How to lose friends and influence people:  Lenny Bruce, as played by Dustin Hoffman, on the moral evil of censorship, and what it does to the tongue of a free society. Something to think about as we move toward “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day” on May 20.

Take that, “Comedy” Central.

To close out our day’s discussion of race and racism and the “N-word” — be sure not to deprive yourself of Frank Rich’s latest crazed rant on the subject, ludicrous even by his appallingly low standards of argument and those of the New York Times’s editorial page in general  — this trip in the Wayback Machine courtesy of the late, great Bob Fosse, screenwriter Julian Barry, Dustin Hoffman in his Oscar-nominated role and, of course, the troubled, tragic comic genius, Lenny Bruce himself.

Remember when the Left was all in favor of free speech, no matter how offensive, in the belief that clarity emerged from conflict, that sunlight was the best disinfectant, and that brotherhood was possible only after we cleared away the barriers that divided us, instead of re-erecting them in the name of such contemporary shibboleths as “diversity?” Believe it or not, there was such a time.

Ladies and gentlemen, Lenny Bruce in a classic routine. Good luck getting this movie made today, or including this famous scene in it. WARNING: the “N-word” and other pungent ethnic insults, dead ahead.  Don’t click if you get the vapors easily:

President Obama’s State of the Union address last night was notable for many reasons.  First, it is not often that you hear such petulance from a sitting president of the United States – complaining about not receiving applause from your political opponents is simply ridiculous.  Second, it is not often that a president directly lectures the American people – it failed when Jimmy Carter tried it in his infamous “malaise” speech, and it failed last night when President Obama told us that we needed to man up and follow him to glory.  Comparing his agenda’s stall to Bull Run, Omaha Beach, Black Tuesday and Bloody Sunday, and calling on Americans to “again … answer history’s call” is foolish and self-aggrandizing.

What’s worse is telling us that he is the spiritual embodiment of our collective strength:

And what keeps me going – what keeps me fighting – is that despite all these setbacks, that spirit of determination and optimism – that fundamental decency that has always been at the core of the American people – lives on.”  I couldn’t help but shake my head in amusement when he told us that “It lives on in the struggling small business owner … it lives on in the woman … it lives on in the 8-year-old boy in Louisiana … it lives on in all the Americans … [it] lives on in you, its people.

Quoting the Broadway version of The Lion King is not profundity.  It is silliness: (more…)