Should we always look on the bright side of life? My pal Larry O’Connor thinks so, and he recalls his first impressions of the Monty Python film Life of Brian. And while Larry and I might not want to sit down with our kids or grandkids (in my case) to watch it again, we both still think it has trenchant things to say about cults in both the secular and religious sense — which is why one cult in particular wants it censored on stage. Plus, we discuss the online tone of the GOP primary fight and offer our thoughts on the debt-ceiling deal!
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Welcome back to our VIP video series “Off the Beaten Path,” featuring my friend Larry O’Connor! The Townhall columnist and Salem News Channel host starts off our week by discussing stories and ideas that may fly under our radar, in culture, politics, sports, and more. Plus, Larry previews tonight’s SNC show!
Attacks on comedy and satire are nothing new, I point out, but it used to be from the Right — and the entertainment industry reveled in it. “There’s been elements of this across the spectrum for decades when it comes to comedy,” I tell Larry, “but it’s really becoming a cultural mandate because it’s on the Left. It was very easy for comedians who were on stage to make fun of the people on the Right who were complaining about the content of their comedy, whether it be the language that they used or the topics that they covered,” I continue, and quote Eddie Murphy from Raw to underscore the point.
“I’m two for two now,” Larry replies, “in getting Ed Morrissey to drop an F bomb here on Off the Beaten Path.” [It’s a quote this time, I point out!] He also argues that those cultural battles have given the Right a thick skin and a better perspective on speech than the Left. “For decades we conservatives have just grown accustomed to being the butt of every joke,” Larry says, “from stand up comedians to to movies to Saturday Night Live, to every late night show. We have built up such a hard shell against this stuff,” which makes the Left’s screeching about a 44-year-old joke so ironic.
More highlights from today’s episode:
- Larry picks up on an attempt by Michael Caputo and Christina Pushaw to dial down the online personal attacks in the Trump-DeSantis contest. Caputo is a “vociferous Trump supporter. And he went after this guy on Twitter saying, No, stop it, this is RussiaGate all over again,” Larry relates, but it’s a one-sided affair. “it’s Trump’s people who were doing it to this, to Christina Pushaw and the DeSantis people. And it’s gotten so ugly already in just a week that it was so beautiful to see him defending her. … [Caputo] said, Listen, you love your guy De Santis, I love my guy Trump . Let’s make the best case we can make, and whoever wins, let’s agree to support them.”
- On the deal, I argue that it’s at least a one-off win for the GOP, but the real fight should be in the budget process. “This is not going to create a new millennia of fiscal sanity,” I argue, “but it is at least a step in the right direction, and forcing Biden to negotiate is flat out a win. There are actual cuts and spending that come as a part of this deal,” I continue. “The budget process is where this really should be taking place, and that’s where the test is really going to be. The debt ceiling thing — it’s a one off, but I see it as an overall win for Mccarthy and for Republicans.”
- Larry’s not so sure, and thinks McCarthy’s going overboard on touting it as a massive win rather than just a tactical victory. “They were acting like they had just won a gold medal in the Olympics and everybody knows it’s not that,” he says, “but I understand it’s politics. I’m with you. My pragmatic side, Ed, completely agrees with you.”
There’s plenty more, especially on Life of Brian and its lessons — including why it’s so ironically relevant in this very moment. Watch it all and join us in the comments!
