Oh, My Saddam by Steve Martin

[NYCGirl]

This rocks!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-martin/oh-my-saddam_b_37554.html

Oh, my Saddam, how I loved your funny little ways. The way you held your teacup; the way you enjoyed those who coaxed a smile from you. I love that you found a way to exist in this mixed up world, how you thought, "why be mean when you can be nice?" Saddam, I will miss the way you would point to someone and then they would be dead, the way your puppy Pluto became a rug.

Your loyalty to family is rare in our times. When your half-brother was assassinated, Oh how we wept for you, thinking, what a terrible accident this assassination is. My Saddam, I wish we had more time with you, to find out what makes you tick, tick, tick. How your golden toilet seat will miss you!

You loved to laugh! Not many people know how to do that anymore. Real laughter doesn't come from sit-coms and comedians, real laughter comes when someone bows before you, accidentally stumbles, and then is beheaded. Especially on a staircase. Heads will roll, ha ha! Oh Saddam, if I had you back for just one moment, I would ask, if you could shoot just one person in the back of the head, who would it be? I wish it were me!

-snipped-

And now you are in heaven. How the trumpets must be sounding. A life, perhaps imperfect, but pure in motive! The world might have lost one affable curmudgeon, but heaven has received him. Saddam, enjoy the hosts of souls waiting to see you on the other side!

[KittyWampus]

1. that's pretty biting satire

[Goblinmonger]

32. Can't be satire

he didn't put the little :sarcasm: thing in there so we must take it at face value.

[The Count]

36. Of what? Who is he satirizing? What power is he speaking truth to?

:shrug:

[ronnykmarshall]

2. That's so touching.

:cry:

Goodbye, "Daddy".

[NYCGirl]

5. Yes, makes you all misty-eyed, don't it?

LOL!

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

3. Finally! A Saddam Thread With Some Sane Reality Behind It!

[k_jerome]

4. he loved they way they called him Big Poppa. nt.

[ronnykmarshall]

7. Don't get me started again.

I'm on edge of breakdown today. I complete breakdown.

On wait, that's a hangover.

[k_jerome]

8. then throw your hands in the air playa. nt.

[cali]

6. I do so love Steve Martin.

Now more than ever, and thanks NYCGirl, for the timely posting. It serves as an antedote. Though, I bet both Steve Martin and Jon Stewart would laugh their asses off at the "Goodbye Daddy" post.

[terrya]

9. Well...I guess some might see the humor in it.

I was thoroughly appalled at the "Goodbye Daddy" post. But that's just me.

[Bluebear]

20. What was so appalling about that post?

The point was even monsters have people who loved them, who are human beings for which the execution causes grief.

[The Count]

27. I missed that point. I thought it was his special "die, bieatch, die" humor

But that's just me.

[hlthe2b]

11. "Goodbye Daddy" post?

I guess I missed that....:shrug:

[cali]

12. It's locked but it's still

in GD. It was titled "Goodbye Daddy" and had sweet pictures of Saddam with his daughters.

[NYCGirl]

13. When I read the Steve Martin piece on Huffpost, I thought, "Has he been reading

DU today?"

[IndyOp]

10. He was human. He was a monster. Good piece. (n/t)

[The Count]

14. Waiting for Steve Martin's satire on Pinochet....

What? Not as funny?

[cali]

16. Gee, so Martin has

do a Pinochet piece to prove he's not being unfair?

[The Count]

26. Just don't appreciate piling-on humor. I expected better from him.

What's next? A "support the troops" skit? A "Freedom is on the March" skit?

[Kolesar]

15. That was really out there

Steve Martin really has a way with humor. :thumbsup:

[mitchum]

17. Martin may also be slyly satirizing the hosannas being offered up...

to ANOTHER "flawed, but well-intentioned" recently departed figure. Martin did live through the 70s, y'know...

[cali]

18. If you're suggesting that Martin

is satirizing Ford through Hussein, let me suggest that your imagination is working overtime.

[mitchum]

21. And why is that not possible?

Satire often has more than just one target
Martin does have somewhat of a reputation at being quite good at that whole humor thing

[cali]

22. I've been reading Martin for a long time

in the New Yorker and I think it's unlikely that he'd be going after Ford in such an obscure and indirect way, but hey, read into it anything you desire.

[mitchum]

23. Well, some of us have more subtle minds than others

[cali]

24. and some of us

insist upon overlaying their own thoughts onto the words of others.

[mitchum]

25. Well, answer me this...

exactly what did Yeats mean in that line?

