I have loved satire since I was old enough to laugh.
I loved satire even before I knew that using humor to draw attention to serious issues was called satire.
In my lifetime I have learned more about the world through humor than all other news sources combined.
Johnny Carson, David Letterman, PJ O’Rourke, Dave Barry, Stephen Colbert, George Carlin, The Onion…these are my most trusted sources of information. The first time I saw The Daily Show (going way back to the days before Jon Stewart was the host) I thought it had been created specifically for me.
http://thedailyshow.cc.com/full-episodes/bfns01/january-7–2015—ava-duvernay
For many years I hid this fact from almost everybody I knew for fear of being seen as uneducated, uninformed or just a clown who pretended to know what was happening in the world.
Second to the comics, my favorite part of the newspaper has always been the political cartoons.
That’s why the Charlie Hebdo massacre disturbs me so much.
I just can’t fathom a hatred deep enough to justify murder – and in my opinion this was nothing more than murder. Nor can I imagine killing somebody because they dared poke fun at my religious or political views.
I don’t have anything profound to add to the trillions of bytes already shared regarding this tragedy.
I remember, as a child, listening to my grandfather talk about the state of the world (Vietnam, Nixon, hippies, Russia, etc). According to him, we were on the fast track to self-destruction.
I can’t imagine what he would say today – and I wonder if my own granddaughter will be saying the same thing about me 50 years from now.
To tell the truth – I hope she is – because at least that will mean that we didn’t destroy ourselves in the post 9-11 lunacy that had her grandfather so concerned.
As always – thank you for reading
blindoggbooks 
I am so upset by this senseless killing–and for the same reasons.
Senseless is the word I keep coming back to.
It is a craziness, that’s for sure. When I was in college there were two Iranian Muslim students in my English 101 class, and a Christian from Lebanon. I wrote and read an essay that professed only one God by many names. The Iranians were horribly offended. The Lebanese guy defended my right to free speech in my own country. Before it was over, there was a fist fight brawl that involved half the class. We forget that not all people feel freedom of speech is an inalienable right. Democracies take so much for granted. I can only hope others are enlightened, but I fear there will always be those who dissent no matter what the cause. Tragic indeed.
I laugh at comedians everyday who have the balls to NOT be politically correct…and all this politically correctness appalls me. If I couldn’t laugh at myself, and my many faults, it would be a dark and sorrow-filled world to live in.
Amen, Susan.
Reblogged this on galesmind and commented:
well said.
Thank you, Gale!
Not necessary all writers and lovers of freedom are Charlie.
Thanks for speaking out!
I was the least I could do.
I enjoyed the satire, “What’s this little weapon which hurts us so much?” People need not agree to love. However, politicians who are in it for power do not want opponents (disagreement).
Thanks you, Tim. Great Post!
Dale
Thank you, Dale!
Reblogged this on isabel pietri and commented:
Thank you Tim Baker. I appreciate your words while my own fail me.
Thank you, Isabel.
Bravo, Tim. I’ve been trying to think of a way to approach this, without success so far. Only satire can depict the absurdity of the world today. Je suis Charlie.
Amen, Kevin.
Reblogged this on fordsthoughts.
A good post. Freedom to employ satire and engage in political debate more generally is incredibly precious. As a registered blind person I remember, some time ago now, Glen Hoddle (the footballer) saying that the disabled where, perhaps being punished for misdeeds in a previous life. I found his views risible, however he is perfectly entitled to articulate them. Some people called for Hoddle to be sacked from his then role in the football world (he subsequently resigned). I, however felt uneasy that a man was being penalised for holding what are, in my opion crackpot ideas but, none the less he was perfectly entitled to express them. There is no “right” not to be offended and, in a mature democracy we must accept the freedom of others to express views we profoundly disagree with and they, in return must accord the same courtesy to us. J S Mill’s essay, On Liberty (published in 1859) is a wonderful defense of political and individual freedom which is well worth reading.
Thank you for your comment. I agree with you 100%. I think Voltaire said it best…”I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.”
You make a good point there Tim and I couldn’t agree with you more! We need to have satire in the world and stand up for freedom of speech, even in the face of possible persecution or even death.
Thank you for following my blog BTW. I am now following yours. 🙂
Thank you, Elaine – for the comment and for following!