I'm not Dennis Miller! Coarse language will be edited.
Now read on, Millerphiles and Millerphobes!
Others' letters to Dennis
******************************************
from www.bianca.com: Message Board archives
Date: Fri Feb 7 00:37:24 2003
From: Left Wing Warrior
Subject: An open letter to Dennis Miller
In a way Dennis himself might once have written it
So, Mr hair dew of the 80s, Mr pay cable filler of the 90s and
Mr drop Monday night football ratings to the basement of the new millennium,
seems you have taken a stand in favor of Bush.?
Bush seems like a “decent guy” eh Denny? Or so you said on the Jay
Leno show. Sure Denny boy! He is such a decent guy that he still has
brain damage from a coke problem, has two daughters screaming for
help by publicly getting trashed, and is planning to kill 100 K or
so innocent women and Children in a country he probably couldn’t have
found on the map till his old man showed him 12 years ago.
So You want to be a celeb Republican eh? Good choice Dennis! Have
them park your 12 x 70 in the lot right between Charlton Heston’s
and Tom Sellak’s. The three of you can get together and invite Ted
Nugent over to pound down a few brewskys. We can all start a pool
to bet on which one of you accidently shoots another one in the foot
first.
Best of all Dennis, since you have about as much chance of being
a regular on TV again as Jenny McArthey, you can trade those Armani
suits in for a pair of olive green Dockers, a plaid shirt and a pair
of penny loafers. Join the local kiwanus club and go to the piggly
wiggly with expired cupons and argue with the 19 year old manager
when he refuses to accept them. You can go to local school board meetings
and bitch about the cost of new text books, and when the neighborhood
kids hit a baseball into your yard, you can take it in the house
and refuse to give it back.
Yes sir Dennis, you are going to make a GREAT Republican. Just don’t
be too disappointed when you don’t get an invitation to certain parties
and gatherings, because the host found out, “You used to be in Hollywood
Just my opinion, I could be wrong.
BTW Dennis, Michael Landon called, he wants his bull**** right wing
view of politics back.
************
from the Bill Maher Message Board: Current Events:
from Heretic, 4/7/03, 7:07 pm:
I'd give that b*st*rd a piece of my m**** f*****' mind about
how he use to equally bash both parties and every country--
especially ours, just for fun and an equal opportunity chip
on his shoulder. But to write that m***** f*****g pr*** would
only encourage the little b*st*rd.
************
from Richard Coben, 4/22/03, via e-mail:
I've been travelling along with Dennis and his slide to the right.
I'm a life-long Democrat, but I find myself in agreement with those
who would treat, in the harshest of terms, those who would either
fly planes into buildings, cheer at those acts of murder, or develop
WMD to be used against us a a later date. I also believe that public
education has become a plantation that grows dependent illiterates,
and that the Teachers' Unions bear most of the responsibility.
And while I wish that conservation alone would make us independent
of middle eastern oil, rational development of Alaskan oil seems
reasonable. It used to be that the far right believed that America
is too good for the world. Now the far left, embracing Castro,
Palestinian suicide bombers, and complete denial about the shocking
success of welfare reform, believes that the world is too good for America.
Richard Coben
***********
via e-mail, 4/23/03 (name withheld for now):
He is the voice for most Americans. Thank God there
are some celebrities that stand up to the liberals and activists.
***********
from Carlos Rochin, 5/19/03, via e-mail:
Dear Mr. Miller,
Let me preface my letter by stating that I have long been a fan
of yours. Even though you are prone to bedizen the English language
with glittery twenty-letter words, when a six or seven letter word
would do as well, if not better, the overall effect was always
generally humorous.
When I recently heard you state on “The Today Show” that you were
proud that George W. Bush was your president, I was appalled, to
say the least. I must, now, opt out of the group of people that
admire you. I think you did it out of a need to follow the polls
of popularity and I find that unforgivable. Especially since Mr.
Bush has a lower moral character than any president since Richard
M. Nixon. Just so that you get your demographic information, I
remember Nixon’s smear campaign against Helen Gahagan Douglas in
his run for the senate in 1950. I am sure his lying didn’t start
there and we all know it didn’t end there. (I was born in 1935
and am proud to be liberal.)
I certainly find that one’s sexual proclivities (for which
President Clinton was impeached) are not nearly as offensive as
someone’s inability to recognize that lying to further one’s
financial gain and murdering to further one’s political gain are
as bad as falling into the ranks behind that sort of person to
further one's career.
Sincerely,
Carlos Rochin
***********
from Ryan Doyon, 5/27/03, via e-mail:
I am truly saddened Mr. Miller on your sudden and sharp turn to the
right.
You used to speak out against political tyranny, you used to watch
out for the little guy who didn't have the podium of fame to stand
on and declare that something was amiss with our so called leaders.
Yesterday, as I turned on the television to catch a ballgame, I
flipped by the one station gripped by Republican fascism known as
Fox News Network only to see you being interviewed by that close-
minded twit Sean Hannity. I couldn't believe what I was seeing AND
hearing! Your viewpoints on the way Bush Jr. is running this country
sure have changed, and might I add way out of the blue.
There was one thing that you said that really cemented the fact that
you have completely changed, and I quote, "I just think most people
out there realize that they're in a commerce business and it's around
50-50 in this country right now, if anybody noticed the last election."
