Chiclet Brains

Posted on 04/30/2009 at 8:08 am by Bob Cesca

Dennis Miller gets self-righteous about the president’s tea party comments:

Suddenly Dennis Miller is a friend to regular people, eh? A guy who once referred to Branson, Missouri as “Thunderdome for Chiclet brains?”

Miller’s descent from a smart comedian to a shill for Bill O’Reilly seriously makes me sad.

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  • Elizabeth

    Dennis Miller will do anything for a buck. He sounds exactly the same as a liberal, Monday Night Football commentator, and conservative. I am convinced that the man just likes to be “witty” and doesn’t pay much attention to what he is actually saying.Boy, if he truly is worried about snarkiness to normal people, he should play back some of his football clips. Even he would cringe.

  • jenski42

    Ah, the struggle for relevancy.Sad. I loved him on SNL.

  • Skepticat

    “…the man just likes to be ‘witty’…”Well, you’re half right.

  • Theghostsong

    Republicans: Blessing the mind too small for doubt since Raygun. Of course if you ask a Repub about the history of the party they’ll tell you that ancient Republicans used guns to help Jesus conquer the Romans when the earth was created 6000 years ago.

  • Chris K.

    Regardless of how we feel about Dennis Miller he does have a good point.It was a bad idea for the President to mention “tea bags”. He just gave the protests legitimacy AND made fun of them at the same time.Just when people were forgetting about the protests.Bad move all around. To make his point he should have just made the “certain news channel” comment and left out the protests.Terrible move by the President.

  • gypsy

    it seriously makes me sick bob. how do you get to this alternate universe he has wondered into because i would love to blow up the entrance.obama can’t handle being unpopular YET he is the cool kid that picks on people?!what. the. hell.also, miller has NEVER made fun of people riiiiiight?! jesus…

  • Chris K.

    Regardless of how we feel about Dennis Miller he does have a good point.It was a bad idea for the President to mention “tea bags”. He just gave the protests legitimacy AND made fun of them at the same time.Just when people were forgetting about the protests.Bad move all around. To make his point he should have just made the “certain news channel” comment and left out the protests.Terrible move by the President.

  • walt

    All that dudgeon and so little irony. Dennis Miller’s career went in the remainders bin after his Monday Football debacle. What to do? Become the one smart “conservative” on TV. As whoring goes, it’s pathetic. Miller himself knows it. But how else would he get any airtime?

  • Chris K.

    Sorry for the double post. Browsing mishap.

  • http://www.politicalpartypooper.wordpress.com politicalpartypooper

    While I admittedly cannot stand Dennis Miller, I wondered why President Obama even bothered mentioning the teabags.I’m not insulted, either. However, I’m also not satisfied by any of his answers on health care or Social Security, two issues I specifically cited as reasons why I went to one of the gatherings. I’ve heard nothing about campaign finance reform, ending tax breaks for companies that send jobs overseas (we can’t really ever get rid of that one; it’s just too juicy of a campaign platform), or even reform of the standards required to maintain status as a “bank”.All I’ve heard is “we’re studying it”. Well, his predecessor studied it for eight years. Studying something is NOT DOING SOMETHING. We’ve been studying health care and social security for decades. Language used by Washington politicians must include that studying something to death means you are actually doing something; in which case, our elected officials have never stopped doing something about these two issues. They’ve just been so completely inept that they’ve accomplished absolutely zero.Any idiot can study something. Wagging his finger at the teabaggers made him look like Bush. “If you’re not with us, you’re against us.” I expected more than this small mindedness.And before you all pile on, remember that I actually voted for, and still support this President.

  • Theghostsong

    And that disqualifies opposing arguments how? I mean you’re the one that argues with assumptions like independents vote in a big block and all think like you.

  • Blondell Williams

    Your post was stupid enough the first time around, Chris K. It didn’t get any better on the second reading.

