Mort Sahl was better at 90 than the rest of the comedians and the proof is on YouTube. I saw him live myself. Even after the show, he was still on fire.
You know I myself was surprised at how sharp and funny Mort was, right til the end. Why do you think he couldn't break through again, @Loyal? In my experience, having a strong opinion about the JFK stuff causes a lot of pushback (at NYT, for example). It might've been that; Mort's 1976 book "Heartland" is not shy about his views.
Being a true individual. There's no one like him, never will be. But a lot of lies were passed around, and I have the newspapers to prove it. Even this mainstream critic, Roger Ebert, had a friend who "heard" Mort ________, but Roger actually stayed and loved it.
He was doing this call-in radio show, and up until 2020, he'd take questions from a live audience, or from social media. People keep asking about JFK, and the reviews are "Mort Sahl Still Obsessed"
The FBI had a file on him, but actually backed off because they thought he'd satirize them harder, and it would be counter-productive, but there's this Lenny Bruce myth (guilty journalists making a buck?) because he died, but it's derivative.
Fantastic essay, Michael! I became obsessed by JFK as a young teen, but my interest in the assassination was “killed” by Oliver Stone’s ludicrous movie. I realized we’d never know who killed JFK and that it really didn’t matter in the end. We’ll never understand the Holocaust either, but, as with JFK, we have to ensure the actual facts are what people learn and not the fictional musings of directors and writers.
Brad, thank you! I am no fan of Ollie Stone (a friend has had some dealings) but his film is in large part a collage of testimony and facts as they were known in 1991.
Do I buy his (that is to say, Fletcher Prouty’s) conclusion? Not based on the film--but nor would I be surprised if that turned out to be the case. The CIA was acting entirely independently, and the Joint Chiefs were in revolt, we know that now; JFK was sleeping with Cord Meyer’s wife; there was a nexus of right wing billionaires who felt JFK was a literal traitor; the Mob was pissed; and so forth.
To me, the lone assassin theory is sunk by a single fact: the placement of the head wound by the surgeon at Parkland. If McClelland is right--and there’s no reason to dispute him--LHO could not have fired that shot. Of course there are a million other facts, but that one for me has to move the official conclusion out of most likely.
The other important thing, to me, is that there is the Zapruder film. That was complete chance, and if there were no film, there would be no controversy. And so what we have, rather than just a tragedy, is an example of our government--within moments--going into heavy CYA mode, rather than heavy “investigate this crime and punish whoever did it” mode. And that throws the legitimacy of the system into question...which is what we have lived with ever since, and what destroyed Sahl.
Maybe this is why I like Biden so much. He knows he'll never be a great speaker. He clearly plays along with the popular characterizations (footloose uncle, doddering grampy) while subverting them.
Chevy Biden falling again. Now that's entertainment. For the SNL ignorant: Chevy Chase fell quite a bit. Nowadays, not as much as Uncle Joe - America's Favorite Fool.
Mort Sahl was better at 90 than the rest of the comedians and the proof is on YouTube. I saw him live myself. Even after the show, he was still on fire.
You know I myself was surprised at how sharp and funny Mort was, right til the end. Why do you think he couldn't break through again, @Loyal? In my experience, having a strong opinion about the JFK stuff causes a lot of pushback (at NYT, for example). It might've been that; Mort's 1976 book "Heartland" is not shy about his views.
Being a true individual. There's no one like him, never will be. But a lot of lies were passed around, and I have the newspapers to prove it. Even this mainstream critic, Roger Ebert, had a friend who "heard" Mort ________, but Roger actually stayed and loved it.
https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/interview-with-mort-sahl
He was doing this call-in radio show, and up until 2020, he'd take questions from a live audience, or from social media. People keep asking about JFK, and the reviews are "Mort Sahl Still Obsessed"
The FBI had a file on him, but actually backed off because they thought he'd satirize them harder, and it would be counter-productive, but there's this Lenny Bruce myth (guilty journalists making a buck?) because he died, but it's derivative.
https://reason.com/2022/06/30/the-fbi-kept-tabs-on-mort-sahls-jokes-about-it-and-hoover-thought-sahl-was-a-sick-man/
Lastly, this site is dedicated to Mort Sahl
https://www.youtube.com/c/LoyalOpposition
Mort Sahl wasn't wrong about JFK, even if he was wrong about the whodunit. (Which he may not have been.)
The President being shot and everybody going "whatever" is antithetical to democracy.
Fantastic essay, Michael! I became obsessed by JFK as a young teen, but my interest in the assassination was “killed” by Oliver Stone’s ludicrous movie. I realized we’d never know who killed JFK and that it really didn’t matter in the end. We’ll never understand the Holocaust either, but, as with JFK, we have to ensure the actual facts are what people learn and not the fictional musings of directors and writers.
Brad, thank you! I am no fan of Ollie Stone (a friend has had some dealings) but his film is in large part a collage of testimony and facts as they were known in 1991.
Do I buy his (that is to say, Fletcher Prouty’s) conclusion? Not based on the film--but nor would I be surprised if that turned out to be the case. The CIA was acting entirely independently, and the Joint Chiefs were in revolt, we know that now; JFK was sleeping with Cord Meyer’s wife; there was a nexus of right wing billionaires who felt JFK was a literal traitor; the Mob was pissed; and so forth.
To me, the lone assassin theory is sunk by a single fact: the placement of the head wound by the surgeon at Parkland. If McClelland is right--and there’s no reason to dispute him--LHO could not have fired that shot. Of course there are a million other facts, but that one for me has to move the official conclusion out of most likely.
The other important thing, to me, is that there is the Zapruder film. That was complete chance, and if there were no film, there would be no controversy. And so what we have, rather than just a tragedy, is an example of our government--within moments--going into heavy CYA mode, rather than heavy “investigate this crime and punish whoever did it” mode. And that throws the legitimacy of the system into question...which is what we have lived with ever since, and what destroyed Sahl.
Maybe this is why I like Biden so much. He knows he'll never be a great speaker. He clearly plays along with the popular characterizations (footloose uncle, doddering grampy) while subverting them.
Chevy Biden falling again. Now that's entertainment. For the SNL ignorant: Chevy Chase fell quite a bit. Nowadays, not as much as Uncle Joe - America's Favorite Fool.
As surely you remember Don, it was Gerald Ford that Chevy was lampooning.
Yes, sadly I do. Wrote a song about it called I Can't Help My Falling On Air Force One.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKXLR3KdsMU