Garrison Keillor On The Role Of Humor In Politics

December 25, 2010 C-SPAN
MOXNews.com/

[@asechka]

I LOVE this man! His stories, his truly unique voice, etc, etc, etc. He’s one and only!

[@ct0760]

his voice is just so comforting...even if I dont always listen to it, its nice to have in the background...

[@bruceclark2460]

I've "known" Garrison Keiller for more than 20 years. His tales of every day living in a fictitious place called Lake Wobbagon are hypnotic and captivating. Just when I get bored and tired of hearing the ho-hum garbage on the radio I remember the escape that his stories fill your head from the present and past that put you in the middle of his world are priceless. What a national treasure!!!!

[@bobgreen1272]

YOU ARE SO RIGHT, FOR G.K. is and has for 30yrs.I know of, been a GREAT man to ALWAYS make me LAUGH and ALWAYS soothing!! WE all need to LAUGH!!! THANKS AGAIN and KEEP reminding the U.S. PEOPLE THERE IS SOMETHING TO LAUGH ABOUT!!

[@barbarabarnes5394]

bob green tea

[@karmatakoda]

I could listen to Garrison indefinitely . . Lived for Vinyl Cafe . . love him lots

[@kathleenrobertson67]

And I do too. Stuart left us way too soon. Like Prince. Robin Williams. Too good for this earth. RIPX3

[@lcsullivanfrye]

As I listen to this piece of Garrison Keillor's, I was reading some of the painful comments from others who obviously have no appreciation for the brilliance and higher level of intelligence and humor that Keillor shares. I have been listening to Keillor for over 20 years, thanks to my father and summer Sunday dinner's. To Garrison I Say, thank you so much for all the years of wonderful entertainment and humor that comes from everyday events and letting me find humor in every situation.

[@schuckles]

Keiler's retirement marked the end of a great American past time. Garrison represents the old man by the apple tree who tells far tales to enrich and orient the youth who care to listen. The man is a treasure, his legacy has been solidified. You do not have to be democratic or republican, just need to be willing to listen. Guy Noir Private eye had me in the car listening to the radio well after reaching my destination.

[@bruceclark2460]

I've "known" Garrison Keiller for more than 20 years. His tales of every day living in a fictitious place called Lake Wobbagon are hypnotic and captivating. Just when I getn ni bored and tired of hearing the ho-hum garbage on the radio I remember the escape that his stories fill your head from the present and past that put you in the middle of his world are priceless. What a national treasure!!!!

[@attlevi]

you are so right. I discovered his show on NPR one day after a wonderful, powerful church sermon. It was so good that I didn't want to the feeling to pass, you know , the feeling of having your mind & spirit cleansed restoring it to a time of innocence. I listened to the show just to keep my mind pure before the corruption from daily nonsense. It was great .. correction . It is great.

[@cmasseylynch]

Thanks for this post. thanks.

[@Bouncybon]

What a charming man he is. I'm English but I devoured 'Lake Wobegone Days' when I first found it. I realised then that Garrison Keillor is a truly great American. His humor and timing in this long talk are captivating.

[@tobyblake851]

Keep Garrison Keilor on youtube; his material is more important than the man, he is being destroyed for touching the back of a friend.

[@davecasey4341]

You go Garrison. Pay no attention to the pseudo-intellectual liberals. It's great to hear someone with old-fashioned common sense.

[@danielhackman2438]

He is a master story teller very fun to lissen to

[@TSquared2001]

What a gem.

[@jorgesuarez7077]

"Anonymity is an enemy of civility..."

[@lcoop89]

I want my Garrison Keillor!

[@juligrlee556]

Closing the Supreme Court building and moving the justices to cells on the border with MEXICO would help.

[@sealyoness]

In Northern Illinois, I noticed the men in past decades do most of the complaining, but the women do most of the bragging. But I always heard from our relatives up north that if we (down here) get a foot of snow, school is cancelled. That's usually true if it's still coming down. In Minnesota, they say, 'Chin up, buttercup. Only if we can't shovel you out are you staying home from school!' Good times.