What exactly do you mean by this??? You were one of the
most outspoken stars against the President's complete theft of the
election! I just can't understand why you would give up all of your
ardent Liberal beliefs for the new Republican hierarchy. Perhaps you
see this new world order as our salvation, I truly hope this is not
the case. We free thinking Americans need all the help we can get
these days, and to see one of our best turn his tail and run is
truly disheartening.
***********
from Rob Creely, 6/1/03, via e-mail:
I happen to think Miller has woken up to the world of reality.
I find his humor as sharp as ever. He was right about the “Bush
is Hitler” stuff. Anyone who says that has no sense of facts,
reality or history. No matter what you think of his political
views, Bush is far from even being remotely like Hitler. I may
not agree with everything the man does, but I would never make
such an unintelligent comparison.
L8r,
Rob Creely
Ps. I am an independent.
***********
from Brian Struve, 6/29/03, via e-mail:
subject: many unfortunate thanks
The beholder of bad news,
I have a wonderful memory of turning my conservative father and my
mother on to Dennis Miller with his Black & White video many years ago.
Here was a saint of moral justice that spoke to the masses. A hero
draped with wit, intelligence and enough cultural references to send
those who are lost stammering in the dark.(emboldenings mine--MNL)
I have collected all of his HBO specials and tuned as many folks as
I could find onto his brave, caustic and always truthful words. I
have placed him high on my cultural hero mantle for many years and
have used quite a few of his brilliant verbal quips in arguments
against the dark side.
I started to see him slip a bit when I caught him in Portland last
year. He seemed to be a tad loaded and maybe depressed. Now that I
looked back upon the whole situation, I would guess that his calling
card deal might have fallen through. Maybe the whole NFL thing had
caught up to him. If nothing else...the ominous call to sell out was
on the horizon. At the Portland show, he went off on a very odd rant
about the Republican’s right to drill up in Alaska. I don't hug a
f*****g tree for a living, but a red flag seemed to rise at that
moment.
A dear friend of mine mentioned Miller's pro-Republican rant to me
tonight. I was crushed. Life is odd enough these days, but to see
one of the mighty comedic forces of our time pull the plug and hang
his b***s on the line was downright g*dd*mn pathetic.
I praise you for your website and will spread the word about the
changing of guards in Dennis Miller's court. Your site spreads a
message that the Dennis of ten years ago might have applauded. He
is nothing but a tool now; a washed-up traitor of the sort he used
to verbally rip to pieces.
Hey Dennis......Here's to being a f*****g chump.
Wish I could come up with a cultural reference to accompany my slam,
but I am just to disappointed. Your response now might be for me to
get a life and move on. I am just sad that a man of your talent and
influence is [in bed with] a President that just might rival
Hitler as the biggest pr*** of the past hundred years.
Sincerely,
Brian G Struve
(Hmm...Saint Dennis. Check out Saint Phil--mnl.)
************
from SK, 7/26/03, via e-mail:
Although Miller may express the views and convictions of the majority
of Americans, he's definitely in the minority of celebrities who are
willing to take a stand in support of US policies today. How many
celebrities have the guts to say it? It's still more popular for
celebrities to be liberals and scratch each other's backs even while
the world sees through their BS.
So, it's not an easy position of convenience that Miller is taking -
he wouldn't make his points so effectively if he wasn't committed to
what he's saying.
About protests regarding the "new" or "old" Dennis Miller, it's a
natural development of age and wisdom that people change their views.
It's a shame some people can't accept that in others, even if they're
incapable of change themselves. We're in a different age (especially
since 9-11.) Miller's views today can't reflect a previous reality of
20 years ago.
Thanks,
SK
************
Hold on: this one is long: via e-mail:
Subject: Victims were fed to lions
Date: Mon, 28 Jul 2003 15:09:39 -0500
From: "Rodriguez, Luke"
To: mnl_1221@yahoo.com
"Dennis, I apologize for being so hard on you right now. I guess
I'm furious at you for gaining after kissing up to GWB and bashing
liberals, while Martin Sheen, Danny Glover, Natalie Maines, and other
celebs who've opposed Gulf War II and Bush have lost gigs, airplay,
etc. Also, I'm having too much fun kicking you when you're UP. I
guess I know now how you feel when you go liberal-bashing. Kick 'em
when they're up, kick 'em when they're down... "
Fact is, those who opposed the war were not opposed to the continuation of acts
detailed below. You simply cannot have it both ways.
Miller did not shift, the liberals base did. A shift so far to the
left that they prefer a murderer over a Republican. Common sense
tells you that when you are a victim of a crime, you seek justice,
you call the police. What if your neighbor was being beaten in front
of you? Would you refuse to help because your motives may not be
pure or you haven't gotten approval from your other neighbors? Could
you sit by while they were killed? Could you stomach that? Would
you pat yourself on the back for giving aid and comfort to his or her
widow or widower after the murder was over? How Christ-like of you
to care for those who were not murdered, as you stood by and did
nothing when you had the power to stop it. What warped thinking!
What twisted logic!
Who would you rather? Hussein or Bush? You do have a choice. But
the fact is, you would have long since been silenced for your
opinions if they did not fall in line with Hussein. But you don't
care about that fact. You just hate. Hate Bush. Hate
conservatives. In turn, you hate the freedoms, the SAME freedoms
that you enjoy today, that Bush is giving to the people of Iraq.