  • dswagz

    I remember DM once referred to West Virginia as “Darwin’s Waiting Room”; It wouldn’t be any stretch of anyone’s imagination to suspect that Faux News plays 24-7 on the TV in Darwin’s waiting room.

  • Eldeebee

    Dennis Miller is another voice of the extreme right wing along with Rush, Glenn, Savage, Drudge, Malkin, Coulter that will hasten the demise of the republican party and keep it out of power for the next 20+ years. If in fact it survives as a party. Time for republican politicians to think for themselves and ignore the extreme right wing talkin heads.

  • http://www.thenewwearsoff.com/ ∴ Κyle ∴

    Dennis Miller is an opportunist, a shill, a hack.

    However, I’m also not satisfied by any of his answers on health care or Social Security, two issues I specifically cited as reasons why I went to one of the gatherings.

    Ah, yes, pooper, I distinctly remember the assorted ‘health care’ and ‘social security’ signs at the tea bag rallies. Are you trying to suggest that Obama should have addressed those issues in relation to the tea bag protests because you (and apparently only you) thought that’s what tea bagging was all about?

  • Mr. Lancers

    And to think a decade ago, he was one of the more prominent political comedians in the business. Now he’s nothing more than Bill O’Reilly’s parrot.The only that 9/11 changed for Dennis was his sense of humor.

  • http://www.windonwater.net QueenTiye

    I honestly appreciated Dennis Miller’s point – I think it’s the first honest point about the tea-partiers to have been made.We may not like it but the smugness of those on the left, including our president, rubs some the wrong way. We can be so sure of our “rightness” that we can look down on those on the other side. Well, maybe we are right, but we don’t win any friends sneering at others.President Obama is an amazing president, and I am all in the tank for him. Stylistically, he’s so much better than we’ve had in so many years it’s not funny. I mean – head and shoulders above the rest. BUT – he isn’t perfect, and I agree this is a weakness – and has been from the start. It’s not just that he’s not a “Bubba” type, but that he sometimes comes across as looking down at “Bubba” types. I’m not inclined to ask the President to be different, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t hear words of truth when they are spoken. Dennis Miller felt chumped, and he felt it on behalf of the tea-baggers… and I’ve seen that sentiment in other places, so I know it’s real. Real people, mostly white, often from Appalachia, feel that President Obama looks down at them. They can be sold any bill of goods against the president, because their feelings are hurt. Dennis Miller’s analogy of the cool-kids/unpopular kids is right on the money, because it provides very good insight into what might be going on with people’s irrational hatred of the president. More needs to be done to overcome that gap.QT

  • http://www.thenewwearsoff.com/ ∴ Κyle ∴

    It’s not just that he’s not a “Bubba” type, but that he sometimes comes across as looking down at “Bubba” types.

    I’m surrounded by Bubba types and they deserve to be looked down upon. When you make their viewpoint relevant, you grant them power and say. Plus, I don’t think there’s much the Prez can do to convince the tea party attendees that he isn’t a socialist or Muslim (or, for at least a few of them, to convince them he isn’t black–that may be difficult), which I find to be of much bigger concern to them than whether or not he condescends them.

  • gypsy

    >>>It’s not just that he’s not a “Bubba” type, but that he sometimes comes across as looking down at “Bubba” typeswhy shouldn’t ignorant racists be looked down upon?

  • gypsy

    haha…get out of my mind kyle! we’re from the appalachian mountains we know exactly how they are and the majority DO NOT deserve respect!