[cali]

28. Poetry is quite different

from the penning of satirical efforts. Nevertheless, I'll tell you my interpretation of the line. I think Yeats was saying that people who struggle to keep an open mind and remain cognizant of nuance and arguments that contradict beliefs, are prone to becoming somewhat paralyzed by doubt- for lack of a better word, and that those people who are ruled by strongly held, deeply emotional beliefs are operating without tapping into the light of reason and tolerance for others. They are driven by passionate belief to the exclusion of challenging themselves to look at things through another's perspective. And that of the two, the latter is the more dangerous.

[mitchum]

30. That has always been essentially my interpretation also...

doesn't mean that I always follow it, though...:)
However, I didn't know that poetry had a "special exclusivity" from interpretation that sets it apart from all other literary forms. Someone needs to set all of those moderns straight, I guess.
If all Martin is doing is satirizing Hussein sympathizers, then his "biting satire" is rather...hamhanded. And not too swift.

[cali]

31. I actually do believe that poetry

comes from a very different place than prose, or involves different parts of brain, or something. It's more akin to painting or working in sculpture. I'm not saying this well, but really good poetry reminds me of synathesia.

And no, Martin is certainly no swift.

As far as falling short of Yeats line; I do all the time. I just like to keep it in my mind.

[Bluebear]

19. Alrighty then.

:shrug:

[Pastiche423]

29. Steve Martin is and always has been a bore.

[The Count]

34. Actually, I used to like him. Before this.

The Jerk, The Man with two Brains, the Wild and Crazy Guys - funny stuff. This - not so much.

[Goblinmonger]

33. Pretty good satire

Kind of tasteless, in your face. I like it.

[The Count]

35. Of what?

Satire=speaking truth to power. Weapon of the powerless against the powerful. Explain how does this apply to this trash.

[Goblinmonger]

38. This is clearly satire.

If you don't get that, I don't have time to teach it to you. Go to Wiki or some similar general site and read up.

"Speaking truth to power"
First, what a stupid phrase that really means nothing.
Second, that IS NOT what satire is. It has nothing to do with a power struggle. It is the use of sarcasm and irony to point out the problems of society, a group of persons, or a person. It does not need to be, and often is not, a "weapon of the powerless against the powerful." All in the Family was a satire about the racism of society that was just accepted as OK.

[The Count]

40. What "problems in society" does this point to? Not enough hanging of foreign

dictators? Satire has to have a point. Racism and bigotry was All in the Family. What is the point of this one - enlighten me as I obviously lack your intellect.
If Steve martin were one of the Iraquis living in fear under Saddam, I'd get this. As it is - is pointless pile-on over a corpse.

[NYCGirl]

42. It reminds me of this Martin monologue: "What I Believe"

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/79/79smono.phtml

Do I look okay? I know what you're saying. You're saying, "Hey. Where has Steve been? Haven't seen him on 'Saturday Night Live' in a while.." < chuckles > They want me. They call me every week to do the show. But I have been holding out for a little bit of this.. < rubs his fingers together > And so the calls fly back and forth, and I made a deal, and I'm very happy to be here tonight. I wish I'd asked for money instead of a little bit of this.. < rubs his fingers together again >

You probably heard I was into the comedy thing. Kind of getting out of that now.. into a little more serious deal. And so that's why right now I'd like to talk about "What.. I.. Believe.."

< heavy music starts to play >

"What I Believe."

I believe in rainbows and puppy dogs and fairy tales.

And I believe in the family - Mom and Dad and Grandma.. and Uncle Tom, who waves his penis.

And I believe 8 of the 10 Commandments.

And I believe in going to church every Sunday, unless there's a game on.

And I believe that sex is one of the most beautiful, wholesome and natural things.. that money can buy.

And I believe it's derogatory to refer to a woman's breasts as "boobs", "jugs", "winnebagos" or "golden bozos".. and that you should only refer to them as "hooters".

And I believe you should put a woman on a pedestal.. high enough so you can look up her dress.

And I believe in equality, equality for everyone.. no matter how stupid they are, or how much better I am than they are.

And, people say I'm crazy for believing this, but I believe that robots are stealing my luggage.

And I believe I made a mistake when I bought a 30-story 1-bedroom apartment.

And I believe the Battle of the Network Stars should be fought with guns.

And I believe that Ronald Reagan can make this country what it once was - an arctic region covered with ice.

And, lastly, I believe that of all the evils on this earth, there is nothing worse than the music you're listening to right now. That's what I believe.

We'll be right back.

[SmokingJacket]

37. I love Steve Martin, but this falls flat to me.

Just not that funny.

[The Count]

41. Not just flat, dead. Like cancer jokes dead.

[NYCGirl]

39. Kick for Steve Martin