Liberals are the first to scream when they feel their freedom is
being imposed upon, but they fight to keep that freedom from others.
Who are you to deny freedom to others when you greedily hoard it for
yourself? Hypocrite!
To further your hypocrisy, you deride anyone who speaks out for the
freedom, i.e.. Mr. Miller. If a murderer lived next door to you, you
would demand that he be dealt with. Why not have the same standard
for Hussein? Why the double standard?
As for name calling, look at the names that Mr. Miller is called on
your very own web site. He is cursed over and over, line after line.
Again, it's OK for YOU to call him names, but God forbid he do it to you.
Miller gives liberals a taste of their own medicine and it's a bitter
pill to swallow. It's bitter only because it is an honest analysis
of their actions. Unfortunately, liberals lack the intellectual
honesty to self evaluate and end up marginalizing themselves to the
point that they are aligned only with those who would deny freedom to
others but would do all in their power to retain it for themselves
exclusively. The same kind of double standard that Hussein and other
dictators practice.
War and politics indeed make strange bedfellows. Keep in mind that
when you lay with dogs, you should not be surprised to wake up with fleas.
LOVE RIVALS FED TO LIONS
Saddam Hussein's oldest son, Uday, fed his love rivals to caged lions,
according to reports.
Sadistic Uday, who was gunned down in a shoot-out with American
troops last week, employed executioners to help carry out gruesome
killings at his whim.
And his chief executioner has now told how he helped drag two
19-year-old students into a cage at Uday's farm to be devoured by the beasts.
The 36-year-old executioner, who has used the false name of Abu
Ahmad, told The Sunday Times: "I saw the head of the first student
literally come off his body with the first bite."
Ahmad was then forced to watch as the lions ate the two men.
"By the time they were finished, there was little left but for the
bones and bits and pieces of unwanted flesh," he said.
He later learned that the victims had "competed with Uday where some
young ladies were concerned".
While he worked for Uday, Ahmad took part in mass beheadings - on one
occasion decapitating 36 people in a single day, including a pregnant
woman.
Recruited from the Iraqi army into Saddam's elite security force, the
Fedayeen, Ahmad was put in charge of Unit 18, which carried out
personal missions for Uday.
On his first day in the job, he was taken to Uday's compound and
ordered to behead a prisoner.
"The prisoner did not utter a word," he said.
"I think he had by then resigned himself to his fate. I knew nothing
of the man."
But Uday never watched the killings, preferring instead to have them
video-recorded and then watch the tapes alone.
According to The Sunday Times, Ahmad now fears being captured by
American troops and has surrounded himself with weapons in case they
find him.
MNL's response to Mr. Rodriguez (excerpts):
Dear Luke:
...Yes, I insulted Mr. Miller. One person. I did not insult all
comedians, all men, all whites, all Pennsylvanians-turned-
Californians, or even all conservatives. I said that he had a right
to support conservative views; it's the liberal-bashing I can't
stand. I've been fed up with liberal-bashing--that is, the blanket
bashing of anyone or anything considered liberal--even before Miller
took it up as a hobby. Comparatively, had Miller limited his insults
to individuals like Martin Sheen, Michael Moore, or even (myself),
I'd have less to complain about.
Here are my pre-Miller, pro-liberal internet writings:
According to the Bible...
Liberal Means Noble and Generous!
http://mnl_1221.tripod.com/liberal.html
So you'd like to ... Rescue Christianity from
ultraconservatism
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/guides/guide-display/-
/8FQF8C591837/qid=1059436020/sr=18-1/ref=sr_18_1/104-5952667-3893533
As for bias, of course I'm biased! Every human being over 15 years
old is biased!
I believe both the right and left wings are needed for balance.
1 Corinthians 12 says no body part can tell another, "I don't need you!"
BTW, it's not unbiblical for Christians to occasionally give out an
insult. Jesus called the Pharisees "snakes and sons of snakes" (so
did John the Baptist). Jesus also called King Herod a fox (though
not to his face). Jesus even called Peter, his friend, "Satan" when
Peter tried to discourage him from going to the cross.
I think my insults toward Dennis Miller are balanced with affection
and some remaining respect toward him.
...Unlike most letters, which don't particularly insult me even if
they defend Miller, I want to defend myself with yours.
Oh--one more thing. If the man down the street robbed someone, and
my father or husband robbed someone, which robbery would upset me more?
Blessings,
MNL
We subsequently wrote back and forth and I found Luke a much more
reasoned person than the letter above may show. However, he wanted
his first letter published as is, so I honor his request. --MNL
************
from ltg, 7/31/03, via e-mail:
Dennis,
Becoming a right winger is easier than thinking.
ltg
:^)>
************
from Semra Kane, 7/31/03, via e-mail:
Sorry ( well, no, I'm not, really), but I still love and adore Dennis
Miller. People say that he's switching sides, "waffle-ing", etc, but
I don't thinks so. I think he still sticks it to whoever deserves it
at the time. He may be supporting Bushie right now, but if you'll
remember, he made fun of him before he was elected. Bottom line:
he's an equal-opportunity basher. I think too many people are
offended too easily these days. Dennis, I still love ya'! 'Nuff
said. I'm outa' here!
