#43 - The United States of Sisyphus

Lewis Black's Rantcast

Lewis Black

Stand-up, Leisure, Comedy

4.7 • 843 Ratings

🗓️ 26 May 2021

⏱️ 79 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As the unofficial start of summer approaches, and we emerge (maybe) from the pandemic, now may seem like the time for hope and optimism. This is not the place for that. Instead, as your host points out, we are living in a continuous Sisyphean loop of politics, where just as it seems we may actually get something done, the boulder of democracy comes rolling back down. Among the things Congress is not getting done: infrastructure, voting rights, and a Jan. 6th insurrection commission. They have plenty of time to grandstand and make specious claims about liberties being infringed, but they can’t actually do the work that they were elected to do. Whatever the cause, it is Congress that is keeping the country from living up to its potential. Simply put, they need to grow up. The view outside the Beltway isn’t much better as the same disputes keep popping up, as if history itself is also stuck in a loop. This can be seen in the conflicts between the Israelis and the Palestinians, between governments and the journalists who dare to criticize them (Belarus), and between the profit motive and a responsible, informative press (Chicago Tribune). The essence of these conflicts is power vs. people and perhaps if we would acknowledge all the differing narratives of history, rather than enforce one overarching story, we could finally get the stone over the hill. The homework assignment for this week: use the Memorial Day holiday to discuss the meaning of liberty on both a personal and community level and read the Constitution. Extra credit for anyone who sends in a good Ninth Amendment rant. This week’s submissions feature responses to rants about transgender athletes and using UPS to ship packages. We also have rants about toddler drivers, having a given name that causes pronunciation and gender confusion, organizing the kitchen, the insurrection, robocalls, and Memorial Day. Plus an extraordinary account from an infection control nurse about the plague of misinformation during the pandemic. Lewis’ new special, Thanks For Risking Your Life is available now! https://tlbrecords.lnk.to/LewisWE New episodes arrive every Wednesday. SUBMIT RANTS TO LEWIS www.lewisblack.com/live SUBSCRIBE TO THE RANTCAST www.lewisblacksrantcast.com FOLLOW LEWIS www.lewisblack.com www.youtube.com/officiallewisblack www.instagram.com/thelewisblack www.facebook.com/thelewisblack www.twitter.com/thelewisblack www.tiktok.com/@thelewisblack For advertising opportunities/contact email: rantcast@thesyn.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	And the rubber chicken says, Marjorie Taylor Green compared wearing a mask in the House of Representatives to the Holocaust, which means I have more brains than she does,
0:41.5	and I haven't got any because I'm a rubber chicken.
0:44.7	Oh, that's just terrific.
0:47.1	That is a terrific way to put things into perspective, and I'd love to spend some time discussing that,
0:53.1	but we've got to get on with Lewis Blacks,
0:55.4	Randcast, number 43 entitled, the United States of Sisyphus. Yes, Sir E. Bob, I'd like to rename it
1:04.0	our country, not the United States of America, but the United States of Sisyphus is once again,
1:10.4	we prove to ourselves in the world
1:13.0	that there are so many things that we get so close to getting done as a people. Yes, we get
1:20.4	almost to where they should be, almost to the top, just like, just like Sisyphus. Yes, we roll that rock up there. And just before it gets
1:32.5	to the top, oh, we tire it out. And it rolls back down the hill. And God, in heaven, it's
1:38.6	continuous and it's tiresome. And I'm just about sick of it. And I cannot believe that we have to go through this shit over and over and over again.
1:48.8	And to deal with the rights of folks to be able to vote without any nonsense standing between them in a voting booth.
1:57.0	And that somehow that you've got to come up with a variety of bullshit.
2:01.6	Every other country on earth, for fuck's sake, does everything that they can ensure the fact
2:08.6	that somebody is able to vote except for us.
2:10.6	We're going to have to check out, whether, you know, uh-uh, okay?
2:14.6	Make it simple, all right?
2:16.6	I'm sick of it. And we've got to fight this over and over and over again. And then they come up with a whole set of rules and then we've got to go back to the court. And the amount of money that we waste, having this discussion again and again and again. And once again, the Supreme Court is going to discuss the woman's right to choose. Well, we had that almost to the top of the hill.
2:39.2	Well, we certainly did. Now, we're going to have to discuss that again. And the good folks of the state of Texas who really can't rumble enough when it comes to, boy, oh, boy, we've got our
2:44.5	own way of working down there. Well, why don't you become your own country, okay? And then set up some borders so you can have, but we can
2:51.0	kind of deal with that and come up with your own currency and whatever else you want to do,
	...

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