Dennis, We Hardly Knew Ya

What happened to Dennis Miller? He belongs in the Brainwash Hall of Fame along with the Manson family and Jim Jones’ parishioners. How did a once pithy observer and critic of politicians, both republican and democratic, become such a staunch punch-drinker? I can only hope that his behavior is an Andy Kaufmanesque gag, and that he will unveil the satire and irony during a keynote speech at a future republican convention. Perhaps his weight gain is a display of method acting prowess honed from years of studying Brando and DeNiro, and not simply the fact that he’s carrying Pat Buchanan’s love child. Perhaps his single- and simple-minded stump thumping is his composite caricature of the right-wing, and not the result of cerebral mushiness brought on by financial comfort. If not, why don’t his friends mount an intervention, and force him to watch his old standups in Clockwork Orange fashion? Are they willing to ignore the warning signs, as his eyes glaze over and his depth shallows? Is this what marriage, family, and a CNN contract do to idealism?