Comments on: A Tender Unitarian Christmas II: Yankees and Jews Slapping Norwegians

By: B.Samuel

B.Samuel — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 17:22:24 +0000

Not a writer but one who reads, it appears when the polish of the
illustrious "lit" group wears off or wears thin, there are other
words that bring our feet to where there is firmer grounding to be
had. But many would disagree. Nevertheless, evidence would show,
some writers are enthusiastic to change with "the times", but others
will not. Why this is only God knows.

By: Gilbert Jacobi

Gilbert Jacobi — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 05:07:45 +0000

Though HHH is surely way moldy, GK is as yet only in his mould. It strikes me now that in that household full of New York liberals, GK must have sounded positively Paul Harvey-ish

By: Gilbert Jacobi

Gilbert Jacobi — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 20:01:55 +0000

After a few years of logging the remains of my grandfather's farm in backwoods Connecticut in the early '80s, I moved into a rented former farmhouse on the edge of New Haven with a bunch of Yalies of various ages for housemates. When PHC came on, I and one of the older guys, who hailed from small-town Indiana, would sit by the radio in the big, high-ceilinged kitchen absorbed in it, while our younger roomies came and went, laughing at a bit here and there, but otherwise not seeing the point. He and I savored every nuance, and felt the show as an affectionate, if satirical, tribute to the 50's and people like our parents. I especially treasured the way he conjured up the atmosphere of Lake Woebegone, a town that sounded just like the one my dad took me fishing to in northern Wisconsin. After awhile, his liberalism began to rankle and I stopped listening, but I'm still grateful for some moments of comfort during a time of transition, as the phrase has it, from life on my own land back to life in the city. His liberalism strikes me as being in the Hubert Humphrey mold - just progressive enough to be "with it" enough to attract some of the younger crowd, or at least not repel them - but not so far left as to jettison completely all traditional Western values. I wasn't listening, but I can't see him "genuflecting" to BHO; rather, giving more like pro forma support. And I'm pleasantly surprised by his pro-Christmas militancy. Perhaps it's time I checked the news from Lake Woebegone.

By: Miles Gloriosus

Miles Gloriosus — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 16:24:16 +0000

GK's slam on Emerson, (who really was a fraud), was priceless. Heaven only knows how much damage that man caused by inspiring generations of valedictorians to urge their graduating classmates to go out and change the world. How much better for the world it would have been if Emerson had urged his listeners first toward deeper self-knowledge and reflection before acting.

By: Jim

Jim — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 23:50:26 +0000

Good job Aaron but I'm surprised you didn't refer to GK's jab at Larry Summers whose financial disaster at Harvard prepared him ("the genius") for the White House.

By: Sean Scallon

Sean Scallon — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 23:29:28 +0000

Say what you want about Keillor but I challenge anyone to find the kind of quality of music on PHC anywhere on the radio. He does have taste.

By: Theodore M. Van Oosbree

Theodore M. Van Oosbree — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 22:38:44 +0000

Mr. Keillor has fastened upon a fact well-known in Norway and the Midwest but little appreciated elsewhere: all Norwegians ARE above average (and not just the ones in Lake Woebegone)!

By: Ken Hoop

Ken Hoop — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 19:44:23 +0000

Fact is, Christ's DNA more closely approximated the prototype modern Palestinian than the prototype Ashkenazi (Majority) Zionist
Israeli.

By: R. Cort Kirkwood

R. Cort Kirkwood — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 19:32:11 +0000

Hilarious pieces, both by my friend, Aaron Wolf, and by GK.

I agree with Tom Piatak about GK's PHC radio program.

By: Robert

Robert — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 15:08:20 +0000

The redeeming fact of GK is that he is more poet than politician. He is a traditionalist in the sense that he has an eye for quality amidst all the quantity available to him and can, therefore, tell stories and enjoy music. I am not a regular listener for GK's show but if he happens to be talking on the radio while I am driving some distance I listen and usually enjoy.
If we are going to parody religious and ethnic groups in the Big Apple on Saturday Nights Live, why not out on The Prairie where folks still enjoy a good tale.