[@lisakeller9105]

Timeless and of interest to us democrats.

[@jackiehayden2874]

The notion that somebody who accepts taxpayer money should express no political views is quite hilarious.

[@TheAyeAye1]

Really? In your mind, it's alright for someone to take government money and use it to support contested political causes?

[@jackiehayden2874]

It isn't the government's money. It's the people's money.

[@TheAyeAye1]

Agree. The government produces nothing and gets money by taxing people. This includes people who don't agree with Keillor. This makes Keillor's use of public money to regularly throw in political asides on a publicly funded show worse.

[@jackiehayden2874]

Presumably, those who watch/listen to Keillor are intelligent enough to agree or disagree, or even ignore his political asides. The implication that a government should only grant money to those who actively support it is anti-democratic and a sign of a feeble government. A healthy sign of a strong, confident government is its ability to absorb, and even encourage, dissent. The same probably applies to society.

[@aaronrowland9784]

Jackie Hayden xd sssEsczsszszszxxffzfzm b

[@Bouncybon]

Sorry, guys. I spelt 'Wobegon' wrong. How could I DO that?

[@terrelord6987]

Sure would likto here your poem "cat sailing" again..perhaps on electronic media? ..I'm living far from Fergus Falls, MN now ..miss the taste of blue water in a pan-fried bluegill..

[@PhillipWolff]

Youngest girl in the crowd: caught sewing. 13:14

[@garysmith9823]

If he had stayed retired after he left the show originally, he would have stayed a fond memory. Instead, he returned and kept going until he was a tedious political operative who stole taxpayer funding to support a political party.

[@TheAyeAye1]

Keillor has the right to any opinion. Keillor has the right to make any speech he wants on his own time even one as wrong headed as this one. Keillor does not have the right to use a taxpayer funded entertainment radio show to consistently take jabs at one political party over another.

[@unclefester9113]

SNAP out of it. Thats exactly what PBS has been doing since it began. Most DEMOCRATS are also masters of this same level of diatribe. Be realistic. Politics has become way too polemic, divisive, and is sometimes laced with subtle racism.

[@takepartlive]

Ya'll needs to try and vote in every election!

[@aaronrowland9784]

My guess is that you don't understand his big words and fancy book "lernin'". The man is brilliant, and respected the world over for his wit and humor. You, on the other hand, undoubtedly don't command respect beyond two trailers in any direction.

[@Bouncybon]

That's OK, she was knitting. People who knit can also listen. Why not?

[@mlansfordhome]

@captaindiesalot I believe what GK may be expressing, as well as others who make the claim of racism regarding the disdain seen for President (birth, philosophy, governing style, etc., the call for, God forbid, assasination expressed after his inauguration, the hatred seen at rallies during the President's visits to various places, all comes from a deep place, a place that many who have those opinions are not aware. For lack of understanding that hatred, I call "racism." It has some name.

[@marianwhitcomb7518]

Wow, comment threads like these sure do sour me on a democratic free society.

[@mashj50]

Garrison's world view is reflected in his writing,that is why we all love to float into his eddy of decency and a humanity we all feel nostalgic for, A world of wisdoms & humour,but his understanding of Obama is naive beyond comprehension, His grasp of who this Obama guy really is delusional at best,would you expect anything else from someone who has spent his life shutting his eyes, clicking his heels & praying to be home in Minnesota in the 50's along with his 50's politics,happy trails

[@captaindiesalot]

@mlansfordhome Look, the ONLY color that counts is GREEN. And Obama is a collectivist, who believes in THE POLICE STATE, I don't give a damn whether you or Keillor believe me, who cares? The FACT is the President is WHAT he is. The rest of Keillor's act is pretty good...

[@Melthornal]

im guessing you voted for trump and didnt get vaccinated. what a brainwashed little fool you are.

