Applauding for a Naked Emperor

There's one weird part of the "State of the Union" speech. After every point, the Democrats applaud as if it were the most brilliant thing they ever heard.

Here's an amusing post on "What if a corporate board meeting were like the State of the Union address?" That post makes an important point. Under normal circumstances, people don't act like the audience at the State of the Union address. "Promote freedom via comedy!" seems like a reasonable approach.

For a long time, the State of the Union was delivered in written form. Then, it was changed to a speech. With the advent of TV, it was moved to primetime and turned into a huge spectacle.

The State of the Union ritual resembles the King's court sucking up for favors. Some people say it's a clear indication that the original Constitution has been subverted.

The Democrats applaud at every point. The Republicans have a trickier role. The Republicans have to say "We prefer that someone else would be President. However, the authority of the State is legitimate. The authority of the President is legitimate, even though we disapprove of his policies." The Republicans show respect, but not too much respect.

The Democrats and Republicans are false opposites. The Democrats applaud every point. The Republicans show their respect and disapproval. This provides the slaves with the illusion that someone is protecting their freedom and looking out for their interests.

This reminds me of an amusing incident while I was in grad school. It's very similar to Democrats applauding during the State of the Union speech.

A Math professor was named to an "endowed chair", a big promotion. He gave a lecture celebrating the promotion. The talk was heavily advertised and promoted all over campus. The auditorium was *PACKED*. I thought it was neat. He would give a good talk, and people would see that Mathematicians aren't pathetic losers.

The lecture was *AWFUL*. He spent most of the time defining "complex number". It was obvious someone else had written the talk for him. He didn't even bother reading it before the talk. No other Math professor asked him to rehearse.

I was extremely offended. The interesting part was the reaction of the other Math professors. They sat there smiling as if it were the most brilliant talk they had ever heard. What a bunch of ****suckers.

When I see Democrats applauding wildly during the State of the Union speech, it reminds me of those Math professors sitting there smiling during the worst lecture I had ever heard.

The State of the Union speech is a ritual designed to reinforce the legitimacy of the State. I don't bother watching. It's one big evil fnord.

I had one interesting idea, if I attempt "promote agorism via standup comedy". I would bleep out certain word to "enhance" the meaning. I would also add a laugh track.

For example, instead of "We will stimulate the economy!", it would be "We will **** the economy! (laughter)" That would be amusing. Maybe I should get some video editing software and do it. Most politicians use other words when a swear word would be more accurate.

I got the idea from some YouTube videos, where certain words were bleeped out of Sesame Street to make it pornographic. That, plus the laugh track, would be pretty neat.