4 ms·

A good, alternative view on the guy: https://twitter.com/mgerber937/status/1494060745335660547 https://twitter.com/mgerber937/status/1494060745335660547 I nev

A good, alternative view on the guy: https://twitter.com/mgerber937/status/1494060745335660547 https://twitter.com/mgerber937/status/1494060745335660547 I never found him that funny. And I don't say that just because he was un-PC, or racist, or sexist -- though he was those things -- but because he didn't have good jokes, which is the only thing that matters in comedy: > The Chinese have decided to import money instead of things they can immediately enjoy — my black Lab would make quite a stir fry. This is hack, open-mic-nite-at-the-Sheraton stuff. Yawn. I get that for people of a certain age (and sex and skin color) this was really cutting-edge, and part of the formative experiences of finding one's own sense of humor in the world, but its time was long past even when these jokes were best-sellers. It's me-me-me boomer stuff that doesn't work as comedy, and I think that's what ultimately sinks the guy's legacy.

ncmncm 5y ago
Yes. If you read carefully, nothing he says is even slightly funny. Some people like it because he would say petty things about people they didn't like. I don't like Hillary much more than he did, but what he would say was never anything substantial about what she said or did, just things he wanted to believe about her personally.
- lurquer 5y ago
  > Yes. If you read carefully, nothing he says is even slightly funny. Let me fix it for you: > Yes. If you read carefully, nothing he says is even slightly funny … to me.
  - ncmncm 5y ago
    Let me fix it for you: > Yes. If you actually do read carefully, nothing he says is even slightly funny. It is easy to confuse snark with humor if you don't like who the snark is about. There were other people at the time who actually were consistently funny. Put them side by side and the difference is stark.
hunterb123 5y ago
Real classy of you. If you didn't enjoy his work, maybe don't comment on his death. The not so subtle racism / sexism accusation plug (I disagree), segued into slamming of his work during his death is despicable. The ageism was cherry on top. Opinions are fine, but it's my opinion that you should save the negativity at this time, unless it's a ruthless dictator. I flagged your post and hopefully this comment thread gets nuked. It's a time of mourning, not a time of slander.
- rideontime 5y ago
  You disagree? Is that not an accurate quote?
  - hunterb123 5y ago
    I don't view the quote as racist. Nor is this the time or place for such accusations.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - rideontime 5y ago
      That's your opinion, and you're free to express it and vote accordingly. But flagging it for moderator intervention because you find it personally distasteful seems like going a bit too far. (In my opinion.)
      - hunterb123 5y ago
        It's a slander and inappropriate at this time. But yes it's my opinion that it breaks the rules. It introduced needless toxicity and turned this thread into a flamewar. > Please don't pick the most provocative thing in an article or post to complain about in the thread. Find something interesting to respond to instead. > Please don't use Hacker News for political or ideological battle. It tramples curiosity. > Eschew flamebait. Avoid unrelated controversies and generic tangents.
prepend 5y ago
> racist, or sexist —- though he was those things -- Those are pretty serious accusations and seems odd of you to so cavalierly throw them out. I’m not super knowledgeable about O’Rourke, but I’ve seen him around on tv shows and opinion pieces for a few decades and don’t think he’s sexist or racist. If you’re going to make such statements, back them up a big.
- kbelder 5y ago
  I would like to reach a point in our society where an unfounded accusation is viewed as reprehensible as the accusation itself. Calling somebody a racist, casually, without any proof or even evidence, is contemptable.
  - enneff 5y ago
    O’Rourke has written hundreds of thousands of words that promote racist ideas. Of course people will always debate whether making racist jokes make one a racist, but the sheer volume of his work is surely evidence of a kind.
    - prepend 5y ago
      That’s not true. Again, if you have claim, please support it. I think the problem is that non-racist works are being conflated with something racist. I’d have to judge what’s racist joke as it’s hard nowadays to take someone’s world for it.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
stickfigure 5y ago
Anyone can cherrypick one line, quote it out of context, and decide it's not funny. If you squint hard enough you might even find something to feel outraged about. Does that make you feel good? I've read a number of PJ's books and genuinely laughed out loud more times than I can count. Your comment, on the other hand, is exceptionally dull.

ncmncm 5y ago

Yes. If you read carefully, nothing he says is even slightly funny. Some people like it because he would say petty things about people they didn't like. I don't like Hillary much more than he did, but what he would say was never anything substantial about what she said or did, just things he wanted to believe about her personally.

lurquer 5y ago
> Yes. If you read carefully, nothing he says is even slightly funny. Let me fix it for you: > Yes. If you read carefully, nothing he says is even slightly funny … to me.
- ncmncm 5y ago
  Let me fix it for you: > Yes. If you actually do read carefully, nothing he says is even slightly funny. It is easy to confuse snark with humor if you don't like who the snark is about. There were other people at the time who actually were consistently funny. Put them side by side and the difference is stark.

hunterb123 5y ago

Real classy of you. If you didn't enjoy his work, maybe don't comment on his death. The not so subtle racism / sexism accusation plug (I disagree), segued into slamming of his work during his death is despicable. The ageism was cherry on top. Opinions are fine, but it's my opinion that you should save the negativity at this time, unless it's a ruthless dictator. I flagged your post and hopefully this comment thread gets nuked. It's a time of mourning, not a time of slander.

rideontime 5y ago
You disagree? Is that not an accurate quote?
- hunterb123 5y ago
  I don't view the quote as racist. Nor is this the time or place for such accusations.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - rideontime 5y ago
    That's your opinion, and you're free to express it and vote accordingly. But flagging it for moderator intervention because you find it personally distasteful seems like going a bit too far. (In my opinion.)
    - hunterb123 5y ago
      It's a slander and inappropriate at this time. But yes it's my opinion that it breaks the rules. It introduced needless toxicity and turned this thread into a flamewar. > Please don't pick the most provocative thing in an article or post to complain about in the thread. Find something interesting to respond to instead. > Please don't use Hacker News for political or ideological battle. It tramples curiosity. > Eschew flamebait. Avoid unrelated controversies and generic tangents.

prepend 5y ago

> racist, or sexist —- though he was those things -- Those are pretty serious accusations and seems odd of you to so cavalierly throw them out. I’m not super knowledgeable about O’Rourke, but I’ve seen him around on tv shows and opinion pieces for a few decades and don’t think he’s sexist or racist. If you’re going to make such statements, back them up a big.

kbelder 5y ago
I would like to reach a point in our society where an unfounded accusation is viewed as reprehensible as the accusation itself. Calling somebody a racist, casually, without any proof or even evidence, is contemptable.
- enneff 5y ago
  O’Rourke has written hundreds of thousands of words that promote racist ideas. Of course people will always debate whether making racist jokes make one a racist, but the sheer volume of his work is surely evidence of a kind.
  - prepend 5y ago
    That’s not true. Again, if you have claim, please support it. I think the problem is that non-racist works are being conflated with something racist. I’d have to judge what’s racist joke as it’s hard nowadays to take someone’s world for it.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

stickfigure 5y ago

Anyone can cherrypick one line, quote it out of context, and decide it's not funny. If you squint hard enough you might even find something to feel outraged about. Does that make you feel good? I've read a number of PJ's books and genuinely laughed out loud more times than I can count. Your comment, on the other hand, is exceptionally dull.