It's Dennis Miller Time for Bush

By Bill Berkowitz, WorkingForChange.com. Posted July 7, 2003.

Following an afternoon appearance at President Bush's fundraising luncheon in Burlingame, California, and after hitching a ride on Air Force One to host the president's fundraising dinner in Los Angeles, Dennis Miller made his videotaped debut in his regular time slot on Fox News Channel's "Hannity & Colmes" program on Friday, June 27.

Like the luncheon diners who, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, paid $2,000 a plate for a "$23.95 lunch of grilled chicken on greens with shiitake and couscous salad, along with chocolate sponge cake, with no wine, no bar and not even iced tea," Miller's Fox viewers also got shortchanged.

I can't say for sure but I'm guessing that even Miller's most ardent fans and admirers were embarrassed by his lackluster performance on Fox. And, if I didn't know better, I would swear that co-host Sean Hannity, the hard-hitting know-it-all family, flag and apple pie guy from the far right, seemed a tad uncomfortable with what he had just heard. Heck, even L. Brent Bozell, over at the right-wing Media Research Center might have been embarrassed. (Well, maybe not Bozell.)

More on the Fox appearance in a moment.

Over the years I've occasionally watched "Dennis Miller Live" -- his regular series on HBO -- and seen bits and pieces of his one-man specials and appearances on the late night television talk show circuit. I've even seen him in a couple of truly forgettable roles on the big screen.

A few years back, when ABC announced that Miller would be the third man in the booth -- teaming up with play-by-play guy Al Michaels and color commentator Dan Fouts on the network's "Monday Night Football" -- I was amongst those who thought that that didn't seem like such a bad idea. After all, he just might bring something new and different to the broadcast: Mix a little of his so-called intellectual shtick, throw a nebulous historical reference in with some jock talk, and maybe he'd loosen up what had become a pretty drab football telecast. And better Miller than Rush Limbaugh, who was also being considered for the slot.

What a mistake the Miller experiment was. After only two seasons he was dropped faster than a bag of tofu burgers handed to a 350-pound defensive end at a fast food drive-in. Miller wasn't particularly sharp and there wasn't enough time for him to drop an obscure historical and cultural reference tying the Monroe Doctrine, Gulliver's encounter with the Lilliputians and Bronco Nagurski into his analysis of the action.

Miller's libertarianism has always irked me. The fact that he laughs at his own shtick appears appallingly self-serving. Don't get me wrong: Being a libertarian doesn't prohibit a comedian from being funny. Bill Maher has a libertarian bent and it hasn't marred his comedic sensibility. The late great Red Skelton often laughed at his own jokes but unlike Miller, Skelton's laughter seemed genuine.

After 9/11, Miller became an all-out supporter of the president's war on terrorism. Bush's war on terrorism: Miller's on board. Bush invasion of Iraq: Miller's on board. Bash the French: Miller's on board. Miller is, as he pointed out at the Burlingame fundraising luncheon -- in a bit of an overstatement --"a Rat Pack of one for the president in Hollywood."

Contrary to the popularly held wisdom, Miller is an intellectual lightweight masquerading as a modern day cross between Thucydides and Mort Sahl on steroids: A friend of mine says that Miller has the knack of being a "commercially intelligent middle-brow."

The Fox platform

The Fox News Channel recently signed Miller to offer up fresh, biting and conservative commentary on the "Hannity & Colmes" program each week. His first outing was neither fresh nor funny. His material sounded as if it had been borrowed from Rush Limbaugh. After bashing Mexican immigrants, Sen. Robert Byrd, and Sen. Hillary Clinton, Miller closed with this jarring advice:

"The next time we go to war, don't give a specific reason for the war that the left can seize upon and later flog us with it ad nauseam, just do it. Remember, the first rule of Fight Club is that you don't talk about Fight Club."

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