America is a Dying Dinosaur or The Westboro Baptist Church are Pranksters

By dbking (originally posted to Flickr as [1]) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Am I right, or am I right?

I don't know.

I have been told I give people too much credit, that I overestimate their goodness and intelligence. Well, this is true. I'm certain when I witness over-the-top bigotry that it must be a practical joke. Right? It is, isn't it?

But, then again, often if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it's most assuredly a funny waddling little duck. 

Well, the Westboro Baptist Church is known for using quite the foul and demeaning language against such groups as homosexuals, groups they consider sinners. And they feel justified because they'd like to point out people's evil ways for their own good, according to their church's interpretation of the Bible, an old book from quite a long time ago with antiquated ideas put forth in a particular context many miles away in the desert; and they are willing to protest at funerals to get their point across, quite the spectacle. But it's not like their ideas are foreign to America, not more than a few decades ago their ideas were quite common, and today, especially where I live, the ideas are still floating around in the crusted old brains of the average citizen. I mean, only certain people are allowed around here unless you are going to be nice and quiet and compliant. 

So, for certain, America is an old dying dinosaur, and the little remnants of it are holding on for dear life. Let it die, folks. It's over. 

And it's about time. 

Illusion has a peculiar certainty to it, no matter the amount of disorder it causes; seeing through illusion brings with it an uncertainty which people are often willing to escape by retreating back to illusion. That illusion is dying. It's about time to go with it.

Wally George: The Original Outrageous Conservative Pundit

Flamboyant Rock group Gwar were typical guests on Wally George's The Hot Seat. By Stuart Sevastos (Flickr: GWAR @ Arena Joondalup (12/12/2010)) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

It's safe to say I'm exaggerating a bit with that title. However, before Rush Limbaugh was calling women names, before Glenn Beck was sobbing comically on national television, before Bill O'Reilly was bad-mouthing and bullying his guests for criticizing American foreign policy, there was the temperamental conservative talk show host, Wally George, taking on any controversial figures he could find from white supremacists to female body builders (to him controversial) and flamboyant rock stars. Wally George became famous for throwing people off of his show, The Hot Seat, and walking off of other talk shows, in agitation. Liberals were his sworn enemies, Ronald Reagan his idol, and he was the perpetual supporter of war policy and keeping things as they are, or maybe even turning back the clock 50-100 years.

Wally George got his start in local radio and television in Southern California. He is also, believe it or not, the father of 1980s sex symbol and movie star Rebecca De Mornay, who first rose to stardom as the sensual vixen of the iconic Tom Cruise film Risky Business.

I first became aware of George from his appearances on the ill-fated late-night talk show Thicke of the Night, hosted by Alan Thicke, who had been busy as a TV show theme song writer and later became star of his own sit-com Growing Pains.

George eventually found his way into feature films and as a commentator for Roller Derby television broadcasts.

But it was his antics on his talk show the Hot Seat that I think made him famous. It all seemed over-the-top, too extreme, he exhibited a comical fanaticism that seemed like it couldn't be real. Many talk show hosts, including his copy-cat foe Morton Downey Jr., Geraldo Rivera, Jerry Springer, and Maury Povich, seem in this same boat; it's all just a little too bizarre. Of course, many celebrities make it their business to pull nation-wide pranks as a means to attract attention and provoke thought. One can't help but think that Wally George was such an entertainer, having all the ear-marks of a jokester putting on a show purely for the satire effect.

But he remains shrouded in mystery, and if it was all just a practical joke, it has never been revealed as such, and he left us with the joke intact.