At The Circus is a lesser Marx Brothers movie. Their best films put them where they didn’t belong. The Marx Brothers *belonged*at the circus but any Marx Brothers movie is better than life without Groucho, Chico, and Harpo.
The catch phrase for the movie was “keep the world laughing” as seen below.
Laughter was in short supply in 1939.
It’s a pity that At The Circus wasn’t funnier but it still had its pleasures. I just convinced myself to revisit it. Does that make me Circus Boy?
No, that was Mickey (Hey, Hey I’ll Be A Monkee) Dolenz. I was blond when I was little too. I never, however, had a coloring book or my own elephant. If I were a Republican, I’d be aggrieved over that…
You’re probably wondering where this is headed. Me too. I had insomnia last night and woke up groggy with thoughts of clown songs and Kornacki in my head. I seem to have a booze less election hangover. It’s a good thing that Cassandra and Jamie O are sensible sorts since I’m a member of the Silly Party,
Back to the point of the post. Circus imagery and a quote from NYT columnist Michelle Goldberg:
Since 2020, when Democrats won the presidency and control of both houses of Congress by smaller margins than many expected, there’s been endless hand-wringing about whether Democrats turned off salt-of-the-earth, diner-going Americans by not loudly condemning calls to defund the police. In the wake of Republicans’ weak showing on Tuesday, the political press should lavish similar attention on the ways the fringe right has alienated normal people. MAGA acolytes, it turns out, are the ones trapped in a bubble, convinced by Fox News, right-wing radio, social media and their own sense of entitlement that they’re the only authentic tribunes of the American volk. “People just want the circus to stop,” Frisch said. Even if Boebert somehow ekes out a win, last night suggests he’s right.
The Frisch in question is Adam, the candidate who ran against Lauren Boebert, not baseball hall-of-famer Frankie. As of this writing Adam Frisch leads the past malaka of the week by 64 votes with 99% of the ballots counted. That is truly as tight as a tick. When in doubt, use a Ratherism.
We’re all sick of the circus and want it to stop. The venerable Stealer’s Wheel song that Tarantino revived had it right: “Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right. Here I am, stuck in the middle with you.”
Boebert is merely a supporting act in the tawdry GOP circus. It’s led by a malevolent clown who thinks only of himself. Former President* Pennywise brought a sick and selfish circus act to our politics. I think the MAGA movement peaked *before* the election. People have had enough of the circus and just want it to stop.
I was unwilling to make any predictions before the counting commenced. I’m ready to stick my head in the stocks and make one now. Mark Kelly is ahead in his race and Catherine Cortez Masto is behind in hers as of this writing, but I think they’ll both win. If I’m right, that means we’ll go into the Georgia runoff with a 50-49 split in favor of the Democrats.
Stay tuned.
I would be remiss in my duty as a blogger if I didn’t acknowledge the existence of this cable teevee show:
It’s amazing how much better John Heilemann is without his smirking former partner Mark Halperin. That sexpest belongs in a circus side show.
Repeat after me: Keep the world laughing.
The last word goes to Bruce Springsteen: