Concerning John Boston’s article in The Signal on Nov. 10 and John Boston in general – I wish to express my displeasure at his standing with The Signal. First, I think Boston is very witty and his articles are very funny. Then again, racist jokes are very funny – until they are viewed in context. You can get a quick idea of context when you recognize yourself as the butt of his humor. Humor in political commentary is best when it is self-deprecating. Boston takes a haughty position in all his articles and puts his own stamp on what he thinks liberals’ thoughts are and on the ways that he thinks liberals act. I would have the same negative view of his articles if he took the side of liberals.
The reason I found his article on the 18th worth commenting on is that it is particularly mean-spirited and has a stark dearth of actual logical political argument. He rails against the fact that his mother was a liberal and therefore “crazy.”
His point is that all liberals should step back and look at their lives and face the fact that they are all crazy. This is not a political point and not funny.
I’ve noticed that there appears to be a strong drive among many conservative commentators to paint a picture in which conservatives are calm, logical, sane people who sit in astonishment at liberals who run about with their hair on fire and spout hate and illogical rhetoric.
It’s true that liberals are probably astonished by the changes now accepted by Conservatives, but the astonishment is as rampant among Republicans as it is among Democrats.
John accuses liberals of not even understanding their own principles. Most of us know about small government vs. large government and the pros and cons thereof. As President Obama pointed out many times, the actual differences between us are quite insignificant.
Rants in the guise of humor like John Boston’s are divisive and not helpful. Somewhere in the humor he needs to make a rational point.
Duane Mooring
Castaic
