The Joke Is on Liberals, Says Dennis Miller, Host of His Own Show Again

NY Times ^ | 1/15/04 | BERNARD WEINRAUB

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

Dennis Miller, the liberal-turned-conservative comedian and defender of President Bush and the war in Iraq, is less than two weeks away from being the host of a new talk show on CNBC. For him it can't come soon enough.

"People say I've slid to the right," Mr. Miller said in his office at the NBC Studios in Burbank, speaking in his rat-a-tat-tat style. "Well, can you blame me? One of the biggest malfeasances of the left right now is the mislabeling of Hitler. Quit saying this guy is Hitler," he said, referring to Mr. Bush. "Hitler is Hitler. That's the quintessential evil in the history of the universe, and we're throwing it around on MoveOn.org to win a contest. That's grotesque to me."

Mr. Miller, who was speaking about television advertisements submitted to a competition held by MoveOn.org Voter Fund, a liberal political group, was just getting started.

"Did you see the Democratic debate the other night?" he asked. "To me Dennis Kucinich's politics are more scrambled than Rod Steiger's dream journal. And Clark? He's a wizard in many ways, but when I hear him speak, it's almost like he's slumming. There's a mensch discrepancy there. At least John Edwards, who to me is a reasonably shallow guy, at least he can dog-paddle around in that park and not look out of place."

Mr. Miller's rapid-fire monologues and obscure, even weird cultural references — Rod Steiger's dream journal? — have made him one of television's most visible comedians over the last two decades. He was a regular on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" from 1985 to 1991; had an Emmy Award-winning weekly series on HBO, "Dennis Miller Live," in the 1990's; worked as a film and television actor; was a commentator for two seasons on ABC's "Monday Night Football"; and most recently was an essayist for Fox News.

Mr. Miller's metamorphosis from iconoclastic liberal to free-wheeling conservative — which he partly attributes to the Sept. 11 attacks — has not only made this 50-year-old comedian an esteemed figure on the Fox network. It has also made California Republicans, who have triumphed with a movie star in the governor's mansion, look to Mr. Miller as a possible opponent to Senator Barbara Boxer, the liberal Democrat who is up for re-election this year. (Mr. Miller supported Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign for governor and performed last summer at California fund-raisers for President Bush.)

Mr. Miller said he told the Republicans he had no interest in running against Ms. Boxer, largely because winning would mean moving to Washington from Santa Barbara, where he lives with his wife and two children. "They inquired about my availability to run against Barbara Boxer, but I'm not at the point where I would consider it," he said.

His new hourlong show, "Dennis Miller," at 9 p.m. weeknights (with a repeat of one show on Sunday), will have its premiere on Jan. 26. It will include his usual venting on current issues, as well as interviews with political figures, journalists and others, and a nightly "right-left" debate among figures at different points on the political spectrum.

Pamela Thomas-Graham, president and chief executive of CNBC, said Mr. Miller's "kinetic energy" appealed to the network, now mostly an outlet for financial news. By hiring him, she said, CNBC hoped to retain and expand its daytime audience with a politically savvy show. She added that the CNBC daytime viewers were probably "interested in relaxing at night" with material that reached beyond Wall Street.

Ms. Thomas-Graham said Mr. Miller's political positions had played no role in the decision to hire him. "We are completely agnostic in that direction," she said. "We were looking for someone who has a point of view and is willing to defend that point of view."

Mr. Miller is also not a traditional conservative. "I've always been a pragmatist," he said. "If two gay guys want to get married, it's none of my business. I could care less. More power to them. I'm happy when people fall in love. But if some idiot foreign terrorist wants to blow up their wedding to make a political statement, I would rather kill him before he can do it, or have my country kill him before he can do it, instead of having him do it and punishing him after the fact. If that makes me a right-wing fanatic, I will bask in that assignation."

Mr. Miller said he remained socially liberal. "I think abortion's wrong, but it's none of my business to tell somebody what's wrong," he said. "So I'm pro-choice. I want to keep my nose out of other people's personal business. I guess I fall into conservative when it comes to protecting the United States in a world where a lot of people hate the United States."

[rwfromkansas]

Doesn't he do a commentary?

[sarasmom]

No Im not.
I am watching what some of the pro-lifers say on this topic on various threads.
Quite often the most vocal anti-abortionists are the same people who want to force unmarried women to give their baby up for adoption is she does "choose life", because in their minds, such an evil person should not raise the child.
Little separates them from the Taliban.
And please dont act ignorant of this viewpoint, and claim nobody you know acts or says things like that.

[clintonh8r]

He used to do a commentary once a week on Hannity and Colmes, repeated during the weekend.

[sarasmom]

You would do well to refuse to be a spokesperson in the pro-life cause.
I doubt you are able to convince anyone that a child is a gift from God,with your attitude of the child being a punishment for pre-marital sex.

[sarasmom]

"You are so friggin' ignorant I don't know where to start."

You started.You just have nothing of real substance to say, so you resort to attacks. Liberals arent the only ones capable of this level of discourse, obviously. ;^)

[American_Centurion]

A child is a gift from God.

Being financially unprepared and unable to provide is a curse from satan himself. That is the bane of mothers and fathers out of wedlock.

I know too many people destined to a life of near poverty over the choice to have sex with the wrong person at the wrong time. Bottom line it's only their fault and they will have to pay whether they can afford it or not.

[NutCrackerBoy]

Dennis Miller has shown some signs of sense for a long time. He proved immune to envirowhackiness on his HBO show. On social issues, live and let live runs very deep among folks like him. Just let Dennis be Dennis. He's unlikely to wax very conservative, but he is very sensible and articulate. He's a treasure.

[sarasmom]

So what is your point?
It is murder to abort.Period.
or
It is ruinous to your life to have a child unless you have dotted all the societal and finacial lines beforehand.But you deserve to have your entire life ruined, because you had pre-marital heterosexual sex, and many people are eagerly waiting to start casting stones at you because you did not abort.
Or did you have another point I am unable to grasp from your somewhat cryptic posts?

[Tribune7]

A pregnant single woman has just two choices. One's bad and one's worse. Hang in there.

[Salamander]

Fascinating.

So, in true Dennis Miller fashion, the arcane reference is multi-layered and multi-faceted.

Cool........:)

[Rocky]

Rod Steiger's dream journal:

Could he have meant Rod Serling's dream journal (Twilight Zone)?

[sarasmom]

I reject your profered two choices of bad and worse.
I made my own choice.
It was box number three.
God gave me a miracle, and if you think you are smarter than God, well, nothing anyone could ever say would sway you from your position.
Happily for me,I really dont care what some of Gods children rant about.
God gave mw free will.

[American_Centurion]

If you want to live in a dream world where it would be one or the other, you take your pick. But this is reality and it is both, and much, much more.

Choosing life is a simple morality solution, anyone who chooses financial well being over the life of a child isn't worth wasting my time on.

Easy solution, which you call unrealistic, is to teach kids that it is both, they are both terrible and the best way to avoid it is to........oh you know what I'm going to say.......but it can't be (you're thinking)........I'm really going to say it............WAIT TO HAVE SEX!!!!