As you might of heard, Dick Cheney recently insulted the “great state” of West Virginia and its proud people. When going over his family history he noted that there were Cheney’s on both sides of the family tree. He then cracked “So, I had Cheneys on both sides of the family – and we don’t even live in West Virginia!”
After the laughter subsided, Cheney explained you can make that kind of joke when you’re not running for re-election. Being the PC culture that we’ve become, of course, Cheney was forced to apologize soon after his remarks got out. Apparently, there are some people who can read in West Virginia after all! (Wait, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend. See? Now I’m doing it!)
Having spent a lot of my life in places that serve as comic punchlines, maybe I’ve built up a thick skin, but I thought Cheney was actually got off a funny line. Sure, it was a kind of hacky predictable humor, but you don’t expect your politicians to be Richard Pryor, George Carlin or Robin Williams. The best you can hope for is that the guy once starred in a movie with a monkey (may Ronald Reagan rest in peace).
Anyhoo, it got me thinking. Cheney deserves a lot more credit for his comedy than he’s ever been given by we fellow Americans. Sure, there was the whole shooting the guy while hunting thing. That got a lot of attention. But, there have been so many other priceless moments that didn’t get their just due.
So, let’s right that wrong. Without further rambling, here are two of Cheney’s best!
In this first clip, you’ll notice that Chaney has clearly been influenced in his comedy by how Harvey Korman (may he rest in peace too – now we know Heaven is a funnier place) used to let himself crack up as Tim Conway played opposite him. Like Korman, Cheney is secure enough to be vulnerable and acknowledge his partner’s comic genius. In this scene, President Bush during a State of the Union address breaks up Cheney while talking about how their oil man administration is gonna reduce the nation’s dependence on, yup, you guessed it! Oil… Enjoy! It’s wacky stuff!
Now, in this second clip the comedy is a bit more sophisticated. This one is all about the irony. See how comic mastermind Cheney takes a position in 1994 which turned out to be historically correct, yet which he actually went against when it came time to decide whether to go forward with the War in Iraq. Genius! It’s almost like he was Punking us in 1994!
2 Comments
June 3, 2008 at 4:14 am
Darth Vader.
June 4, 2008 at 3:49 am
Only with not as much personality…