Tom Smothers' Legagy Shames The Modern Left

[Riddick]

Those of us who remember Tom Smothers, who died Tuesday at 86, mourn the loss of a fearless satirist who both provoked and entertained. We also remember the now departed movement he once helped lead: the counterculture left.

The naive half of the Smothers Brothers act used his wit to skewer authority and challenge broadcast TV standards. The duo, featuring the kindly Tom and Dick (their mother’s favorite), reigned supreme during the 1960s.

The Smothers Brothers embraced the core tenets of the era’s liberal movement: anti-war, pro-free speech, defy authority early and often. They were the cool kids, the TV hippies who channeled the liberal Woodstock generation.

Their “Comedy Hour” lasted three seasons until its increasingly political bent and declining ratings coaxed CBS suits to pull the plug. Their act got "canceled" years before the term took on a new, ominous meaning.

Tom told McCall’s magazine circa '68: "Television should be as free as the movies, as the newspapers, as music to reflect what’s happening." It’s a sentiment most liberal comics would never utter today. Heck, too many insist cancel culture isn't real.

Today's left, from mass media to celebs, genuflects to the government — assuming Democrats hold the keys to the kingdom. It’s especially true across the pop culture landscape. How many SNL skits target the woke mob, or Biden’s censorship regime?

The modern comedic left has little fear of censorship. Late night comics and the like say what they’re "supposed" to say and target who they’re "supposed" to target. They even chuckled when President Trump got banned from social media platforms.

The far-left Salon.com correctly noted the Smothers Brothers paved the way for shows like SNL & The Daily Show. Now, both showcases prop up the powerful and savage the party out of power. SNL can't even smite compromised Ivy League profs.

A few liberal comics carry the Smothers Brothers’ torch. Bill Maher hammers his peers for embracing woke bromides & denying free speech 101. Others like John Cleese and Ricky Gervais are similarly eager to defend free expression from the censorious mob.

The rest reflect today’s left: Anti-free speech. Pro-Big Government. Pro-war (unless it’s a retaliation against an unprecedented terror attack). Tom & Dick knew any time their show might be axed for provocative satiric content but refused to back down.

We need the Smothers Brothers now more than ever.

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[Doka]

I am suffering from the Mandela Syndrome on Tom's death, of which I took note of several years ago

[Riddick]