Dumb As As Swing Voter

Irony is indeed dead. In fact, it’s been cremated. Unless it’s George Bush making a Beavis and Butthead joke, every utterance is now taken literally no matter how obviously absurd or satirical.

For instance, everyone from Adam Nagourney to Chris Suellentrop is all atwitter at how stupid John Kerry was for betraying that he cannot make up his mind at a restaurant.”Oh my God, doesn’t he realize that it makes him sound indecisive? Somebody tell Teresa!”

Now, I know that Kerry is no Chris Rock, but really, it is clear to any twelve year old that he was speaking with his tongue firmly in his cheek when he said this:

Kerry decided it would be a good idea in Pennsylvania to talk about how he has difficulty deciding what to eat at restaurants. “You know when they give you the menu, I’m always struggling, what do you want?” he said. A cook at a local restaurant, though, solves Kerry’s dilemma by serving “whatever he’s cooked up that day. I think that’s the way it ought to work for confused people like me who can’t make up our minds what we’re going to eat.”

It’s not particularly funny, but it is also not an earnest admission of Kerry’s flip-flopping dining habits fergawdssake. He was making fun of himself.