************
from EF, 9/8/03, via e-mail:
Hi
Read your open letter to Dennis Miller
You are a complete and total A**H*LE
It is clear that your political views were obtained during your
freshman year at college and have not been updated since.
EF, Kingman AZ
Hey! I formed some of my political opinions in grade school!--MNL
************
from LWA, 9/5/03, via e-mail:
I can't stand to watch Dennis Miller on any show at any time, etc. He
is plain stupid!! He laughs at his own rantings, which I consider to be
as un-American as the people he is attacking (which they aren't). He
has absolutely NOTHING positive to offer to any discourse. You might as
well put a collar on him, put his water & food bowls in the corner of
the White House, and give Bush a whistle to call the cur. I watched him
on Politically Incorrect once, and every time a certain guest made what
I considered a logical argument, Miller simply laughed at him. As I
said, he's stupid. A stupid jerk. An unfunny stupid jerk. Even the
re-runs of Saturday Night Live have ceased to be funny because I know
what an idiot he has become (or maybe he has been all along). He makes
Rush Limbaugh sound almost polite.
LWA, Hudson, North Carolina
Truth is so obscured nowadays and lies so well
established that unless we love the truth we
shall never recognize it. --Blaise Pascal
************
from Thomas M. Heighway, 9/10/03, via e-mail:
Dear Dennis Miller,
I just watched your appearance on Jay Leno 9/9/03. One of your
masterful metaphoric musings was about the environment and how it's
"lookin' good" and that people don't litter anymore, and we deserve
credit for it's good shape. I think it was a thinly veiled attempt at
defense of the Bush administrations environmental policies or lack
thereof. I am a 51 year old man with a wife and 3 beautiful daughters,
who has been battling Leukemia for 7 months now. By all doctors
accounts, Leukemia is an "environmental" cancer. If your idea of
environmental responsibility is people not littering, then you are
either poorly read or immune to the problems. I only hope you get
cancer from our pristine environment and then maybe your perspective
will change. There are too many things I disagree with you on to go
into here.Your right wing rhetoric has me sicker than I already was so
at your suggestion "hey, get up and change the channel"! I will do so
at every airing of your conservative comic crap.
Sincerely,
Thomas M. Heighway
************
from Shawn Meenan, 9/11/03, via e-mail:
Subject: example for your kids
Dennis -
I have seen some of your appearances on the talk show circuit and as
a parent I cannot believe some of the crap flowing from someone's
mouth who has children. I have heard you say "Its ok if we do not find
the WMD's," and the other night on Leno you said "Who care if we pay
down the deficit?" Basically you are telling your kids that 1. It's
ok to lie. 2. You are not responsible for you bills. Those are both
very poor examples for a parent to teach their kids. And before you
take out the republican label making machine and label me, since that
seems to be what you guys are real good at, why don't you think a
little before you fire off your mouth. You could be setting an
example for other republican talking heads to follow.
Shawn Meenan
************
from Angry G, 9/14/03, via e-mail:
DENNIS MILLER PARROT FOR THE PIRATES
Polly up a crackers ass? I saw him again on Leno last night.
Both are complete whores. Sellouts of this century and last.
But Dennis Miller is like a Tokyo Rosian Eli Kazanian Et Tu Brutean
Parrot with a gift for memorizing linguistic prevarications with
equivocating pomposity with an unctuous insidiosity bordering on
fascist cheerleaderism. Talk about a guy that not only knows which
side the butter is on… he spreads it on their a** with his serpentian
tongue. Or should I say worminian? Dennis I’m sure from now until you
die…you keep up this sudden right turn…you’ll always have a job.
Because contrary to the well worn lie that the media is liberal,
the truth is this, artists are liberal, media conglomerates are
totalitarian slave masters and yous uh just a singin’ and uh dancin’
just as pretty as dey pleases…Yussir Miss Milla Suh Yous just a
mighty fine Parrot singing some mighty fine songs, amusin’ the
masta’s fo dey goes to sleeps…Yessuh Missa Milla Suh…Yous uh just a
dancin’ anuh singin’ alduh right songs…I’m surprised you don’t slide
off the screen. If you did it would be like picking a broken egg off
the floor. You make a jellyfish look like Al Gore.
I remember watching you arguing with Scott Ritter on Bill Maher.
I could just picture the fatass white suits calling you into their
office to give you a locker room talk. Telling you how you were
their guy. That only you could show Scott Ritter to be some kind of
Benedict Arnold. And oh how your tongue tried to orate some
paragraphic brilliantific ballet of witticisms but unfortunately the
show wasn’t set up for your memorized verbosity that masquerades as
humor. Gags you need help writing. I know I met your writer at the
Hollywood improv the night after he won an emmy for your show. But
the idea that you would get into the ring with Scott Ritter one of
the only true heroes left on this planet, and try to make him out to
be a fool. Well Missuh Milla you done made a plum jackass ofm yuhself.
And I hope when the peasants rise up like they did in the French
Revolution that they include your severed head in the celebration.
I can hear your last rant now as you whimper like the coward you are.
Attempting to suddenly turn left again and flip the bread over and
spread it on the asses of the masses you betrayed for a job on
Monday Night Football. You are a light weight sir. Put the thesaurus
down before you slither up another billionaire’s a**…you might give
him a paper cut where he’s hemorrhaging payroll checks to weasels like you.
