two can be done with great effect.

While I think Bill Hicks was the best political commentator of the past 20 years, the funniest one has been Chris Rock. Each stand-up set he has done has gotten more and more political up to the point where his 2008 special, "Shoot the Messenger" was primarily about the 2008 election and his views on McCain vs. Obama.

Rock has a signature approach to stand-up, pacing feverishly back and forth while screaming into the mic in a strained voice that combines disbelief and a type of plea for common sense. His view on partisanship, which is still in top gear, is crystal clear:

"We all got a gang mentality. Republicans are f@#$ing idiots, Democrats are f@#$ing idiots. Conservatives are idiots and liberals are idiots. Anyone that makes up their mind before they hear the issue is a f@#$ing fool, okay!?"

Not belonging to a political group and being able to snipe at both sides is the freedom that makes for great commentary (which can also be hilarious). This freedom is lacking in the forum of mainstream "real" political commentary. FOX, CNN and MSNBC push their own agendas. FOX is the most shameless, but objectivity in the American news is no longer seen as credible.

This is why comedians armed only with jokes and no allegiance to the party are the best source of unbaised opinion. Listen to Chris Rock's comedy specials in chronological order and see how much more political the material has become as the country has become more partisan. In addition to the laughs, Rock has supplied red flags to the amount of partisanship in the country. This is his greatest political contribution.

The political satire commentaries - Bill Hicks

Let me preface this post by explaining my main sources of political inspiration:

The people that have influenced my political thoughts are, for the most part, not actual politicians (although some have become public servants after some time). No, the people I really admired for their political ideas were artist, writers and performers. I found that above all, comedians were the best analysts of American society. They were able to often focused on the nation's faults, but do so in such a skillful way they made me laugh. No one was better than this than Bill Hicks.

Bill's thoughts on his place on the political spectrum, "People often ask me where I stand politically. It's not that I disagree with Bush's economic policy or his foreign policy, it's that I believe he was a child of Satan sent here to destroy the planet Earth. Little to the left."

Hicks died of cancer in 1994 at the age of 32. He was far too raw and controversial for mainstream America because of his vitriolic rants on religion, but he had a dedicated following in the US and England for his views on politics, drugs and war. The BBC ran a story nearly ten years after his death because his act was almost prophetic during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Hicks was far ahead of his time. I am confident he will be posthumously recognized as one of greatest American philosophers of the 20th century. He fought aggressively to get people to question the answers that are lobbed up by the authorities. His favorite topic was the Kennedy assassination. It shocked him how implausible the explanation of events was and how readily the public accepted the official line. Hicks wanted people to ask more questions. If this advice were to be heeded, 99% of the population would be much better off.

Read Bill Hicks. Listen to his routine. Laugh and think. Some of his material is meant just to shock or said for throwaway laughs, but at the core of his beliefs and philosophy was a search for truth and determination to appeal to the audience's intellect.

Long live Bill Hicks.