Shark Blog: Politics of Make-Believe

August 15, 2004

Politics of Make-Believe

I was listening to Garrison Keillor's monologue this weekend where he recounted a story about his mother's trip out west in the Summer of 1935. The trip included a visit to the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a very good story, but since Garrison said the story was about his own 89-year-old mother (and not about one of the many wonderful characters from "Lake Wobegone" that he usually talks about) I assumed it was supposed to be a true story.

On the other hand, the Golden Gate Bridge wasn't finished until 1937. A visitor to the Golden Gate in 1935 would have witnessed the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge, which is even more more memorable than seeing the bridge itself, and surely would have been mentioned if the story was indeed true.

The reason I bring this up is because Garrison Keillor is now advertising himself as a Democrat (a celebration of liberalism as the "politics of kindness.").

Like other Democrats, Garrison Keillor seems to be better at making up stories and presenting them as fact than he is at describing the world that actually exists.

Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at August 15, 2004 02:35 PM

Comments

Sorry, did I say San Francisco? I meant Cambodia. Oh, and it was Christmas, not in the summer. When I said it was seared - seared - into my memory you probably made some seasonal association based on the word.

Posted by: Steve Garrison Skubinna Keillor on August 15, 2004 03:03 PM

Speaking of the way Democrats describe the world, didn't Bobby Kennedy say "Some see the world as it is and ask why? I see the world as it could be and say 'yeah, that's just the way I remember it from before the Republicans got into the WHite House!'"

Posted by: Steve Skubinna on August 15, 2004 03:06 PM

Garrison Keillor announcing that he is a Democrat is surely a candidate for one of Taranto's "This Just In" awards.

Posted by: J. Archer on August 15, 2004 05:04 PM

Where all the pollsters are above average...

Posted by: Bleeding heart conservative on August 15, 2004 06:14 PM

perhaps she could have seen my georgeous Uncle Les working on the bridge (he was a sheet metal worker). At 93, he's still a cutie.

Posted by: irishlass on August 15, 2004 11:58 PM

How firm is the date? Is it possible that he remembers his mother's 1938 trip as having occurred in 1935?

Posted by: Xrlq on August 16, 2004 08:44 AM

yes, it reminds me of the time i served in texas, i mean alabama, where we worked diligently, i mean got loaded, yeah....ummmm daddy, can you help me please.

signed,

your preznit

Posted by: dinesh on August 16, 2004 10:13 AM

Xrlq,

I think it was the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, not the Golden Gate Bridge; The year was 1965, not 1935; and it was not about Garrison Keillor's mother, but about the older sister he always wanted but never had. Like a lot of other Democrat narratives, it was seared -- seared -- into his memory.

Posted by: Stefan Sharkansky on August 16, 2004 10:30 AM

The old Dinesh is back. You know, the one who can only change the subject and offer snarky comments. Nothing constructive or even remotely on topic.

Posted by: Gary B on August 16, 2004 06:50 PM

Can someone please e-mail me with some good topics to blog about. I've about shot my wad creative wise and I need some ideas pronto. Lately I've been reduced to cutting and pasting stuff from DU. Again!! Help a fellow blogger out here...

jheka

Posted by: jheka on August 16, 2004 11:33 PM

i agree that the comment is snarky, but off topic?

why is seemingly every human failure a function of lefty vs. righty?

"like other democrats....better at making up stories and presenting them as fact...".

this type of commentary is neither insightful nor accurate, for as we know "making up stories and presenting them as facts" is not the exclusive domain of any political party, race, ethnicity, gender, etc.

so if folks feel compelled to comment,

Posted by: dinesh on August 17, 2004 02:08 PM

The "jheka" who posted above is, of course, not me but my stalker/troll ... a sad DUer who obsessively reads my blog and has been posting as me for months. Thanks for the traffic, pal.

Posted by: Jheka on August 17, 2004 02:51 PM

Dinesh

Ask yourself how many of your responses simply recycle again and again Bush is a drunk, moron, daddy's boy, cokehead or other such nonsense embraced by the Democratic underground.

Get a life or new material.

Posted by: Gary B on August 17, 2004 08:24 PM

many. those are perfectly fine issues given the moralistic, sermonizing that the party embraces. when that party choses to make past conduct a present issue as a reflection of character, well we deserve to know.

you call it nonsense b/c you don't like it. that's part of the problem with this political culture.

factcheck.org has a quote that everyone should remember, especially the partisans that visit this and other partisan blogs....

"everybody is entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts."

so if the republicans (and democrats for that matter) would quit talking out of both sides of their mouths (e.g. personal matters are none of your business, let's impeach clinton) (we believe in smaller govt, lets increase the size of govt and write discrimination into the constitution on a matter that's traditionally a state-issue), it would be a lot easier.

a lot of my comments are aimed at poking holes in what i perceive (perhaps wrongly) as group think. its fun for people in this commentary to make fun of kerry or every other dem (and i'd agree with many of those comments). for me its fun to make fun of a guy who has been a chronic underachiever all of his life, that's done nothing to distinguish himself (unlike say his brother in florida or his dad), and with the help of a tight political party has launched himself to the presidency of the united states. its also sad to see how partisanship prevents honest discussion.

you call it nonsense of the democratic underground. well as the clinton impeachment demonstrated, nonsense of a party's underground, if SPUN properly becomes fact and political capital.

and in a political culture more focused on winning, well, we get what we deserve....

a reformed alcoholic/cokehead, theocratic, c student who parlayed family connections to the white house.

Posted by: dinesh on August 18, 2004 12:32 PM

Nobody with an IQ above the temperature your veggies are kept crisp in the 'fridge would think Garrison Keillor was a normal guy:

-His income is based on making up stories about a phony place Lake Woebegon(TM) populated by old friends that don't exist—which dinesh will say is "just like George W. Bush!"

-A PBS job basically means you live for grants and contributions rather than working for a living like the rest of us—which dinesh will say "neither does George W. Bush!"

-What normal guy can say stuff like "I celebrate liberalism as the politics of kindness" with a straight face? That's blowhard professor at a rural 3rd-rate junior college talk—which dinesh will say is "still smarter than George W. Bush!"

And with that I pretty much neutralized all the generic material a blog troll uses to hack people off... What can he do?

Let's see if he attacks me for "name calling" because of the blog troll thing. Any takers on that bet? It's easy money (for me).

Posted by: Scott on August 20, 2004 10:08 PM

Posted by: Jack on June 15, 2005 02:53 AM

How come GK gets his own airtime on National Pinko Radio and other colorists who lean more to the center or the right are excluded? I know he's passed on, but why didn't NPR ever put Lewis Grizzard. If GK represents the Libs in Canada South/Minnesotta, then Lewis Grizzard is the Jeff Foxworthy of social and political commentary. But unless you have the DNC Bloodgroup tattoed under your left arm, your tax money will continue to fund Radio Hanoi and other celebreties of the DNC's Central Committee. At least we have AM Radio and FOX - and they are FREE!

Posted by: D on July 10, 2005 01:06 PM

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