Better

I made myself watch Laura Ingraham today. I can never force myself to watch TV with any kind of regularity, but I wanted to see this show, because I thought maybe Fox was starting to make intelligent decisions again.

I saw maybe half an hour. I thought it was pretty good. For some reason, Miss Ingraham seems to look better and better with time. Of course, one explanation is that my eyes are getting worse and worse. And she’s more entertaining than Gibson and Nauert. One person I respect issued a stinging critique of her jokes, but I didn’t hear any of those, so I can’t comment. Her voice is not the sort of thing that makes for a career in the production of relaxation CDs, but it’s not a deal-breaker.

John Gibson startled me with his horrendous January remarks, much as Ann Coulter did when she put slurs in her column. I was amazed when he made fun of Heath Ledger, right after he died. Where did that come from? Never saw it coming. It made Fox look bad.

My take, when I realized they were offering Laura Ingraham a show, was that they were finally getting over their Michelle Malkin fantasy. Mrs. Malkin is a fine blogger, and her books are okay, but she was pretty bad as a host. She took everything personally and got angry and seemed childish. And she doesn’t think well on her feet. I guess when she issued her weird ultimatum, she did Fox a favor.

Here is my advice: when a woman offers you an ultimatum, take her up on it. Whatever the consequences are, they’re better than being around the type of woman who issues ultimatums.

I recall Miss Ingraham complaining about the mosh pit atmosphere of one of the shows she was on. I think it was Hannity & Colmes. She said it was why she wouldn’t do TV. I guess she got over that. They must have canned her radio show, which I actually enjoyed.

If the jokes stink, she’s probably relying on the hopeless and exclusive Conservative Humor Brigade, i.e. the folks who brought us the Half-Funny News Hour. That was the suspicion of the person who criticized her jokes, and it sounds likely to me. Miss Ingraham, whatever her positive points may be, is part of the clique, and positions in the conservative media (i.e. Fox News and AM radio) are so hard to come by, I doubt she’d risk ostracism by turning down a sheaf of Ned Rice knee-slappers.

I guess we’re stuck with hacks until the creaky old mediocrities (I insult mediocrity) die of old age. There is no way a new conservative humorist with talent will ever get a shot while these guys have air in them. Maybe that’s for the best. Overall, political humor probably has a negative impact on the world, even when it’s good. And when I say “good,” I mean “liberal,” since they’re the only ones doing it right. Except for obscure bloggers. If her jokes are bad, her best move is to quit buying them. O’Reilly and Limbaugh do fine, and nobody expects quality comedy from them.

I think Fox made a good choice. Hope I turn out to be right.