Angry G
Ouch! What Millerian verbal gymnastics! And as an
African-American I appreciate the slave comparisons! --MNL
************
from Patrick Jordan, 9/23/03 and 9/24/03, via e-mail:
Dennis, I don't really care if you're liberal or conservative...
just sorry to see siding with the Ann Coulter, Bill O'liely, Fox
news a-holes. Is it just the flavor of the month so you can grab
some of that right wing cash or do you really belive the dumb sh*t
you've been saying? Their are many intellegent conservatives you
could have sided with, why did you choose the reactionary
lets-make-up-our-reality crowd? I have truely lost all respect
for you.
Signed, Pat Jordan
A former fan
ps. why don't you debate Al franken on tv. He's probably a little
to bright for and he argues with facts and truth....come to think of
it maybe you should just stay on Fox and substitute for Rush when
he's on vacation.....you a**hole.
When I asked Pat to name some intelligent conservatives that
Dennis--or I--could look up, he replied::
Hey Melanie, Ya know...I was just trying to be fair and nice..I
actually can't think of any intellegent conservatives!!! None of
them make a damn bit of sense to me. I can't relate to that "me
first screw everybody else piss on the environment and the
constitution, live for today crowd". Sorry, I shouldn't of included
that...
I was glad to find your site because i was shocked at Miller's turn
around and it was good to see others also noticed.
Patrick Jordan
I welcome suggestions of who is an intelligent conservative...or
an intelligent liberal for that matter. Colin Quinn, another former
SNL Weekend Updater, had struck me as intelligent...but then, so had
Dennis Miller. John McCain seems respectable...but is he conservative,
or just Republican? And there was a male commentator on Jay Leno or
Conan O'Brian a few months ago whose mainly conservative arguments
seemed well-reason, but his name escapes me... --mnl
************
from MBH, 10/7/03, via e-mail:
Subject: In Miller's defense
Premise...yes I am conservative. However, I have been a Dennis
Miller fan for many years--even before he "betrayed" all you
liberals and began supporting the "Great Satan" otherwise known
in liberal circles as the Republican Party.
What is wrong with a little liberal bashing? Miller is, when all
is said and done, a comedian...period. When judging his outine...
one should first ask "Is it funny?" Clearly, most of what he says
passes this test.
In addition to being a comedian, he has reached a point, politically,
where he feels passionately about the issues. Is there really
anything wrong with using his position to advance his views?
I constantly here from liberals that Michael Moore and Al Franken
are, in fact, just comedians. I actually used to agree with this
(I own copies of Franken's books "Rush Limbaugh is a yada, yada,
yada" and "Why not Me?" both of are friggin' hysterical). However,
in their recent works, they have turned from left-leaning comedians
to men on a mission to remove Bush from office. Indeed, if you read
the released excerpts from Moore's upcoming book, there's no low he
won't steep to, no lie he won't tell, and no words of defamation he
won't use against a man who, in the end, is our president.
All of this is fine, however. They are liberals...they don't need
spread their hate around. Yet, your entire website is devoted
toward criticism of Miller, finally revealing himself to be a
conservative (not a new thing...did you ever hear him say anything
good about Clinton) and not "spreading it around."
We have reached a time in this country where everyone has a partisan
axe to grind. And I'm sorry to say...the Democrats are winning the
war of hate-speech. Every day, a democratic pres. candidate is
calling Bush a fraud, a gang leader, or a miserable failure. Does
anyone call Dick Gephardt, Howard Dean, or (non pres candidate) Ted
Kennedy to task for "president bashing."
While Mr. Miller has come up on one side of this debate, why not
laugh at him and then, civily disagree with him? Why get so
defensive? Liberals seem to think that they are somehow beyond
mockery.
You all clearly have a bad case "dish it out but can't take it"
syndrome.
Indeed, if you even read this entire letter, you'll more than likely
call me all kinds of names (faschist, blind, Bush lover,
hatemongerer). Hopefully, you won't hold me in nearly the same
contempt you hold Dennis Miller.
We can all use a little bashing and mockery now and then...even
liberals.
Thank you....and God Bless,
MBH
************
from Robert, 11/1?/03 and 11/2/03, via e-mail:
hey, I read your website:
http://mnl_1221.tripod.com/dennismiller.html
I just wanted to say that I took it very seriously.
I, too, am one of the marginalized and find the changes
that have occurred in this country since 9/11 to be
alarming.
I did want to say the following to you: I think your
big heart and kindness towards Dennis are awesome (and
I don't want to do anything to discourage that spirit,
because it's so important). But I do want to tell you
that I think Dennis Miller's "conversion" is probably
more cynical than your allowing for here. It's well
known, for example, that Ann Coulter doesn't really
believe a word of what she says or writes (she's not
REALLY a conservative, or much of anything, in terms
of her own beliefs--you can tell this just by watching
her). She just does it for the money. This is a gig for
her, you know? It's horrible, but it's true. I think the
same is true of Dennis Millers conversion to right wing
nut. There's a market, a huge market, in what he is doing.
It's just horrible that it is based on hate, you know,
for people like you and me and everyone else who is
"other". That said, I think there's something really
beautiful in your public plea to Dennis--to the old
Dennis. The world needs more of this---people to remember
who they really are, inside, and not who they have had to
become simply in order to survive and live in the world.
