One of the Left’s favorite philosophers, Friedrich Nietzsche, correctly predicted that the “death of God” would lead to a nihilist upheaval (e.g. The Gay (fröhliche) Science, #343). Put succinctly, if what was passionately believed for centuries to be the basis of truth is now considered false (i.e. the “death of God”) people will start to believe that nothing is ultimately true.
The American version of Nietzsche’s
prediction has become increasingly clear as faith diminishes and truth is
transmogrified into political correctness and whatever sexual lunacy Leftists
impose via their near monopoly over the means of education and communication.
Given this state of affairs, one might ponder the outlook of individuals who
come of age in this era, imbibe liberally its relativistic assumptions, but
can’t stomach the political absurdities. Such are the social genetics, I think,
that explain personalities of the Greg Gutfeld, Kat Timpf stripe--neither of
whom should be called, or want to be called, “conservatives.”
While Gutfeld exults in exposing Leftist
irrationality and even on rare occasions manages to compose monologues that
omit his obsession with scatology, the host of late-night’s raunchy response to
The View seldom, if ever, focuses diagnostic attention on intact
families and never on religious faith. Assuming Gutfeld’s humor bears
some relationship to the truth, he has little affection for children and scant
appreciation for male-female households whose primary focus is raising kids to
be moral adults. Instead, when offering cultural remedies, Gutfeld typically
echoes the leftist cliché about education. To be fair, he adds an important
“school choice” proviso that, while valid, continues to ignore the fact that
schooling alone will have little impact on cultural degradation absent a
revolution in curricula that presupposes massive institutional changes. And those
changes won’t happen without a huge moral awakening that spawns millions more
intact families. On one program it was up to Gutfeld’s conservative guest
Mercedes Schlapp to note the essential role families play in shaping children’s
lives.
Ironically, the expletive-filled Gutfeld!
program airs at 8 p.m. on the West Coast, the former “family hour.” That irony
becomes thicker whenever Gutfeld passionately and regularly advocates the
legalization of drugs--a position that coincides with his comic persona as an
aficionado of most forms of chemical intoxication and sexual
deviancy. Unfortunately such references may no longer be over the heads of
South Park tweeners who tune in looking for some early-evening SNL
humor. Given his oft-declared attachment to music emitted by bands with
nihilist inclinations as well as his compulsive snicker, it’s not a stretch to
think Gutfeld might actually assuage his psychological demons by resorting to
other than over-the-counter remedies.
On this issue Gutfeld has a reliable echo
in the person of Kat Timpf, a self-proclaimed libertarian whose on-air
superficiality doubtless has Ayn Rand spinning in her grave. Kat’s a “no
rules” gal whose “live and let die” philosophy opposes laws both against and
for sexualizing young kids in school. In real life, of course, that
position means allowing radicals who set the agenda for public education to
continue pushing “instruction” to six-year-olds that would have been deemed
child abuse twenty years ago. On one program Timpf was even unwilling to oppose
(or favor) drag queen shows for kids. Instead, she commented with unusual
passion about her friendships with practitioners of that “profession.”
I find it hard to understand how Timpf
became a writer (or blogger) for National Review, but it’s clear she has
no affection for religion and only offers back of the hand “raised Catholic”
slights that would have made William F. Buckley bolt up straight in his
chair. It’s also revealing that Timpf once complained bitterly about how
cold she was in the studio while wearing, as is her wont, attire suitable for a
Caribbean beach. On another occasion Timpf scoffed at the name Rand Paul (as if
“he” were a Libertarian) and affirmed her political allegiance to the Senator’s
eccentric dad, former Congressman Ron Paul. To sum up, Timpf has to be
squeezed to say anything remotely akin to a moral imperative but gets
passionate about drag queens, drug legalization, criticism of the Beatles, and
her desire to be left alone by others--a “hands off” preference that includes
taxes and existence of the Federal Reserve.
It isn’t particularly surprising that
late 20th century America produced individuals of the Gutfeld/Timpf
stripe, personalities who put on display for an audience’s amusement lives
enmeshed in emotional turbulence, stimulants, and various degrees of
intellectual virtuosity that appear devoid of serious attachment to the Western
intellectual, religious, and artistic traditions—individuals who clearly have
little contact with line-dancing folks in “fly-over” country who love God,
family, football, and the flag.
If Gutfeld/Timpf were the only
alternative to Leftist tyranny, I’d take it. But the important point here is
that a shallow, agnostic, “libertarian” alternative is incapable of successfully
opposing Leftist tyranny. One can’t defeat morally deranged ideologues
with “live and let die” lifestyles put forward without commitment to a widely
shared, deeply felt moral vision. I can imagine Leftists licking their
chops while facing a regiment of drug-friendly “libertines” whose most
passionate ideals extend no further than the desire to have a good time and a
wish to be left alone.
Richard Kirk is a freelance writer living in Southern California
whose book Moral Illiteracy: "Who's to
Say?" is also available on Kindle
