Garrison Keillor: Wearing his politics on his sleeve (and the rest of the book)

Minneapolis Star-Tribune ^ | July 13, 2004 | Bob Von Sternberg

[jdege]

Garrison Keillor: Wearing his politics on his sleeve (and the rest of the book)

Bob Von Sternberg, Star Tribune
July 13, 2004

Radio humorist Garrison Keillor has never shied away from the dreaded "liberal" label, placing his progressive politics front-and-center in many of his monologues and writings.

But he's now aggressively embraced a complementary label: partisan Democrat, appearing at DFL functions and, now, publishing his newest book, "Homegrown Democrat; A Few Plain Thoughts from the Heart of America."

The book, to be published by Viking on Thursday, is a combination of personal reminiscence, an attempt to define Minnesota culture, interlaced with political screeds that are at once tendentious, fed-up and funny.

Among them:

• "Republicans have perfectly nice manners, normal hair, pleasant smiles, good deodorants, but when it comes right down to it, you do not want them to be monitoring your oxygen tube or running your child's school. Like the hall of mirrors at the carnival, they are all about perceptions, the party of Personal Responsibility, which conceals enormous glittering malice and is led by brilliant bandits who are dividing and conquering the sweet land I grew up in. I don't accept this."

• "Liberals stand for tolerance, magnanimity, community spirit, the defense of the weak against the powerful, love of learning, all American values worth conserving. The people who call themselves conservatives stand for tax cuts, and further tax cuts, annual tax cuts, the only policy they know. Cut taxes. Use the money you save to buy a gun and an attack dog to take with you when you drive the Hummer out of the security gate of Republicanville ..."

[...]

[dyed_in_the_wool]

...interlaced with political screeds that are at once tendentious, fed-up and funny.

I find nothing humorous about his libel.
He's an elitist scumbag as far as I'm concerned.

[Hemingway's Ghost]

Demogogues and polemicists on both sides of the aisle are so effing boring.

[daler]

Never listened to him, never will.

Not because I'm intolerant of other views, but for the same reasons I have no interest in hearing what Charles Manson, Michael Moore or Parris Hilton have to say.

I'm familiar enough with all of them that I'm certain I have more productive ways to spend my time.

Like taking out today's garbage.

[Atlas Sneezed]

Does anyone honestly believe that if we segregated the country in half by political views, and let it function as two nations, that in 5 years one would approach third world status, the other prospering beyond American dreams, and that in 10 years one would be militarily bailing out the other from its own tyrannical decay?

[dead]

Ugly on the inside and…

[Twinkie]

If he sticks to Noel, the detective character, it's
okay, but otherwise his politics are built on the
same fatuous, fake "down home" stuff as Fresh Air &
the like on PBS. - And he talks about the protecting
the weak against the strong, does he mean the unborn
child against the abortionist? No, probably not.
Guess he swings and sways with the "we shall overcome
crowd" while holding hands with Whoopi and Cybill.

[dc-zoo]

Garrison Keillor = Scum Sucking Commie Socialist Slug. I would enjoy saying it to his butt-ugly face.

[moodyskeptic]

This guy's been scamming America for decades. He shucks his folksy small town jive and the urban elite gloats in superiority. He panders to the NPR intelligencia by relating cracker barrel stories. The ridicule of flyover country is cleverly disguised as praise.

Keillor actually wants America to become the Soviet Union or Cuba, and he's got millions of well-intentioned American dopes thinking he stands for old time American Values. Scam artiste, indeed.

[ozaukeemom]

ping

[Wally_Kalbacken]

Exactly. He's a dressed up version of Michael Moore.

[mountaineer]

The Lake Woebegone stuff was amusing the first few dozen times (yeah, yeah, children above average), but he needs something new. That tired old "Republicans are evil, while Democrats really care about people" business isn't going to cut it, either.

[jdege]

I gave up on PHC about the time they syndicated.

When Garrison started playing to a national audience, the jokes got watered down, the guests got professional, and all of it started to take itself too seriously.

There's a thread over on the MPR News Forum about whether Garrison should be allowed to say such things on Public Radio - is it appropriate for a tax-supported venue?

My take - get rid of the tax supports, then let him say what he likes.

[DeweyCA]

• "Faith is private. It demonstrates itself in good works and love of neighbors but it doesn't need to puff up and blow a horn and bang on kitchen pans. ... When you try to find the love of Christ at work in the Republican Party, it may take awhile. The Christian Coalition was a Republican outfit with about as much to do with the Christian faith as the Elks Club has to do with large hoofed animals."

You know eventually that a Lib's complaint is going to get around to being about God. They just can't stand Christianity and Jesus. Like Anne Coulter says (paraphrase), Libs don't believe in a god; they think that they are gods.

[ErnBatavia]

Radio humorist Garrison Keillor

He's not usually referred to as "humorist" is he? I thought his gig was "folksy storyteller"...

[MadIvan]

Mr. Keillor is a liar. Let's analyse this statement -

"Liberals stand for tolerance,

Down at the first gate. He and his charming friends aren't tolerant of conservatives, nor politically incorrect speech.

magnanimity,

Rubbish. It turns my blood cold to see the things that liberals say about George W. Bush. A few have gone so far as to say he should be killed.

community spirit,

Meaning, you should give up more in taxes, but God forbid there should be any public expression of religious faith.

the defense of the weak against the powerful,

Actually the Republicans are doing that by trying to make sure you and your fine friends don't get their hands on them to steal their earnings and to sap initiative.

love of learning,

About ebonics, Queer literature, and other bits of frippery as well as making it so no student ever gets an "F", so a cadre of idiots can be graduated.

all American values worth conserving.

The Americans I'm acquainted with certainly disagree with your interpretation of them, sir.

The people who call themselves conservatives stand for tax cuts, and further tax cuts, annual tax cuts, the only policy they know. Cut taxes. Use the money you save to buy a gun and an attack dog to take with you when you drive the Hummer out of the security gate of Republicanville ..."

Oversimplication and sophistry. The point, Mr. Keillor, is LIBERTY.

Allow me to re-emphasise -

L I B E R T Y

Taxation goes to the very heart of what sparked the American Revolution. Why? Because taxation by a powerful state impinges on liberty. If you believe all the fine talk about being endowed with unalienable rights, you have the liberty to say, think and do as you will...and also to own property. Tax cuts are part and parcel of the restoration of liberty. Liberals would throw all this away.

To conclude, Mr. Keillor, to quote one of your characters from "Lake Woebegon Days" - you're so dumb you deserve to be a Democrat.

Regards, Ivan

[mikrofon]

When you try to find the love of Christ at work in the Republican Party, it may take awhile.

When you try to find the "love of Christ" at work in the Democrat Party, it's quite simple -- just follow any current candidate to their targeted houses of "worship", preaching from the pulpits how Jesus would support their proposed "compassionate" policies.

Also, Keillor believes that it is the sacred responsibility of government to protect the weak from the strong -- apparently, he likes to reference the "U.S. Constitution - Living Edition".

I used to enjoy this guy's stuff, but the more his politics pervades his material and he displays utter contempt for many decent people, he can just stay in the middle of Lake Woebegone...

[MadIvan]

Of course his "love of Christ" and his fellow man includes murdering the unborn willy nilly as well. The man is contemptible.

Regards, Ivan

[eleni121]

Even worse---the American taxpayer subsidizes this moron through the NPR network thus providing him a venue to sell his book and concerts and other junk.