Michael Ian Black Goes All "Network" On a Dude

Michael Ian Black, who is a funny, funny man (even if I don't love Stella as much as my best friend Scofe does) went completely berserk on a heckler the other night. This wasn't in a Michael Richards offensive insanity way, in fact, it was sort of the direct opposite of that.

He blogged about it in a typically funny and honest way. Read all about it. Done?

Okay, his response, while perhaps a little extreme and embarassing to him personally, was right on the money. Say what you want about Obama (and I would say he's only guilty of naively taking advantage of people's ignorance of how their political system works and how hard it can be to actually accomplish major change), I think it's fair to say that there are people out there who don't like the guy, and don't think he's a good leader and what have you.

He's not Hitler.

And here is the major problem with the Internet age, it makes morons think their opinion matters, and the more contrary the opinion, the more it feeds their ego. Here are some popular Internet phrases that should be banned unless strictly warranted:

• Insert Name Here raped my childhood, dreams...basically any inappropriate use of the term "rape". Look, George Lucas made some shitty movies. That's all he's guilty of. Rape is something that happens a lot of people. It's horrible and ugly and has no comparison to the creation of Jar Jar Binks.


• Calling anyone a fascist who isn't actually a fascist. You can insert Communist, Socialist, and/or Terrorist here, too. No matter what you believe, the people who attach themselves to those "ism"s are usually not too shy about doing so. It's an ethos they want to be a part of. Very, very, very few people in North American society can muster the energy to vote, let alone join a fringe ideology. There are some people that are followers of these systems, but you can usually spot them coming.


• Comparing non-genocidal maniacs to Hitler, Stalin or Mao. If you have a body count less than a hundred thousand people, you're simply not in their class, folks. As Obama has not ordered the systematic murder of any one group of people that I know of, I think we can hold off from comparing him to one of history's greatest monsters. Calling him Hitler is vastly ignorant of both Obama and Hitler. I'm not saying you can't be inappropriate about these guys; I for one find Stalin hilarious for some reason. But these comparisons aren't meant to be funny, or to ridicule a frankly horrible historical figure, but to demonize someone for a "crime" that is in no way equal to the travesties committed by those they're being compared to.

So, Mr. Black, while you may be a little sheepish that you resorted to such fury in retort, I think the douchebag deserved to be roundly ridiculed, and I hope he learned something. Here's an excerpt from an article where Black expounds on why he thinks he may have gone a little too far in his outrage:

Here's the thing: I honestly believe that the vast majority of Americans want the same things; peace, opportunity, a fair shake, and the freedom to pursue their version of happiness. Democrats want that. Republicans want that. Oprah wants that. Ted Nugent wants that. Everybody. The arguments arise about how we get there. I just think we'd all be better served if we gave each other the benefit of the doubt instead of automatically demonizing the other guy. Here's the thing I am trying to keep in mind: the other guy isn't automatically the asshole. Whenever I start to think that he is, I have to remind myself, "The asshole, perhaps, is I."

Words of wisdom.