[@Johnny35130]

Humor is one thing but the way Keillor talked about President Bush was disgraceful.There was little humor,just loathing.

[@Koan_Om]

The first five minutes (Kennedy's footage) was humor in politics. The rest - great humor but little to do with politics.

[@aaronrowland9784]

Kamil Izmaylov wssassasssasass

[@captaindiesalot]

@drjacklint Yeah, and what did you use for your insanity defense? How did the court react to your claim that you had to chase those little boys to check their pockets, because you are a lint collector? Dr Jack Lint...

[@TheAyeAye1]

If he had stayed gone when he first quit in the eighties, he would have been a fond memory. Instead he came back to be a bore for the next twenty years and change.

[@rolandtomsick8219]

TheAyeAye1 Why do you listen to him.

[@TheAyeAye1]

I remain grateful to him for introducing me to storytelling at a young age, but gave up listening to his Lake Wobbagon story in the Nineties. Other people were doing his act only better. Then he increased the political asides dramatically after the 2000 election, and I'd had enough by '05. To sum up. I'm glad he started the show, but really wish he'd stayed a fond memory.

[@Dannys99887]

A humorist is a comedian who isn't very funny. Keillor is never funny. So he must be a great humorist.

[@MichaelHarvill98]

+Dannys99887 You haven't heard very much of him then. He's done some ridiculously funny stuff over the years.

[@Dannys99887]

+Michael Harvill I've heard that quote applied to Will Rogers. People profess to love Will Rogers. But taken out of his time and place, any actual laughter from an audience for Rogers' stuff (that wowed them in the 1920's) is at best polite and forced. So now Rogers is usually described as a "humorist." Others make a distinction between humorous writing and performance comedy. I don't think I've ever laughed at Keillor, but it occurs to me from time to time that something he said was clever, and I've smiled at it. Nevertheless, the Lake Wobegon stories lost their charm for me the very first time I heard one. But they used to wow the audience in Minnesota. Part of the problem may be Keillor himself. You probably love him or you hate him. His physical appearance certainly made radio his medium and not television, and he has not aged well. So for his current personal appearances, he would do well to drop his studiously crafted persona of the sage of Lake Wobegon and quit combing his hair down over his face and into his eyes. I think another of his many promised retirements is coming up. Maybe he's more serious about this one than the one about thirty years ago when he made a big deal of leaving show biz behind and moving to Europe (Denmark I think) with his girlfriend. There was some sort of scandal about that, but I didn't immediately find it among his many controversies described in Wikipedia. The description of "cranky and Intolerant" seems apt for the aging Keillor.

[@rolandtomsick8219]

Dannys99887 Danny it is sad you can't be amused with his funny stories. You must be a very sad and ignorant person.

[@Dannys99887]

Well, maybe he's an acquired taste that I never acquired. There's also the fact that his personal mannerisms are so self-consciously contrived and artificial. That rumpled look with the deliberately mussed and uncombed hair hanging down in his eyes simply looks repulsive on an old man who was always odd looking and has not aged well. He didn't have quite such a bizarre appearance as a younger man, but then there was that routine of fogging and cleaning his eyeglasses as soon as the show started. THAT was so obviously contrived, and so totally unfunny, one wonders what the point was. He seems to have been a man of very limited talent who did amazingly well with what he had in the world of Midwestern radio. I liked a lot of the old country music though. A man who appreciates the Carter Family, Chet Atkins, and Doc Watson, can't be all bad. (Except for that eyeglass cleaning routine.)

[@mlansfordhome]

@captaindiesalot Okay. Okay. Let's say that you believe that the questions you have about Obama are legitimate. Likewise, the questions I have about those who have those questions are also LEGITIMATE. Furthermore, the conclusion that such "LEGITIMATE" questions (I actualy think they are beliefs rather than questions) have at their core, their fundamental essence, a racist element is also a LEGITIMATE belief that I have. In other words, you're nuts, and that is my LEGITIMATE conclusion.