It's terrible, what is happening. But then I think, well,
it has to get worse before it gets better. Maybe some good
will come out of this, I don't know.....
take care...
robert
mnl replies:
I know that Dennis can be doing this out of sheer
greed/survival--that is, the money motive--but I
also wonder about the emotional push behind this:
fear, humiliation (over losing two jobs in 2002),
a need to feel manly, or whatever. I also wonder
if the Bush people have "something on him" or are
threatening him with something, or just wooed him
like Faust with big bucks and big power.
Thank you for your encouragement
robert replies:
I don't think they--the Bush Co's--have to have anything on Dennis to
explain this. I think this is a much more dynamic process that has
happened since 9/11, not unlike what happened in Nazi Germany in the
30's. It's really a love of power and a denigration of weakness,
failure, vulnerability, etc. This happened in the most recent election
here in California (Gov. Ahhnold). He won because of the allure of
power. People were attracted to him because of his image and his power.
In the case of 9/11, rather than allow themselves to feel weakness or
vulnerability, people wanted to feel powerful, and they projected this
image on to Bush (making him powerful--note the difference in his
demeanor and character between when he was told about the
attacks--reading to kids--and afterwards). He, Bush, did not change.
But people, in their desire for a strong leader, DID change him,
through projection. This is where Dennis' conversion comes in. This is
why he says that Bush made him proud to be an American again. Bush
didn't do anything. Even overt media manipulation was minimal. This was
a huge national mind f**k, you know? I think this is a really dark time
we are entering into (in the world as a whole). The seduction of this
power seems to be more global, with the love of power by the Bush Co's
being supported and mirrored by the love of power by the Bin Laden's,
Saddam's, etc. The real reason to be afraid is that these people (the
right wing in the U.S. and the "terrorists"--whatever that word
actually means) are all on the same side: power, control, war,
destruction. And, on the face of it, they are winning. That's why
reaching out to someone, like you, who has taken a public stand for
something else is so important (and why I felt compelled to write to
you). Also, I am really sick in bed (allergic reaction to medication).
I should be in a hospital, but I don't have insurance right now. So I
am trying to stay hydrated and keep some food in me and not be too
bored by surfing the web......I think I saw a parody of Dennis Miller
on TV (on an old SNL, satirizing his sports reporting) and decided to
look up to find out more info on his "conversion."
Take care and hang on to your beliefs: they're really important in
these times. I really think this is a time just to survive, to hang on
to what you believe in and to stand for it. But not to get destroyed by
what is happening around us. I don't know how else to put it....
Robert
************
from "I'm the nana" of "Kalifornia", 1/6/04, via e-mail:
Subject: Dennis Miller/Dachshunds just alike.
Date: Tue, 6 Jan 2004 19:52:56 -0800
I knew the first time I heard one of Dennis Millers Rants, that I
had found a kindred spirit. Truly a person like myself who sees'
the irony in lifes' crap. The way it is thrown at us daily and how
people react to the most ridiculous things in ways I can only perseve
as being "mental midgets" The way in which politicians treat the rest
of us as drooling idiots that need to be spoon fed its daily "lie of
the day" in order to think they are doing their jobs.
The best reason I love Dennis is because he has Dachshunds. He will
be the first to tell you that a person that has them must know about
irony. Dachshunds go the other way when you call them. They know how
to find the space that has been sat in and they will take it. They do
not budge in their beliefs and if they see a rodent (see: politician)
they go after it with a tenacity that borders on obsessed.
Thank you Dennis I knew there was a reason you knew something that
others didn't. Go after it grab it by it's throat and hang on. Just
like our Dachsies do (I have three) because they are courages and
brash and like a good fight.
(name)
Kalifornia :>)))
mnl replies: I happen to live next door to a daschund. Whenever I or anyone
else passes by, he wails and goes into a series of sharp barks.
One day my niece visited and said, "That dog hates me." I replied,
"That dog hates everybody." However, I find that dog amusing, and
his owners are good neighbors. I have the daschund and his larger,
gentler companion--a dog with curly chocolate hair--treats for
Christmas (through the owner, of course!).
************
Another message what I wrote
From the Bill Maher message board
07/24/03 04:59 PM (excerpt)
BTW, Miller was on the Tonight Show last night (July 23). Was I
seeing things or did I see glimpses of the old Dennis Miller peeping
out? He started out same-old-same-old, but then he was talking about
riding in a race car, and about his dismal yet humorous performance
at last weekend's celebrity golf tour. In effect, "I've made a living
dishing it out, so here's one place where I have to take it." He
joked about Gray Davis and Arnold Schwartzenegger, but with no
careless liberal-bashing. The word "liberal" didn't pass his lips
once! (Neither did "conservative".)
He started talking about obesity, and I dropped my jaw when he
said, "And what's this obsession with being thin? The last time
we were all in lockstep was Nazi Germany, and that was no fun!"
I would've cheered aloud, but I was audiotaping him.
Now about the post-war stuff, he said some stupid stuff like Iraq
or the Hussein family was just unlucky enough to be in line to be
selected for war--as if that was an excuse. It was so awfully stupid,
I thought, "He's got to know better than that." Then I thought,
"Maybe he does!" Maybe it's extreme self-satire--getting so
ridiculous about reasons for supporting the war that we see how
ridiculous it is.
He was happy about Saddam's sons' deaths, yet wondered aloud about
the decency of being happy that someone's kids were killed.
