"He isn’t a conservative firebrand like, say, James Woods or Ted Nugent. But he has made a conscious effort not to alienate potential right-leaning fans,"
writes Asawin Suebsaeng at The Daily Beast.
“Democrats and Republicans are interesting, because Republicans really laugh at themselves more,” he told David Gregory in 2012....
“You always put the joke first, and whatever you have to say second,” Leno said on Real Time with Bill Maher last week, when asked about how his politics were supposedly difficult to nail down....
“I don’t like them not to like me for the wrong reason,” the comic said in an interview with Nikki Finke in 2004. “If someone says, ‘I don’t like Jay Leno because he’s a conservative,’ I call him and I go, ‘I’m not conservative. I’ve never voted that way in my life. Where do you get that from?’..."
More from that 2012 interview here:
"Democrats and Republicans are interesting because Republicans really laugh at themselves more. Like when Bush came on, it was, 'We want to do a skit, we're kind of making fun of… — 'Yeah, go ahead!'" said Leno on NBC's "Press Pass" with David Gregory, who appeared on Leno's show earlier in April...
"We went up to Al Gore, 'can we do this skit?' — 'Hang on.' And there was this focus group, and then media people came in: 'Where will Al be sitting? Will Al have the punchline?," Leno said.
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23 comments:
Will Al have the punchline?
Al is the punchline.
And there was this focus group, and then media people came in: 'Where will Al be sitting? Will Al have the punchline?
When you're ideas lose on points, you need to control the narrative.
Sigh...only two comments on the thread, and Fernandinande beat me to it. Just call me Mr. Obvious.
That's actually an improvement. Usually I'm called Mr. Oblivious.
Kzookitty
Leno makes fun of politicians and the story lines in the news, which is funny. He just doesn't make it into cheap shots as if his writer's humor is the truth.
"...his politics were supposedly difficult to nail down..."
Lenno was/is wisely protecting his bank account by not alienating 50% of his potential audience..
I hate to use a well worn line but I have to ask:
"What difference at this point does it make?"
Wait, let me get this straight, people like other people who don't hate them and treat them with contempt on national television? My god, what will we discover next?
“If someone says, ‘I don’t like Jay Leno because he’s a conservative,’ I call him and I go, ‘I’m not conservative. I’ve never voted that way in my life. Where do you get that from?’..."
So he has to make phone calls to convince judgmental liberals that he really isn't a troglodyte even though he doesn't viscerally hate conservatives?
I sometimes feel like I am a liberal with a conservative brain because I agree with a lot of liberal policies, though not all, especially the fiscal insanity, but I will never agree with hating conservatives as if they are subhuman. I think that liberals constant need to indulge in bigotry and hatred against "the right" costs them votes.
tim in VT: It hasn't cost them enough votes, more's the pity.
Liberals who don't like the fiscal insanity are libertarians. It takes a bit more, like not liking big government, but you're getting there.
Lol. They laugh at themselves more? They must have better knowledge about the joke that they are.
Tim,
In my opinion, based on that comment about liberal with conservative brain and other notes here in the past, you are a liberal.
The bastards have hijacked the word to mean almost its precise opposite, to paraphrase Hayek. In modern parlance what you are is more commonly called libertarian or classical liberal.
Very different from conservative. Both conservatives and progressives want to control us rather than let us be free. In different ways, sometimes. Just the same as Coke and Pepsi are different.
I am happy to identify as libertarian, classical liberal or minarchist.
My preference is for liberal. It is a fine word all by itself.
Won't you join me?
John Henry
I went to a Leno show in Las Vegas. He went out of his way to identify, and salute the active service, and veterans in the crowd.
Mad as Hell,
Jay did a show at the PackExpo tradeshow in November. Tickets were $100 or $150 and completely sold out.
I would have gone but could not get a ticket. Some people who did go told me it was a wonderful show.
My understanding is that he did it either free or pretty cheaply. All proceeds went to the Wounded Warrior Project.
Jay does nice work and always comes across as a genuinely nice guy.
John Henry
Tim, sorry for being absolutist there. I probably don't know enough about you to say that you are a liberal.
I should have said that you come across as a liberal in your notes here.
As a fellow liberal, I mean that as a good thing.
John Henry
Kimmel's is a lot like Leno.
TIm in VT: "So he has to make phone calls to convince judgmental liberals that he really isn't a troglodyte even though he doesn't viscerally hate conservatives?"
Yes, yes he does. California liberals really are that way.
PuertoRicoSpaceport.com:
Actually, American conservatives are classical liberals tempered by Judeo-Christian morality. Unlike the conventional "conservative", they are fiscally conservative and socially rational. With respect to the latter, they will tolerate far more in principle, than they will normalize (i.e. promote or sanction) or reject. Their ideology is defined by two moral axioms: individual dignity and intrinsic value.
Libertarians are comparable in that they are fiscal conservatives, but they are generally social liberals. They are more of the "go along to get along" or pro-choice kind who will, if not in principle, then in practice, support selective exclusion, and even elective abortion.
Each ideology: conservative, progressive, and libertarian, sets moral limits (i.e. consensus), and establishes legal controls to constrain behaviors. The only difference is the proportion of moral (i.e. self-moderating) and legal (i.e. coercive) authority.
The guy has a working Corlkiss in his garage. What's not to like.
I used to call myself socially liberal until modern social liberals went full statist.
Corliss
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