The classic traits of Trump Derangement Syndrome include, among other things, the refusal to live in the real world and the marked inability to extend compassion and empathy to other human beings. The Hollywood Reporter managed both with aplomb in its recent assessment of late-night “comedy” collapsing faster than John Fetterman’s IQ.
An honest look at the failures of Jimmy Kimmell, Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah, and SNL would arrive at the same conclusion: People grew tired of the far-left lurch by so-called comedians into simply mean, unfunny, and propagandist shticks.
But not the Hollywood Reporter. Writer Keli Goff assessed the situation and decided all the woes of late night could be traced back to the dumb, uninformed hick of a veep candidate Sarah Palin. And no, this isn’t satire. Goff writes:
Despite losing her recent congressional race, Palin’s impact on politics and media looms large. As John McCain’s running mate in 2008, she tapped into Americans who will never identify with Ivy Leaguers like Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. The intelligentsia dismissed Palin as an intellectual lightweight who couldn’t even name a single newspaper she read when asked by Katie Couric. Other Americans, however, saw themselves in her. My fellow writers won’t like hearing this, but plenty of people don’t like to read.
They also really don’t like it when those who think they’re smarter make others look dumb, even if they are. Palin’s Couric interview became fodder for memorable sketches on Saturday Night Live but the fallout also led to the political divide that defines media consumption today. Palin wrote off the press as condescending, mean-spirited, untrustworthy and out to get people like her (non-elites who would rather hunt than read.) People who saw themselves in her began to write the press off and the rise of social media finally made it easier for them to do so. (2008 was the first presidential campaign in which Twitter existed.)
Did I mention leftists are detached from reality and really, really cruel? Not only does Goff attack Palin as a country rube who prefers hunting to read (gasp!), but she paints the former vice presidential candidate’s base as equally stupid.
Goff continues with her out-of-touch, keyboard-smalling prose by noting that these poor late night hosts got swept up in the culture war. They aren’t fighting or even leading the culture war, you see, they are simply casualties of it.
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Sure. As if Colbert doing a Vax dance or the insufferable John Oliver on HBO saying parents are cruel if they don’t chemically or physically castrate their young children is just becoming a casualty of right-wing nutjobs.
Goff writes again:
Late night hosts have thus become one of the casualties of America’s current culture wars. Before social media, it wasn’t necessary for a host to take a stand on the political issues of the day. Now, if hosts remains silent, they are derided as cowards and certain celebrities and viewers steer clear. If hosts are too vocal, however, they are denounced as biased just as loudly, and the costs may be just as high. Walking the talk show tightrope has become harder than ever, as Jimmy Fallon learned the hard way following his controversial softball interview with Trump.
Fallon learned his lesson after relating to another human being, got it? The lesson learned – the only lesson Goff and her corporate media shills want us to learn – is that Donald Trump and his associates are evil, not to be played with. They are the “non-elite” and don’t deserve a seat at the table.
It’s always worth mentioning that none of this is a surprise, to be sure. That the radical far-left is clueless as to why things are happening or that they are unsympathetic to legitimate concerns voiced by the likes of Palin, Trump, and MAGA supporters is not new.
Still, it’s worth calling them out and mocking them every time they speak up.
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