  • http://www.windonwater.net QueenTiye

    Why shouldn’t we look down at “ignorant racists?” How about because they are human beings, and the likelihood is that their ignorance is more complex than we’re allowing for? Ignorance can be looked down upon, and so can racism, but the people possessing those qualities ought to be lifted out of those conditions, wouldn’t you think? If at all possible, don’t we want to eradicate ignorance and racism? And if so – are we more likely to gain entrance to doing some good by looking down at people, or by respecting their basic humanity?QT

  • Sierradrinker

    Obama was right to mock the teabaggers. First, their premise was flat out ridiculous. “No taxation without representation!” Of course they all have representation. Just because you didn’t vote for the guy who won doesn’t mean you’re not represented in congress. Second, it would have been easier to take the teabaggers seriously if they all came with signs screaming for tax reform or policy reform. From the pictures I saw, most of the signs called him fascist, Marxist, communist, socialist, Barry Sotero, muslim, and questioning his patriotism. That’s not protesting, that’s name calling. I believe these protests lessened what the sons of liberty and true patriots went through to get this country established.Maybe if the teabaggers had something constructive to offer, he might have listened to them.

  • Chris K.

    Your post was stupid enough the first time around, Chris K. It didn’t get any better on the second reading.

    Please. How is Obama mocking the teabaggers helping anything?

  • http://www.thenewwearsoff.com/ ∴ Κyle ∴

    I can respect their humanity and insult their ignorance simultaneously. I’m not saying we should lock them up or waterboard them.

  • http://www.windonwater.net QueenTiye

    Mocking the teabag concept is ok – I’m all for that. I thought it was stupid, and Bob drove home the stupidity of the whole thing quite well.Mocking the teabaggers themselves isn’t something the president actually did. But if it felt that way to them, and I can see how it might, that ought to be a matter of concern.QT

  • Sierradrinker

    I suppose mocking them doesn’t help anything, but why shouldn’t he get in on the fun? We’ve been mocking them for months on the liberal blogs.Call me elistist, but most of the people at those rallies shouldn’t be taken seriously, shouldn’t be listened to, and should learn the definition of marxist, communist, et cetera.Again, if they can come up with constructive suggestions or solutions, hear what they have to say. But most of them were simply there to call Obama names.

  • http://www.thenewwearsoff.com/ ∴ Κyle ∴

    Please. How is Obama mocking the teabaggers helping anything?

    What kind of response do you want from him?

    WASHINGTON – In a stunning move, President Obama reversed his policy direction to one more in line with Ayn Rand objectivism.

    “We will be disassembling the entire federal regulatory system, starting with the Federal Reserve. We will be axing Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Government art grants will be shat upon,” Obama told a shocked crowd in Washington.

    “With 250,000 people this angry at me, I have no choice,” Obama said. “0.083% of the people have spoken, and they have said NOBAMA.”

  • http://heatherbrion.wordpress.com Heather!

    I’m still pissed at Dennis Miller for Monday Night Football, so anything he says is moo.Sierradrinker I completely agree. If poling fun at a group of people complaining about wasteful spending who purchased 1 million tea bags and no permit is elitist, so fucking be it.

  • Sierradrinker

    Kyle = awesome response.Not so sure I agree with you about the waterboarding. After all, it’s not torture.

  • http://www.xkcd.com/ ∇ Silly Ratfaced Git ∇

    Chris K. -Double posts happen. It’s better than post go bye bye.I thought you made a valid point which QT also groks.I also think it would have been better if the President had pretended that the Tea Tantrums had never happened. He should stay above the fray. The Progressive Blogosphere has the mocking angle covered. Not only do we have it covered, we have it in a killing field. The President should have just ignored it.Even a completely morally bankrupt waste of skin like Dennis Miller can have a valid point by accident. His reasons are shite but his point is valid anyway.Dennis, I used to be a fan. Now I would rather be waterboarded than be forced to listen to your blather. Your rants are like listening to BillO the Clown while doing mescaline. In other words, they are not funny.

  • http://www.politicalpartypooper.wordpress.com politicalpartypooper

    Kyle,”Are you trying to suggest that Obama should have addressed those issues in relation to the tea bag protests because you (and apparently only you) thought that’s what tea bagging was all about?”Yeah, you keep thinking that. You’re wrong, but if your illusion helps you to sleep at night, stick with it.”I’m surrounded by Bubba types and they deserve to be looked down upon.”Funny thing is, Kyle, I consider you a Bubba type. Is it okay now for me to look down upon you?”When you make their viewpoint relevant, you grant them power and say.”I don’t consider any political parties’ viewpoint relevant. It’s all basically group-think hackery.Here is where Gypsy jumps down my throat for being an arrogant know-it-all, without stopping to consider the irony of those words.

