Steven L. Taylor is a Professor of Political Science and a College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog).
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@Michael Reynolds: He really was. In case you weren’t aware, he has a YouTube channel with ongoing new curated clips being posted (and even an occasional new thing). It is fantastic.
@Michael Reynolds: I never really liked Letterman. He had a streak of meanness I found repulsive, manifested in his tendency to punch down. A perfect example of his regular schtick of sending a “reporter” to cover one of the random trade shows at the Javits Center and having them pretend to interview some poor soul hawking some weird sounding but industry specific piece of gear, and absolutely humiliating them. They had no idea they were being interviewed by a comedy show rather than a trade journal. I was not surprised in the least when it turned out he was a total shit to work for.
@OzarkHillbilly: Not really. Most monkeys work within a social hierarchy where males try to be dominant in ridiculous primal ways. That’s very Trump like.
Apes might be a different story, depending on the ape. Bonobos use a lot of soft power. Trump would have no concept.
@Steven L. Taylor: Not withstanding MarkedMan‘s accurate criticism, I mostly liked Letterman and have really enjoyed his limited series, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, in which he has interviewed a series of interesting celebrities. I see it on Netflix. Not sure where else it’s available, but I recommend the series.
A reminder. I like Colbert and I like Kimmel, but as both those men would acknowledge, Dave was the king.
@Michael Reynolds: He really was. In case you weren’t aware, he has a YouTube channel with ongoing new curated clips being posted (and even an occasional new thing). It is fantastic.
@Michael Reynolds: I never really liked Letterman. He had a streak of meanness I found repulsive, manifested in his tendency to punch down. A perfect example of his regular schtick of sending a “reporter” to cover one of the random trade shows at the Javits Center and having them pretend to interview some poor soul hawking some weird sounding but industry specific piece of gear, and absolutely humiliating them. They had no idea they were being interviewed by a comedy show rather than a trade journal. I was not surprised in the least when it turned out he was a total shit to work for.
A question for the commentariat: Is there any real difference between trump and a monkey?
@OzarkHillbilly: Not really. Most monkeys work within a social hierarchy where males try to be dominant in ridiculous primal ways. That’s very Trump like.
Apes might be a different story, depending on the ape. Bonobos use a lot of soft power. Trump would have no concept.
@Steven L. Taylor: Not withstanding MarkedMan‘s accurate criticism, I mostly liked Letterman and have really enjoyed his limited series, My Next Guest Needs No Introduction, in which he has interviewed a series of interesting celebrities. I see it on Netflix. Not sure where else it’s available, but I recommend the series.