No Question

I watched Howard Stern's interview with Kamala Harris a few days ago. Long time readers of my blog know I was an avid Howard Stern listener fifteen or so years ago. I started listening to Stern in the '90s and went back to him sporadically. When I was making comics full time, his was a perfect show to occupy my ears while I was inking or colouring. But at some point he started to change, around the time Artie Lange left. He santised himself so much it seems strange to think at one time he was the prototypical "shock jock".

Despite not having listened for years, I knew the story he opened the interview with, the one about the Prince concert he attended. I've heard him tell that story a dozen times but it's not as dull as when he does an impression of his mother, which he did at the end of the interview. I can't imagine why he still thinks that's entertaining, except maybe he doesn't think about what he's doing too much anymore.

The interview had little of value. Stern talks about how even Saturday Night Live's mild jokes about Harris make him nervous. No wonder he had no challenging questions for her. More than anything, though, it's the dishonesty that bugs me. Putting aside all the shock and gross-out humour that once defined his show, it was Stern's unvarnished honesty that really kept listeners tuned in. Now he says he can't even understand why people would vote for Trump. This is despite Stern admitting in the interview that Trump was a guest at his own wedding. Trump used to make appearances on the Stern Show all the time. I certainly wouldn't fault Stern for not wanting to vote for Trump or having reasons for disliking Trump's policies, even disliking Trump as a man. But to say that he doesn't even understand Trump's appeal seems like it could only be a lie. If there's one guy in the U.S. who understands why people are voting for Trump, it should be Stern. I think it's that kind of dishonesty, that reflexive fear of even acknowledging empathy with the other side, that makes politics so bitterly polarised.

I prefer Harris because she's competent. But I wouldn't say I don't understand people wanting to vote for Trump. People voting for Trump is like people who prefer to date someone they know is dumber than themselves. They think that's the safe option because a stupid person is easily comprehensible. That makes them charming. But stupid people are capable of making mistakes beyond the limits of a stupidity fetishist's imagination, particularly since wanting a stupid partner is a declaration that you don't like to have to think too much about your partner. But stupidity is a dark and treacherous sea.

X Sonnet #1892

With lazy blasts, the sun destroys the paint.
Contented swallows bask in falling chips.
To watch the pigment dry is vaguely quaint.
To watch it fall's akin to faucet drips.
A hiking man was left in ages past.
Another portal turns the first around.
A race of cats neglects to honour Bast.
A set of teeth would render words profound.
Realities of gesture spill the soup.
No care sufficed to keep the substance flat.
Surprise dispersed among the canny troop.
A chorus girl concealed a gallant's hat.
The moaning singer missed the crucial key.
The victor claimed defeat from evil tea.