How I Got Hilarious, In Spite of the Election
Comedian Robin Williams was nuts and he knew exactly how to let that insanity show us the truth about very serious things like the Supreme Court justice hearings that gave us Clarence Thomas.
Readers of Here, Now! may recall my idiotic response to DUMP’s shocking win in the 2016 election: I immediately buried my head in Hallmark movies. Well, this time around, please God, I’ve found another option should catastrophe come to be.
Still, like so many millions of Americans, I find myself in an unrelenting state of fear. We deeply value Democracy and recognize DUMP for the cheap and disgusting demagogue he is. Like everybody I know, I am gnashing my teeth at the prospect of Dump descending to what he perceives to be his throne. God save us all.
The other day, though, I found a way to laugh in spite of the election and I share it with you here. It’s Robin Williams’
magnificent and dazzling performances on the Johnny Carson show, timeless comedy dating from way back in the 1980s and 1990s. Williams’ first appearance was labeled “insane,” and indeed it was. I watched, mesmerized and at time laughing so hard I cried, finding such relaxing release in his ingenious madness.
Then of course I had to watch Williams’ last appearance; equally kooky and clever and never-a-dull moment entertainment.
But it’s this one I had to share. What you have at the opening,
is Williams’ merciless mocking of the Supreme Court hearings that produced Justice Clarence Thomas. Unfortunately, I remember all too well how fiercely unfunny those hearings were, and how they ruined a very lovely Thanksgiving dinner with my extended family.
“Mr. Thomas, your opinion of Roe vs. Wade?”
“I’d prefer to float.”
He gets lots and lost of laughs from that, but after what happened to abortion rights, the hilarity stings deeply. Somehow, though, it has helped me to watch this clipping today after I violated my own rule by daring to discuss the upcoming election with loved ones.
I REALLY needed a laugh and found it here in Williams’ stinging mockery made my day much brighter. Ironically, it restored me to optimism and hope that so often eludes me these days. Somehow HERE NOW, I can once again ignore the “dead heat” (or worse) polls; I am confident that they will be wrong and CALM a la and Tim Walz will win by a reasonable enough margin to silence DUMP forever.
I hope you will find yourself, if not happy, at least smiling as Williams would be had he lived to witness the likes of DUMP (Williams died in 2014). I intend to send the clipping to some of my friends, especially those who have confided that these last impossible days leading up to the madness that is this election are causing them a variety of physical and psychological symptoms: stomach cramps, anxiety, insomnia, heart palpitations and the like.
What I think I love most about Robin Williams, and in this segment, Jonathan Winters, is their willingness to let the depths of their craziness and easily depressive natures spill out for all to see. Robins especially is unashamedly crazy, and as we know, that descriptor is perhaps the very best one we can use for this upcoming election.