Now, I Don't Want To Get Off On A Rant Here...

So Dennis Miller was on The Daily Show tonight.

Once upon a time, Dennis Miller was the king of intelligent political humor. A staunch libertarian, he took on all comers....any hypocritical politician (you know, all of them) were fair game.

The September 11, 2001 came, and as opposed to true American heroes like kradical and terri_osborne for whom the tragedy happening down the street from them crystalized just what it means to be an American, the man who once said "...it's that blind adherence to what is situationally palatable that is truly dangerous. We should question it all. Poke fun at it all. Piss off on it all. Rail against it all." found, while standing on the other side of the country, his spine had weakened and his colors did indeed run, mixing until his complexion had taken a heavy amber tinge. And the country's most erudite comedian became the country's least erudite president's biggest fan.

And his career tanked. And for a simple reason. No one wants to listen to a political comedian who's too filled with fear to go after the people in power. You can only get so many laughs pointing at the losers of elections and making jokes about them. And if you're schtick involves constant references to Molière, the Monday Night Football crowd isn't going to listen to you either.

And tonight, he was the guest on the current pinnacle of political comedy, The Daily Show With Jon Stewart. He was there because he had nothing better to do. The guest announced last night, was Ben Stiller, likely pimping his new movie. From the epitome of comedic cool, to being Ben Stiller's seat filler. That's career momentum not seen since someone last reviewed my resume.

Jon Stewart even asked him if he'd backed the wrong horse, becoming the Far Right's comedian on a leash. He parroted something about how he supports the troops, echoing his employer's (as he pointed out he's under contract to Fox News) assertion that Democrats who listen to the troops and officers on the ground are less supportive than the Republicans who don't listen to anyone.

I wonder whether Jon Stewart sees his possible future when he looks at Dennis Miller. I would tend to doubt it, as, at least publicly, he doesn't seem to take his position in popular culture with the seriousness...or any serious for that matter...that Miller did.

I imagine that deep inside, Dennis Miller is hoping that this coming November, the Democrats take back one, if not both, houses of Congress. Then, maybe he can try to resurrect his career. But between you and me, I don't think he can do it. As Daily Show alumni, Stephen Colbert will tell you, comedy takes balls, and Miller lost his over five years ago.