Saturday, March 26, 2005
A WORLD OF IDEAS
Phillip Adams interviews US comedian Rich Hall:
Adams: Can Americans laugh or poke fun at religion?
Hall: Americans … are, ah … well, you know what they say about George Bush is, that it was … ah … you know, guns, gays and God that got him into office.
Articulate fellow, isn’t he? Interesting that Adams has never met an American who can laugh at religion; I’m sure there must be one or two of them. By the way, Chimpler W. Hallibushton’s opponent supported a gay marriage ban in Massachusetts, and offered these comments on God and guns:
"Faith has given me values and hope to live by, from Vietnam to this day, from Sunday to Sunday."
"I’ve been a hunter since I was about 12 years old, and I went through the whole progression, you know, BB gun to .22s to .30-.30, you name it."
Didn’t do John Kerry much good. We now return to our festival of dumb bigotry at Radio National:
Hall: And ah … when I say God I mean from a very fundamentalist point of view. Ah … born again, Bible beatin’ Baptists, who have a tremendous, a tremendous amount of power when it comes to electing a president. And they’re forgotten, you know … everyone forgot that … ah … there are a lot of people in America, in that sort of hidden section that people, you know, the fly-over area between LA and New York, who … ah … go out and vote for whatever reasons – because they heard right-wing talk show hosts tell how, you know, how idiotic the whole liberal media is, you know; because … ah … they don’t want gay marriages; because they want to keep their guns; or, because … ah … God is still on their side.
It was an ambush. They were hiding, listening to coded right-wing messages emerging from sinister communication devices in their underground cells. Then, when nobody was looking and when it was least expected, they came out and wielded that tremendous power, against which there was no possible defence.
They voted.
Damn them all to hell. Maybe this hidden fly-over area, where everyone seems to be, you know, practicing democracy, could be put under … ah … some sort of, you know, UN administration, so its tremendous power could be … ah … used as an energy substitute for oil. You know.
Hall: And … ah … I find the word “fundamental” extremely scary. I find fundamental Muslims and fundamental Christians, you know, both, you know, extremely scary. Because the word “fundamental” means you know a little bit about something.
It does? Well, you learn something new every day. Adams’ program is promoted thusly: “From razor-sharp analysis of current events to the hottest debates in politics, science, philosophy and culture, Late Night Live opens up a world of ideas, putting you firmly in the big picture.” Read on as Adams puts you in the big picture regarding George W. Bush:
Adams: I would have thought he’s been in a vegetative state now long enough to pull the life support from him.
Terri Schiavo hasn’t been on life support; not that Phillip’s topical little joke is any less razor-sharp for this. Earlier in the show Adams seemed fascinated by a tune Hall has been performing since 2003: Let’s Get Together and Kill George Bush. Now conversation turns to Bush’s attempt to keep Schiavo alive:
Hall: Well, you know … he’s busy doin’ that … ah … busy keepin’ that … I think he’s passed a law yesterday to keep them from pullin’ the life support on him …
Adams: (laughter)
Hall: It was applied to someone else, but we all know what he meant. Ah … here’s a guy who cuts his holiday short to go back and try an’ put this bill into effect that will effectively keep someone who wants to die from dying for whatever reason … basically to placate his electorate. I don’t know. There’s something very scary about religion in America.
Adams: Very. Very.
Rich Hall knows that Schiavo wants to die. A more informed or alert interviewer may have asked: “How do you know this, Mr. Comedian Man?” But Adams is very uninformed and very stupid. Very. Very.
(Edited transcript via Alan R.M. Jones; Real Media link here, Windows here)
UPDATE. Melbourne Age editor Andrew “The Mancunian Candidate” Jaspan isn’t treated with nearly as much respect during his appearance on Radio National. He should book a slot with Adams.