You Must Be Joking: A Comic in the White House?

"You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you can only make a monkey out of the voters every four years! " --comedian Pat Paulsen

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In 1968, the Smothers Brothers approached comedian Pat Paulsen with the idea of running for President.

His first run for the Presidency presaged the election of B-movie actor Ronald Reagan ("Bedtime for Bonzo") to the White House 13 years later, but came about one year after Reagan was elected Governor of California.

His campaign slogan: "I've upped my standards, now, up yours!"



In addition to the '68 campaign (won by Richard Nixon), he ran in 1972 (Nixon), 1980 (Ronald Reagan), 1988 (George H.W. Bush), 1992 and 1996 (both Bill Clinton). He died in 1997 at the age of 69.

While his campaign was grounded in comedy, he won votes each time and his commentary sounded as "serious" as others who have run for office:

* "Will I obliterate national debt? Sure, why not?"

* "We have nothing to fear but fear itself ,,, and, of course, the boogieman."

* "I will not claim I will solve all the world's problems by myself. If I did, I'd have to run as a Republican or a Democrat."

* "Yeah, I'm running for the White House again. Well, it's not a run, really; it's sort of a brisk walk."

* "Having a comic in the White House will assure stability in foreign relations. The world will continue to respond to foreign initiatives by saying, 'You must be joking.' "

We often look at politics and wonder if they're joking. At least with comedians you know right off the bat. Jon Stewart in 2020?

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To see more, check out the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour Pat Paulsen for President Special on my companion website: http://lollounge.tumblr.com.

The Year of Living Humorously

"I am Serious.”

          "Seriousness is deadly. Seriousness 70 feet tall.”

“Yes, I’ve heard. Kills men (and women) by the millions, spiritually and physically, little by little, day after day. And he is here today, consuming us with a deafening cacophony of social media posts that people pull out of their arse. I am Serious. But I want that no longer. Today, I AM lol. And I see a whole army of my countrymen here in defiance of tyranny, the tyranny of oppression, the tyranny of fear, the tyranny of hate, the tyranny of sadness. You have come to fight as free men (and women), and free men (and women) you are. Free to frown, grumble and hate, yes, but also free to love, sing and smile. What would you do with freedom?”

          “We can’t fight. No, we will run, and hide, and avoid social media; and we will live.”

“Aye, fight and you may cry, brave hearts. Run and you'll ‘live’ -- at least a little. And lying complacent, straight-faced, in your beds many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, they may try to poison our spirits, but they'll never take our smiles!!!”

--Declaration of a LightHeart

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I am tired of being dragged down by negativity, by soul-sucking voices and actions. No longer am I interested in petty differences, but in being united in common interests. And there is no more commonality than in a smile, and in a laugh. It’s universal, with no political ideology, no gender, no race, no nationality. Regardless of where or when we are born, we can smile. It’s only time and experience that teach us to frown.

Today, I announce my Independence Day. My War on Seriousness. My year of living humorously.

I have restarted my humor website, The lol Lounge, at http://lollounge.tumblr.com. I have restarted and rededicated myself to this blog, Out of the Centrifuge, at http://outofthecentrifuge.blogspot.com. And I have proposed a new English course for my high school that I hope is accepted and begun next year entitled Laughing Matters: Comedy and Satire.

Feel free to join me in my journey. Feel free to start your own journey.

Laugh Out Loud/Lots of Love.

Laughing Matters LOL

"I have not seen anyone dying of laughter, but I know millions who are dying because they are not laughing."   -- Dr. Madan Kataria
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I have lots of love for the confused texter who didn't know what LOL meant.

Being somewhat new to textspeak, I've made many embarrassing errors myself. And in the scope of all social media, even moreso.

But you have to laugh.

I'm serious. You HAVE to laugh.

Back in the '90s, at the beginning of the Persian Gulf War, I was a reporter who had the unenviable task of gathering local reaction during the buildup to the war, the announcement of war, and covering war-related (anti-war, pro-peace, Support the Troops) rallies every weekend. And when I wasn't reporting it, I was reading about it and watching it on CNN for round-the-clock coverage to stay informed. After awhile, it got to me, mentally and physically. I called it the CNN Effect (although that term has since been used with a different definition).

The only thing that got me out of my funk was a dedicated daily dose of Bill Watterson's "Calvin and Hobbes" and Gary Larson's "The Far Side."




I felt like I was going through some Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Further research shows that it's more along the lines of Secondary Traumatic Stress, which can come in the form of:

* burnout (characterized by emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and reduced feelings of accomplishment),

* compassion fatigue, and

* vicarious trauma (which is effects on a therapist from empathetic engagement with a traumatized client).

And since these effects, for me, came from the news, I guess I'd call it my own Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. (I'm a big fan of the Washington Post.)

As we face the onset of the Trump age in America, many people on different sides of the political spectrum are feeling similar effects from the constant barrage of negative and divisive comments on news media sources. Even more damaging is the barrage of semi-anonymous comments and posts on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Where are Watterson and Larson when you need them?!?

Retired.

So I need to find a new source of LOL therapy. That's why I brought my website, The lol Lounge, out of retirement. When I began it a few years ago, I set out to post a brief video daily so that teachers (a career usually listed in the top 5 of any list of most stressful jobs) could take a breather in between classes and laugh. I ended up missing two days, but otherwise accomplished my task. I tried to be positive, sensitive and nonpartisan, and, for the most part I think I succeeded (with possibly the exception of some Inappropriate Friday posts).

Time constraints forced me away from maintaining a regular site, despite a couple of attempted restarts. But now it's time to start again.

As with each restart, my inaugural speaker is one of my favorite poets, Taylor Mali. His teaching background, represented in his famous poem "What Teachers Make," is my go-to video when I'm having a bad day. I also think it should be must-see viewing for Betsy DeVos to see the passion of America's teachers.

Welcome to this site's inauguration. Stay tuned. Come back often. It's time to make American laugh again.