  • havenot

    Dennis Miller: “I think he’s more at ease with the swells…”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mn4daYJzyls

  • http://annette-justmylittlepieceoftheworld.blogspot.com/ Annette

    I sure don’t think Kyle is the only one who feels that way.. I was just looking at the front page of the KC Star from the 15th .. picture taken at Jeff City, MO capitol steps.. “You Can’t Blame Bush Anymore!” “Honk If I’M Paying Your Mortgage” “Stop Stealing Money I Haven’t Made Yet”. Then the article points out there’s a full-blown tea party movement, boosted in part by conservative organizations as Americans for Prosperity (which is connected with billionaire oilman David Koch), the American Family Association and FredomWorks, whose chairman is former U.S. Rep. Dick Armey.KCMO radio talk show host Chris Stigall, says it is a people’s movement, and KMBZ radio host Darla Jaye will broadcast from another location. Both of these are conservative hosts. Democratic Rep. Dennis Moore, who had his office bombarded with tea bags said, “I hope they will listen to us too, just as we will listen to them”.On the 16th and that night on the news there were signs showing the same as was posted here.. Socialist, Marxist, Communist, Impeach Obama, NObama.. and the list goes on and on.. I live in MO, trust me the rednecks here are terrible and they hate Obama.. you don’t dare say a word about him outside without getting attacked.

  • http://www.thenewwearsoff.com/ ∴ Κyle ∴

    pooper:

    Show me the bevy of signs about health care and social security. Any number you produce, I bet I can produce 10 times as many tea bag protesters with signs calling him a socialist and/or fascist. I’m assuming you attended the one tea party in the United States where the majority of the people weren’t calling Obama a socialist/fascist. Am I correct?

    And you can look down upon me for any reason you like. Isn’t freedom of speech great? (Adding: the “Bubba” types tend to drive trucks with truck nutz, embrace the confederate flag, enjoy Nascar, dislike brown people, and believe in God). This also means I can look down at you because you still rant and rave about our two-party government. Once again, I advise you to look up Duverger’s law and study it. Do I like corporate influence in government? No. Do any reasonable scholars of political science believe the dissolution of political parties will solve that problem? A resounding no.

  • gypsy

    queen, the opportunity for these people to be “lifted out of those conditions” is there! am i, my family, or my childhood friends like them?! no. we used what was available to us to expand our minds and better ourselves. there isn’t complexity to their ignorance. they’re the ones that need obama’s healthcare, tax cuts, and education plans the most, yet they CHOOSE to focus on his race and all the other craziness. so when a grown person displays harmful hate filled speech, i will not respect that person. on that note. you mention us treating them with basic humanity. do you think we kick or spit on them when in contact?! i mean, the equating of treating someone humane to us stating our thoughts on their behavior is unbelievable to me. but what it comes down to, really, is… are you willing to turn your back on all the good people they are, in essence, harming and hating for no reason to be nice and decent to them? i know i’m not.and ppp. i bet you like your coffee black because you can’t decide if you like a splash of cream with two sugars or heavy cream no sugar. nah, you probably just stopped drinking it because it all is so fucking wrong. (haha…ohhh, i crack myself up)

  • http://www.thenewwearsoff.com/ ∴ Κyle ∴

    And an additional addendum: abolishing political parties would also trample quite heavily on my freedom to associate. Why do you hate our Constitution, pooper?

  • http://www.thenewwearsoff.com/ ∴ Κyle ∴

    And, yes, I did just say “additional addendum”.