Is the sunshine of Miller's wit and balance and near-fairness
starting to break through this cloud of fear and/or hate and/or
expediency that he's been under this past few months? He actually
won back some of my respect, and if he keeps this up, he might win
back my admiration.
Overall, Dennis did a very good job last night, IMHO. A-.
(B+ if he was sincere about that stupid war reasoning.)
**************************************
(transferred from the "Open Letter" main page)
10/8/03--Rest up and get well, Dennis.
I hear you're a little under the weather. Geraldo Rivera
replaced you on Jay Leno last night, givng his take on
the California elections. I liked Geraldo's insights and
even-handedness even when I disagreed with what he said;
I also liked that Rivera gave sensible alternative solutions
to what he thought Gray Davis did wrong. I know, I know:
Geraldo Rivera is not a comedian.
Anyway, get a good rest, Dennis, and hopefully I'll see you
up and about in a few days.
********
8/13/03--Well, it seems Mayor Bloomie of NYC can't stand the smell
either (or the heat), and he's putting aside some extra $ for our
garbage problems. Read here.
So, Dennis, looks like the streets of NYC will be clean again by the
time you get back here after all. Just the same, I'll leave yesterday's
message up for a little while. NYC needs a lot more than just garbage hauling!
8/12/03--Mordecai to Esther...er, MNL to Dennis Miller!
I've got a BIG FAVOR to ask of you on behalf of
my native city and your one-time residence, NYC.
Now you said you admired Mayor Rudy Guiliani, in spite of his
liberal detractors, because the streets of NY were cleaner.
Well, we got a new mayor, Mike Bloomberg--
a billionaire Republican, though he was once a registered Democrat--
and now the streets are dirtier! Why? Because this is one of
Bloomie's ways of saving $ in the light of New York City's depressed economy.
So, since you now have GWB's ear, please plead with him on behalf of
NYC and ask him to send the city some of the $ that were promised in
the wake of 9/11, but were not delivered yet. Y'know, 9/11--the
incident which you say helped change your politics, and which
financially crippled New York.
Please--we don't need to give our rats more feeding and breeding ground!
Ask President Bush to send us some funds to get our garbage pick-up back on track.
Read about it here.
BTW, I know you're coming to the Greater New York area to perform
in September, and the GOP is planning its presidential convention
here next year. I'm sure you and they would prefer to see clean streets, right?
If we do get some emergency federal garbage funds and I hear you had
something to do with that, I will thank you very much from this webpage!
Okay? Okay. Okay?
--MNL
****************************************************************
Here are my comments about Dennis Miller's performance at Westbury Music Fair,
Sun Sept 7 2003, as posted on the Bill Maher Message Board:
I attended Dennis Miller's performance at Westbury Music Fair,
Westbury, LI, NY, on Sunday September 7. I wish I had time to give
you a detailed review, but I want to share an observance:
When Miller started, he was hunched over, head bent, depressed, yet
he used that depression in his act, so it worked. He was talking
about North Korea, and about mundane things like watching TV or
staying in a hotel. But when he started talking about the war in
Iraq, and went into the Bush-praising and Democrat-bashing, and
liberal-bashing, his posture straightened and he was standing erect
much of the time. It's as if speaking of these things gave him
release and empowerment. I suppose this empowers him, to align
himself with the "winners".
Subconsciously--I didn't become aware of this comparison until later
that night--Miller's change of posture reminded me of what an
article said about George W. Bush's speech patterns:
The striking thing about this George, even though Karen Hughes is
often seen hovering at his elbow, is that he isn't tongue-tied when
he is pumping up his ego, dishing out digs and being sarcastic and crude.
Mark Crispin Miller, author of The Bush Dyslexicon and professor of
media studies at New York University, who also sees the darker Bush,
said in a Nov. 28 interview with the Toronto Star, ""Bush is not an
imbecile. He's not a puppet. I think that Bush is a sociopathic
personality. I think he's incapable of empathy. He has an inordinate
sense of his own entitlement, and he's a very skilled manipulator.
And in all the snickering about his alleged idiocy, this is what a
lot of people miss."
Miller said he did intend The Bush Dyslexicon to be a funny book,
but that was before he read all the transcripts, which revealed,
according to reporter Murray Whyte, "a disquieting truth about what
lurks behind the cock-eyed leer of the leader of the free world.
He's not a moron at all on that point, Miller and Prime Minister
Jean Chretien agree."
"He has no trouble speaking off the cuff when he's speaking
punitively, when he's talking about violence, when he's talking
about revenge," Miller told Whyte. "When he struts and thumps his
chest, his syntax and grammar are fine. It's only when he leaps into
the wild blue yonder of compassion, or idealism, or altruism, that
he makes these hilarious mistakes."
In a speech last Sept. in Nashville, trying to strengthen his case
against Saddam, Bush's script called for him to say, "Fool me once,
shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." But the words that came
out of his mouth were, ""Fool me once, shame . . . shame on . . .
you," followed by a long pause, then, "Fool me—can't get fooled again!"
Said Miller, "What's revealing about this is that Bush could not
say, 'Shame on me' to save his life. That's a completely alien idea
to him. This is a guy who is absolutely proud of his own
inflexibility and rectitude."
