Workin’ for the (Post-)Weekend #3: New York Stories, Comedy Commissars, Mass-Shooting Literature

And maybe just a WEEEE bit of tequila at Yankee Stadium

“Hey M, did you post it?”

“Not quite yet, because [technical details beyond Matt’s feeble comprehension].”

“Oh” [takes 8th gulp of tequila for the day, and it’s only the 5th inning of Saturday’s Yankee day game]

As our conservative friends have taught us, traditional rituals and in-person community/fellowship just cannot be overrated in these troubled times. And so it was important, nay critical, even in an already eventful week, to pay obeisance to our annual how much tequila can we smuggle into Yankee Stadium? challenge with a certain cable news host whose single name sorta rhymes with remedy. Oh, there was pre-gaming galore at the stadium-facing watering hole manned by a beloved listener/artist who every resident of Planet Fifdom should visit at every Yankee game, no exceptions (and especially next week, wearing Angels colors). This is how things looked just before the National Anthem Saturday:

All of which is only to say that, yes, this recurring feature is set to be published each weekend, but also, we wanted to give Episode #358 some breathing room here, so enjoy this belatedly posted, but I assure you very timely composed, supplemental note to last week’s many debaucheries…..

* At the sold-out live show Wednesday in NYC, there was reference to Moynihan’s Vice News Tonight segment on the people who screen campus comedy bookings for acceptable appropriateness. It is chock full of Moynihan Reaction Face, and you should watch it right now:

* Guest Colin Quinn’s The New York Story is just seminal viewing; a classic Fifdom text. Pairs nicely with Ric Burns’ New York: A Documentary Film. Here’s the trailer:

* Guest Michael Rapaport’s podcast is called I Am Rapaport, and, well, you have been warned. Rap’s two most famous recent dust-ups were his social media spat with Brooklyn Nets All-Star Kevin Durant (“The worst fights are the ones where there is no one to root for,” adjudged Sports Illustrated), and his cinéma verité of shoplifting at a Manhattan Rite-Aid. Also, per Wednesday discussion, here’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s “Allahu Akbar” post-game interview after hitting the game-winning skyhook in Magic Johnson’s first NBA game.

* Relevant to Tuesday’s somber Members Only discussion about the mass killing in Buffalo, this sadly ain’t our first rodeo. Episode #12 came just after the June 2016 Orlando Pulse nightclub massacre; #61 reacted to the June 2017 congressional baseball shooting; #119 (w/ Noah Rothman) was after the October 2018 Tree of Life Synagogue executions; Special Dispatch #61 came after the March 2021 Atlanta massage-parlor slayings. There are probably more. I’ve written a LOT about related topics over the years; here are two: “Against Incitement: Political speech doesn’t kill people, people kill people” (2011), and “Bernie Sanders Links Political Rhetoric to Violence When 'Right-Wing,' Not When Perpetrated by His Own Volunteer” (2017).

* Speaking of Buffalo, Kmele got name-checked in a Salon piece with the headline of, “What ‘great replacement’? Right wants us to shut up about Buffalo shooter's ideology”:

Other media figures also leapt at the opportunity to play defense, whining about fairness and respect for the dead. Commentator Kmele Foster complained, "When a lunatic goes on a deadly rampage, maybe wait 24-48 hrs before co-opting the tragedy to malice your political enemies."

* Speaking of Kmele, here’s an announcement Tuesday from our pals at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE):

As the fight for free speech grows more critical than ever, FIRE continues to seek the guidance of leading experts on free expression and the First Amendment to help advance our mission of protecting individual rights.

To these ends, FIRE is pleased to welcome two new members to our Board of Directors and three new members to our Advisory Council. We look forward to benefiting from their thoughtful leadership.

Meet the newest members of our Board of Directors: […]

Kmele Foster is a partner at Freethink, a digital media company focused on the people and ideas changing our world. He is also a regular contributor to various national media programs and co-hosts a syndicated media commentary podcast, “The Fifth Column.”

* In a piece guaranteed to be…greeted differently by various strains within the community, I argued last week over at Reason (audio version here) that not only was the Biden administration’s mild easing of Cuba-related restrictions on Americans welcome, it was an opportunity to notice how dumb a whole mess of our foreign policy discourse routinely is.

* Oh yeah, the three of us are returning to The Megyn Kelly Show Tuesday at noon ET; sadly it is not going to be live in front of a studio audience at SiriusXM (soon, my people, soon!), but it will be rad, so alter schedules accordingly.

And see you here next weekend, for reals!