Dennis Miller Is Dead

Not really, but the Dennis Miller I came to love over the last several years is suddenly very much gone. Since becoming host of his own CNBC talk show, Miller has declared himself as a born-again conservative. He said September 11 changed him. Fair enough. I think it changed how a lot of us view the world. But now Miller is a loyal soldier for the Bush administration, which is just really bizarre and unnerving to me. In the past he never had declared himself a liberal per se, but it was clear that Miller at least leaned to the left. I remember when he was a commentator on Monday Night Football, Miller would crack little jokes at Republicans' expense, and Al Michaels would fire back with a conservative missive of his own. (Don't get me started on that.) Now I find the new Miller so very, very disappointing. I swore I wouldn't get political on my weblog, because I don't want to be divisive with the friends and family reading stuff here. But what is it about the Bush administration's handling of post-9/11 foreign policy that has Miller so enamored? Is it the veritable abandonment of the war on terror to go after Iraq under the now clearly false justification that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction? Is it how we've taken an unprecedented outpouring of goodwill after the tragedies in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania and turned it into America being the pariah of the international community? I can understand Miller or others supporting a conservative's stance after the trauma of 9/11. Attacking Afghanistan makes sense, theoretically, and even the Patriot Act has a clear rationale behind it, even if people like me think it's going too far. But Miller has gone beyond all this. He actually thinks George W. Bush is the kind of guy he'd like to throw his support behind. Is this just a Saturday Night Live skit gone wrong? Et tu, Dennis?

Comments

[Valarie]

I would guess that his motivating factor now is fear, and in his mind, he supports the Bush administration because it's taking measures to allay that fear. Remember how it felt in those first post-9/11 days, where it seemed like everything was a threat and anything could happen? It seems like he's still in that mode.

It's also very strange when someone whose entire public persona has been based on irony and sarcasm suddenly goes 100% sincere on you. I mean, I'm all for sincerity recovering a little ground from irony, but it's hard to trust such a huge transformation.

[Allan]

I've never cared what Dennis Miller thinks. When he was on Saturday Night Live, he was an entertainer whose talent was being ironic and sarcastic, although I always thought he was trying a little too hard to be cute. If he's given up irony and sarcasm, then he's just another guy with an opinion, who now happens to be a celebrity. Who cares? I wouldn't read any depth into it. He's been making a good living and he knows who butters his bread.