Mark Twain and the Orange Men

Redhead Conan O'Brien is the other orange man

Watched the show of Conan O'Brien receiving the Mark Twain Award at the Kennedy Center on Netflix over the weekend. I knew there would be a leftist anti-Donald Trump slant to the whole show but was willing to watch and enjoy for some good laughs because I truly enjoy Conan O'Brien. But when they tried to co-opt Mark Twain as a supporter of their positions - I felt they went way too far.

As a reminder Mark Twain was a good friend of Republican President Ulysses S. Grant. And definitely did not support the Democrat slave owners and the South in the Civil War. It’s a big stretch t say he’d be a Democrat today. You have a right to your feelings and jokes but not to the facts and history.

I know people like Stephen Colbert (of dancing vaccine needles fame) and Sarah Silverman would make ant-Trump jokes a centerpiece of their time on stage but was willing to overlook that. They are what they are. But what they are is the past. The one quip made that was correct is that none of the presenters will ever grace getting the Mark Twain Award in the future. Not because of their politics but because they’re really not that funny.

Noticeably absent from the event were people like Dave Chappelle, Joe Rogan, Tom Segura, Shane Gillis, and others. That's the future of comedy. What we saw on stage was really the past.

But that begs the question - how exactly was Orange man bad (redhead Conan O'Brien was the other orange man).

Just to be straight - Trump may have prevented a war from happening (Pakistan and India), seems on the verge of a cease fire in a war started under Joe Biden's watch (Ukraine and Russia), and is about to come to an accord with China. Orange man bad - how? Funny how you never seem to hear that Trump will lower America's standing in the world.

Oh President Trump is going to wreck the economy they say? You mean by getting a fair trade agreement with the UK, and about to get one with Switzerland, China, and other nations? A surging stock market? DOGE cutting government unbelievable levels of waste and outright fraud? Closing the southern border as promised? Trump bad for economy how exactly?

Orange man bad for the average working family? By greatly reducing the price at the pump, the price of groceries, lowing inflation, and announcing greatly reduced pharmaceutical prices? Trump is giving these people money back in the wallets while you offer nothing but “trust us we know better than you” attitudes. Think the working families are giving their answers plainly by Trump’s surging approval and your descending ratings across the board.

Anyway - I like Conan O'Brien. But leave the legacy of Mark Twain alone.