Political Fantasia

When the political establishment talks of the "political reality" or the "political climate", they stall progress for the narrow self-interest of their campaign contributors. As I always say, when political reality goes against actual reality, in the end, actual reality always wins. Always. When the two clash, we live in, as Michael Moore said, fictitious times. Fictitious times that elect fictitious presidents, start fictitious wars, and lower the standard living of all people save the very wealthy.

This is why we need satire. Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are the jesters in the political court that have their facts (and humor) straight. The only people in the room that can, if killing political hypocrisy and lies is impossible, at least poke it with a stick and get away with it.

I initially wrote this last December, but chose not to publish it at the time, because I thought it needed more revision. It also is the reason for some of my segments, such as the "Devil's Word Mashups". Perhaps I should add something based on the difference between enforcing the letter of the law and its meaning. (Since, for example, the US Constitution doesn't define its own terms, and definitions naturally change over time, the original meaning may need more interpretation. For example, it does not say privacy in the Constitution, because at the time, it refers to using the privy, or the bathroom. Writing explicit the right to use the bathroom is pointless, since people only have so much control over their bodily functions.) Satire is the rapier that pierces between the links of the (figurative) chain mail of taking the law too literally.