Posted on 12/27/2013 12:39:39 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
How is it that leftist mockery of conservatives became a staple of popular culture? One of the major sources of the attitude that now pervades the dominant media of our time is a man named Herbert Lawrence Block, aka Herb Block, aka Herblock.
[SNIP]
Thanks to people like Herb Block and his ilk, McCarthy became an American laughingstock, allowing communism and socialism to become "cool" in Hollywood, while Conservatives became unofficially "blacklisted." Sixty years later his methods of using humor and sarcasm for social influence are a template for those still seeking to destroy conservative values.
Block's unyielding support of gun control and unquestioning belief in climate change also succeeded in influencing public opinion....
To help further his ideological legacy,the foundation awards its own 'Herblock Prize.' Among recent winners are editorial cartoonists for The Washington Post, Politico, and a weekly cartoonist for the Daily Kos political blog.......funded with $50 million he bequeathed to,"encourage the art of editorial cartooning and to support charitable and educational programs that help promote and support the causes he championed,"...And while most of us hadn't heard of freshman Senator Barack Obama in 2005, he was the guest speaker that year at the Herb Block Prize & Lecture Awards Ceremony.
Affectionately nicknamed "Herblock," his humorous deflections enabled the Communists of yesteryear to train subsequent generations of America-haters, capitalism-detesters and democracy destroyers.
[snip]
Liberals are like schoolyard bullies picking on the new kid. By skillfully employing baseless ridicule they eventually convince the entire school that the new kid is an idiot to be shunned. Never mind the fact that they've never taken the time to get to know him or collect the facts. The destruction of Sarah Palin by condescending interviewer Katie Couric, and...Tina Fey, was a prime example. A shocking number of people still believe Palin said, "I can see Russia from my house."...
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Interesting article.
Satire and cutting humor is indeed a powerful weapon, but I wouldn't trade a single Mark Steyn of a P.J. O'Rourke for a thousand Herblocks any day.
Mark Steyn is an artist with words and ideas (though I like reading him MUCH MUCH more than listening to him).
Ann Coulter called Herblock that unfunny cartoonist. She also said that Herblock's lack of humor is what is really funny.
Incidentally, Herblock may claim he invented the smear tag, McCarthyism, but he didn’t. McCarthyism was invented by someone in that Communist newspaper, “The Daily Worker.”
It was impressive that the media could use late-night comedy to convince so many young whites to vote against their own interests; they more than any other group are watching the standard of living enjoyed by their parents slip away from them.
I can see why conservatives would be wary of what happened to Sarah Palin; she has been forever cast as a buffoon, and she was much brighter than the bumbling idiot in the White House (who can’t address schoolchildren without his Speak-and-Spell).
I came late to the table as far as even noticing the guy's stuff, but Ann Coulter is absolutely dead-on with that observation. When a cartoonist's humor level drops below zero (on the Fahrenheit scale, zero is Garry Trudeau), there is amusement to be had... particularly when their sense of self-importance has been elevated by fellow travelers.
Mr. niteowl77
I don’t see how coining the term “McCarthyism” did more harm than good to Herb Block and not us. I see there is an upcoming HBO special on Block and Jon Stewart - a comedian - and others will be commenting. I respectfully disagree that the vast middle class shook their heads. Looking at our society now indicates otherwise.
Trudeau has had a few classics.
Years ago, when Donald Trump defaulted on a loan, perhaps on the Trump Tower, he refused a court order to vacate his apartment.
In the cartoon, Trump steps out on his balcony, and, many floors below, there’s a mob in the street screaming, “Jump! Jump!”
Also years ago, Uncle Duke and his female Asian companion Honey are cruising in the Caribbean on Duke’s boat.
Honey: “Sir, I think we’re sinking.”
Duke: “I know. Thank God I’m stoned.”
Oh I think the onservatives are getting the last laugh as the stupidity of the left is rxposed one layer at a time. After all, SNL, a haven for liberal comedians and one of the liberal’s own has been making fun of the left for the past year. That speaks volumes.
I prefer reading Mark Steyn to listening to him, too. On paper he is right up there with Daniel Greenfield.
On talk radio he sounds like the stevedore father of Eliza Doolittle in “My Fair Lady”. Where in Canada do they speak with a Cockney accent?
Anyway, Herblock was an arrogant liberal jerk. I remember him from the gun control debate that began after the JFK assassination. His cartoons depicted the NRA & gun owners as murderous roobs; it was class warfare of the worst kind.
Herblock & his liberal admirers would have confiscated all guns and rounded up the owners into reeducation camps. Yes, he was that bad and he is one of the few persons whose death makes me rejoice to this day.
Mark was on fire yesterday on Rush. It was like watching the final fight scene in Karate kid.
“I respectfully disagree that the vast middle class merely shook their heads. Looking at our society now indicates otherwise.”
How true.
IMHO
George Carlin would go on a rant against Reagan in the middle of his act. It wasn’t funny, but liberal audiences would chuckle. Here in more conservative York, PA, it went over like a lead balloon.
Thanks for the informative link.
I agree. He's great but I can't stand the constant giggling.
Best Trudeau ever was three panels of Sen. Teddy bloviating at a press conference and then a reporter in the back of the crowd yelling, “A verb, senator. We need a verb!”
Exactly my problem with listening - that, and that he never stops talking. It sets my nerves on edge. But when I read Mark Steyn - it's a pleasure.
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