  • http://www.politicalpartypooper.wordpress.com politicalpartypooper

    Kyle,The problem with Duverger’s “Law” is that we have several modern district-representative democracies that function equally as well as ours with three parties, which makes his assumption irrelevant. Why would I waste my time on a “law” that’s not really a law?”I’m assuming you attended the one tea party in the United States where the majority of the people weren’t calling Obama a socialist/fascist. Am I correct?”That you are assuming anything without having personally experienced it yourself is what makes you incorrect. In truth, there weren’t all that many signs calling Obama a socialist or anything for that matter, and we stayed away from those signs anyway, for reasons that are obvious.The local news crews did their best to hang around those signs as much as possible, but if you recall, one CNN reporter was called out for her unprofessionalism, and her obvious bias. It sure does look as though you bought that bias hook, line, and sinker. But had you actually been there, you would have seen things differently. You are basing your opinion on what coverage was available from television. That’s fine. But if I were to focus the camera on only hot chicks at a baseball game, I could make it look like there WERE only hot chicks at that game. It’s not the truth, but I sure as hell can make it look like it is.You believe what you want to believe. I was there, and as such, I have knowledge of the matter that you can only GUESS at.How many Glenn Becks do you think there are? Are all of them Glenn Beck? Or is there maybe one in a hundred?You are calling doctors, engineers, attorneys, factory workers, nurses, and teachers uneducated “Bubbas”. That’s a bit silly, don’t you think? A bit reactionary? A bit radical?However you want to spin it.

  • http://www.politicalpartypooper.wordpress.com politicalpartypooper

    “abolishing political parties would also trample quite heavily on my freedom to associate”In what way? If you want to go to church, go to church. If you want to gather and discuss politics, do it. Do what you want. Just don’t do it in a way that looks like collusion. Why do hate the law so much?Yeah, two can play that game, Kyle.

  • http://www.thenewwearsoff.com/ ∴ Κyle ∴

    Colostomy Bag:If I have to explain to you what political parties have to do with freedom of association, you’re further off the mark than I originally ever thought. Who gets to decide what looks like collusion? You? For The Christ™’s sake, you think the tea bag parties weren’t anti-Obama rallies.By the way, attending a single tea party is, in my opinion, a worse way to get a feel for what’s going on than spending the day watching live coverage of the events taking place all over the nation. I guess huge rounds of applause for Laura Ingraham’s teleprompter jokes show exactly how non-partisan these tea bagging parties were.

  • http://www.thenewwearsoff.com/ ∴ Κyle ∴

    Pop quiz, poopy. What organization sponsored more tea bag parties than any other?The American Family Association. Would you consider that a moderate organization?

  • http://www.xkcd.com/ ∇ Silly Ratfaced Git ∇

    The pooper is very correct about the media spinning the Tea Tantrums as anti-obama rant-a-thons.I seem to recall that I repeated many times that anyone that wanted to protest should arrange their own protests independent of the Tea Tantrums BECAUSE THE TEA TANTRUMS WILL BE SPUN AS WHATEVER THE ASTROTURFERS WANT THEM TO BE.Nobody listened to me. The results are exactly as I expected. I’ve seen this astroturfing shit too many times.Sorry pooper. How does it feel to be a corporatist pawn? You can’t say I didn’t warn you. You got counted as a truknutz owning anti-Obama dumbass. It was your own fault.

  • D. C.

    “Just don’t do it in a way that looks like collusion.”In what way can you associate without “looking like collusion”? Would it be collusion now to raise money in support of a candidate that you really like?”The pooper is very correct about the media spinning the Tea Tantrums as anti-obama rant-a-thons.”Maybe that would be because they were anti-obama rant-a-thons. Maybe that wasn’t the intent at first, but once they turned control over to astroturfers on Fox “News”, Dick Armey, and allowed all the racist pricks to ape for the cameras, that’s what they became.

  • D. C.

    Has Miller done anything that was truly funny since leaving SNL?