Last Tuesday, one of my favorite comedian-pundits, realistically the only type of pundit these days, performed for a packed house at Barnes and Nobles Arboretum. A standing-room-only crowd of around 100 greeted Neal Boortz, Libertarian radio personality du jour, but the performance disappointed.
Safe to say, Boortz recognized all the burnt-orange shirts in the Arboretum crowd as much as I did. True Aggie that he was, he fell back on UT insults and a few sex jokes that fell short of risque - I mean, where was the political rancor and insensitivity that drives his ratings?
Ten years ago if I had listed my favorite comedic performers as Johnnie Cochran, Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter, Stephen Colbert and Neal Boortz, people would think the statement facetious (actually, most people would wonder who the hell these people were, except for Cochran). But political punditry now represents a mask for big entertainment bucks.
These guys use contentious ideas to rile and bemuse people. Note I say contentious ideas, not big or important ideas, because, for the most part, these guys are more Jerry Seinfeld than Richard Pryor or Lenny Bruce.
You might credit Rush Limbaugh for starting the trend of the pundit comedian - maybe Newt Gingrich - but that's a trap. Limbaugh at one point could have been the last true political pundit before he deteriorated into the self-parody of fame that drove him to (and from) ESPN and the drug woes that followed. And Limbaugh just fed off what Gingrich wished he could be.
See Newt wanted what presidents get: the opportunity to be the last political pop star. Democracies breed bureaucracy, and bureaucracy falls all kinds of manner short of sexy - and people only watch sexy. Presidents possess the aura of the leading man, deciders, cigar aficionados - they don't negotiate with terrorists. Congressmen pay the bills, and justices, well, try and name them.
Basically, the other branches are ensemble improv, and even the best improv has SNL-like up and downs. Saturday Night Live has always been a down subject for congressmen. Presidents get the whole stage, and they work that stage. To compete with a president, pundits learned to work the stage just as well. Cable and radio gave them the platform. Limbaugh worked the stage, because Newt couldn't break out of his ensemble act.
Limbaugh was good, but Johnnie Cochran showed how profitable the cult of personality has become. He launched Court TV the same way O'Reilly would launch Fox News and Jon Stewart and Colbert would trump South Park to redefine Comedy Central.
What Newt missed with his Contract with America was that the pop star statesman needed a solo outlet to be the star - a tack Al Gore is trying with his documentaries and a lesson Barack Obama will likely need to learn. Of course, the point is moot for whoever wins the presidency, since that's the best tour stop available.
Right, Boortz.
I love his show. It's funny, irreverent (intentionally and otherwise) and reminds me a great deal of Bill Maher. Unlike Coulter, Boortz knows how not to get caught in a Michael Richards moment. He simply refuses to take risks beyond his established persona. Now that may well mean he receives less attention and has a downright boring show every once in a while (much like last Tuesday - enough with the snore job flat tax, Neal, let me see something edgy), but it also means Boortz never has to come crying on "Hannity and Colmes," a homeless man's Penn and Teller, for a PR pick-me-up.
Maybe Neal expected someone to bring a pie, because, really, these pundits are begging for the laughs.
Trice is an English senior.
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