Free Republic

The evidence of a stunted artistic class is all around us. Late night comedians have stopped performing comedy, which requires honest surrender to the creative tension between perception and reality. It is all the snark of the court jester, seeking to please the ruling class. The Golden Globes was another example. The top news story of 2017 was that beneath the veneer of glamor that Hollywood projects was a disordered world where success and failure depended on the willingness of the artists to not question the powerful. Their response was to gather as a crowd in drab uniform, like the...

Late night comedy shows are no longer funny. They’ve turned into crude, Trump-bashing political attacks. There is nothing funny about watching a solid hour of the left spewing out hate speech against everything the right believes in. It’s like watching Rachel Maddow — when you’re expecting to see Johnny Carson or Jay Leno. If you want to watch a left-wing political show, you’d watch Maddow, not comedy. There are no conservative major late night comedy hosts.People tune in to comedy shows in order to escape the endless political infighting. They want humor, not biting partisanship. Conservatives especially don’t want to...

Sadly, these network executives are more committed to their liberalism than drawing viewers or making money It has been many years since late night television comedy was enjoyable. Its heyday was during the Johnny Carson era when Americans were entertained by a host with tremendous skill. Carson was a true talent who combined great humor with impeccable timing. The Tonight Show featured the best guests and a host who knew how to hold an audience. Carson did not have to stoop to crude humor and he did not alienate Republicans or Democrats, for he made fun of politicians from both...

All of this focus on his golfing makes us almost forget...