Taranto on Keillor

Garrison Keillor can be a pretty funny guy. Usually, it's intentional; other times it's not, like when he writes about politics. James Taranto (May 11 BOTW, 3rd item, I'm Open-Minded, You're a Stupid Jerk) notes an instance of the latter in the Nation:

There's something amusing about the obnoxious way in which some people trumpet their own open-mindedness and tolerance. Consider these two passages from an essay by Garrison Keillor in The Nation:

I enjoy, in small doses, the over-the-top right-wingers who have leaked into AM radio on all sides in the past twenty years. They are evil, lying, cynical bastards who are out to destroy the country I love and turn it into a banana republic, but hey, nobody's perfect. . . .

The reason you find an army of right-wingers ratcheting on the radio and so few liberals is simple: Republicans are in need of affirmation, they don't feel comfortable in America and they crave listening to people who think like them. Liberals actually enjoy living in a free society; tuning in to hear an echo is not our idea of a good time.

If this were true, nobody would listen to NPR, watch 'Fahrenheit 9/11'--or, for that matter, read The Nation.

The original article is mostly in his trademark the Prairie Home Companion style. It starts off as a rambling, nostalgic story about radio. Then he slides in the points Taranto quotes above, making it clear that this isn't a story about radio, it's a story about how much better he is than "right-wingers," sad, pathetic little creatures they are. It seems that times like this, when the arrogance seeps through the folksy facade, we catch a glimpse of the true man. It's not funny (ha-ha), though; it's just weird.
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