Bush isn't a moron, he's a cunning sociopath
By Bev Conover, Online Journal Editor & Publisher
http://www.onlinejournal.com/Commentary/Conover120502/conover120502.html
I'm not saying Dennis Miller is a sociopath. I'm saying he's
extremely depressed and is channeling his need for a rescuer onto
Bush and this country. The comparison of Bush straightening verbally
when he is vengeful and Miller straightening physically when he is
vengeful--no wonder Miller identifies.
The show itself was funny, and I did laugh at times, smile at
times, "ooo'ed" at times, even gasped once. I couldn't laugh at the
(to me) reactionary stuff, but the audience did. Heck, they gave him
a standing ovation.
Miller did say he was liberal about several issues--about the right
for gays to marry or for the right to have abortion, though he
thinks abortion is wrong--but "there's two things I won't be liberal
about." The first, I think, was wanting "to keep 50% of my
paycheck". The second was the right to whack someone that he thinks
is about to whack him. "And if that makes me a conservative, so be it."
I could say more, but my time is short.
P.S. There were more holes in some of Dennis Miller's political
logic than in a loaf of Swiss cheese. More details later.
****************
Re: Dennis Miller, Westbury Music Fair (LI, NY) 9/7/03 [re: mnl_1221]
10/10/03 08:20 AM
In reply to:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
P.S. There were more holes in some of Dennis Miller's political logic
than in a loaf of Swiss cheese. More details later.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
So why am I bumping up a thread I started a month ago? Because
I haven't yet explained the "holes" in Dennis Miller's political
logic, and I want to do that now.
We've been duking it out on a thread lately concerning Miller's
behavior at a charity event, and Elton John's response at the
same event:
Bill Maher Message Board: Current Events: Elton John, not a big
fan of Dennis Miller, 10/8/03
On one of the posts on that thread I pointed out a "hole" taken
from Miller's Westbury performance, which he'd also used on a Jay
Leno broadcast:
For instance, Miller said in an incredulous voice, "How could
anyone think Bush is evil?" and proved his lack of evil by telling
us that Bush built a tetherball court on the White House lawn
and "had the humility" to watch the kids play on it, unlike
Clinton who got his jollies in the oval office.
"I'm telling ya when I watch those, the videotape of the retarded
kids playing uh, tee-ball on the White House lawn, on the field
that he built for them. And I juxtapose it with Clinton and the
wocka-wocka porno guitar of the Clinton administration. I just
like Bush, he makes me proud to be an American again. He's just
a decent guy."
http://www.celebrityhypocrites.com/dmiller.html
This is like saying John Gotti wasn't evil because he put on
wonderful fireworks displays for his neighborhood in Queens.
Now here are some more "holes" of his Westbury performance, 9/7/03:
He objected to how people used Hitler comparisons against Guiliani,
Bush, and Ashcroft. They call Giuliani Hitler but--or even though--
Guiliani did a fine job leading us after 9/11.
Hole: the accusations over Guiliani's bullying and what it fostered,
came before 9/11. Not in spite of, before. Before: the Tompkins
Square police riot, Abner Louima (an arrested man broom-raped by cops
in a Brooklyn precinct), Amadou Diallo (a Bronx man coming home at
midnight shot at 41 times and killed by cops looking for a rapist)--
heck, even the crosswalk barriers near Rockefeller Center. However,
Giuliani did show some real leadership, and compassion, after 9/11.
Miller was surprised that some people--Democrats, liberals--wouldn't
have the common sense to agree with him and the majority of this
country, and--in effect--if those few insist on not agreeing with
the rest of us, we'll just have to chase them out of the playground.
Hole: later in the act, his last set of jokes, he talked about
overweight lawsuits and the obsession over health. "Why are we
obsessed with being healthy? Last time an entire country tried to
get healthy was 1930s Germany and that didn't work out." This is
a variation: in one of his books he'd said "getting in lockstep"
(over political correctness) and everyone thinking the same. On a
recent Leno appearence he's said the same over the obsession with
thinness.
Therefore, when it comes to groupthink, it's evil if "they" do it,
and good if "we" do it? If "lockstep" was wrong in Nazi Germany,
why is it right for the "majority" of Americans to chase dissenters
out of the playground?
I'd said before how Miller was incredulous that anyone could find
GWB evil.
Hole: I've already mentioned the comparison with Gotti. Also: Under
Bush, our government has detained people without benefit of attorney
or charge of a crime or notification of family. Bush and Ashcroft
seeking the right to execute without a jury trial. (Seemingly)
stealing an election. Also, a week before the Westbury performance,
a scandal broke that accused the White House of pressuring the EPA
to lie about the air quality around Ground Zero! How's that for evil?
How's that for betraying people who should be able to trust you? How
come Miller didn't comment one way or another on that piece of news.
Miller also said the environment's fine because we litter less.
Hole: see comment directly above.
I believe Miller also had made comments about protestors and
dissenters needing to get a job.
Hole: unemployment has risen sharply over the last two years--and
that's part of what these protests are about! Didn't Miller himself
lose two jobs in 2002?
Now I have to take back comments I've made about Miller
saying "absolutely nothing" against the right wing. Commenting on
those who've said that the Confederate flag is just a symbol of
Southern history and old-fashioned pride, Miller replied, "Sure.
And the swastika is just a plus sign doing cartwheels." He made
another Southerners-as-rubes joke which I and the audience laughed
at, but probably wouldn't play well south of the border states.
