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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsO'Reilly Reacts To President Obama's Funny Or Die Interview: "Abe Lincoln Would Not Have Done It"
Poor Bill.
http://mediamatters.org/video/2014/03/11/oreilly-reacts-to-president-obamas-funny-or-die/198452
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O'Reilly Reacts To President Obama's Funny Or Die Interview: "Abe Lincoln Would Not Have Done It" (Original Post)
Brainstormy
Mar 2014
OP
Well, Abe might have said, "Hey, Bill, look over there", and then kicked him in the nuts.
11 Bravo
Mar 2014
#11
I'm sure Abe Lincoln would have loved people making millions off of his death, too.
Tommy_Carcetti
Mar 2014
#12
frazzled
(18,402 posts)1. On Lincoln's humor
From a New Yorker piece
Something that has always intrigued me about Abraham Lincoln is, not surprisingly, his sense of humor. As far as I can tell, hes the first American President to have one.
Thats because the term sense of humor really wasnt in common usage until the eighteen-sixties and seventies. In the eighteen-forties and fifties, it was called the sense of the ridiculous, and didnt have the positive connotations that sense of humor has today. Back then, what was ridiculous was what invited ridicule. Funniness and cruelty went hand in hand. Of course, they still do a lot of arm-in-arm strolling in our day as well.
In the movie Lincoln, Tommy Lee Jones, as the sarcastically vilifying Thaddeus Stevens, exemplifies the funny-cruel connection. Many of his vilifications were too nasty for the Congressional Globe (predecessor of the Congressional Record), but this one was recorded: There was a gentleman from the far West sitting next to me, but he went away and the seat seems just as clean as it was before.
Lincolns humor was very different because, for one thing, it was actually humor as the word was defined in his time. We dont make the distinction between wit and humor anymore, but in the nineteenth century people did. Wit was sarcastic and antipathetic while humor was congenial and empathetic. Its the difference we note now when we distinguish between laughing with and laughing at. Lincoln was much more about laughing with than laughing at. And when laughing at, it was often himself he was mocking.
In the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates, when Douglas accused Lincoln of being two-faced, Lincoln replied, referencing his homeliness, Honestly, if I were two-faced, would I be showing you this one? And, in a way, Lincolns face itself tells us much about his sense of humor.
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/cartoonists/2012/11/lincolns-smile.html
Thats because the term sense of humor really wasnt in common usage until the eighteen-sixties and seventies. In the eighteen-forties and fifties, it was called the sense of the ridiculous, and didnt have the positive connotations that sense of humor has today. Back then, what was ridiculous was what invited ridicule. Funniness and cruelty went hand in hand. Of course, they still do a lot of arm-in-arm strolling in our day as well.
In the movie Lincoln, Tommy Lee Jones, as the sarcastically vilifying Thaddeus Stevens, exemplifies the funny-cruel connection. Many of his vilifications were too nasty for the Congressional Globe (predecessor of the Congressional Record), but this one was recorded: There was a gentleman from the far West sitting next to me, but he went away and the seat seems just as clean as it was before.
Lincolns humor was very different because, for one thing, it was actually humor as the word was defined in his time. We dont make the distinction between wit and humor anymore, but in the nineteenth century people did. Wit was sarcastic and antipathetic while humor was congenial and empathetic. Its the difference we note now when we distinguish between laughing with and laughing at. Lincoln was much more about laughing with than laughing at. And when laughing at, it was often himself he was mocking.
In the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates, when Douglas accused Lincoln of being two-faced, Lincoln replied, referencing his homeliness, Honestly, if I were two-faced, would I be showing you this one? And, in a way, Lincolns face itself tells us much about his sense of humor.
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/cartoonists/2012/11/lincolns-smile.html
warrior1
(12,325 posts)2. Stop Bill
we get it, this president can't do any thing right in your eyes. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean it wasn't funny.
NYC Liberal
(20,136 posts)3. Idiot. Lincoln was KNOWN for his sense of humor. In fact, he said that if
he couldn't tell jokes or keep his sense of humor he wouldn't make it a day in the White House.
PCIntern
(25,582 posts)4. ...coming from Not-Exactly-Ed-Murrow...nt
immoderate
(20,885 posts)5. Lincoln never flew in Air Force One either.
It was not considered a presidential thing to do.
--imm
Brainstormy
(2,381 posts)14. And wouldn't use cellphones,
I've heard.
tsuki
(11,994 posts)6. Lincoln would not have talked to O'Reilly. nt
11 Bravo
(23,926 posts)11. Well, Abe might have said, "Hey, Bill, look over there", and then kicked him in the nuts.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,836 posts)7. I think Lincoln would have done it.
He was known to be a funny guy with a great sense of humor.
frylock
(34,825 posts)8. when did this splotchy shithead become lincoln's spokeperson?
Brainstormy
(2,381 posts)13. Ashamed of myself
for how much I enjoyed your comment. Not the nerve-of-the-guy-to-presume-to-be-Lincoln's spokesperson part. The "splotchy shithead" part.
LeftofObama
(4,243 posts)9. Of all of the TV interviews I've seen with President Lincoln
I don't remember him being funny in any of them!
in case it's needed.
malaise
(269,157 posts)10. Abe wouldn't have allowed O'Lielly to interview him
that's for sure.
Tommy_Carcetti
(43,198 posts)12. I'm sure Abe Lincoln would have loved people making millions off of his death, too.
tanyev
(42,610 posts)15. Pretty sure Lincoln wouldn't have pretended to look for nonexistent WMDs in the Oval Office.