Garofalo sounds off

Late on this because The Advocate isn't on my reading list.

There seems to be a lack of humor on right-wing radio shows. Why are irony and satire so central to Air America?

I think it’s because traditionally, [comedy] hasn’t been a part of talk radio. A lot of the radio right-wingers don’t have great senses of humor. They have mean-spirited senses of humor or sarcasm or they play real fast and loose with the truth. But part of the reason why they’re so far to the right is that they’re not particularly intellectual, analytical thinkers. Politics is very personality-driven, and there’s a reason why a lot of people go hard-core to the right and tend to be slightly sexist, homophobic, or slightly racist. I’m using the term “slightly” in some cases, and maybe not slightly at all in other cases. I’m not saying that all of them are stupid; that would be too reductive. But the reason why a lot of people are hard-core to the right is because of their personality type.

Unlike George W. Bush and John Kerry, Ralph Nader unequivocally supports same-sex marriage. Naturally, this is a very important issue for many gays and lesbians. What would you say to Nader supporters?

I would recommend that they support Nader’s grassroots organization and vote for Kerry, and let me explain what I mean by that. At this point, voting is not art. It can’t be, “I’ve got to vote my conscience; I’ve got to vote Nader.” Well, the time for dealing with your conscience and living authentically is every day, and you can do that with grassroots organizing and by sending money to organizations that you believe in. Now, going beyond authentic living, you have to unfortunately be pragmatic in this election when it comes to voting. And pragmatism in this election means voting for John Kerry. Because voting for Nader may only help the Republicans get Bush into office again for four more years. Howard Zinn, the great historian whom we had on the show the other night, said, “If you vote for John Kerry, you have a slim ledge to stand on to make America a better place. If you do not vote for Kerry and Bush gets in for four more years, there’s no more ledge, and we go right out the window.” So you can vote your conscience every day by how you choose to live and by who you walk with. You know, there’s a phrase, “Tell me who you walk with, and I’ll tell you who you are.” You can walk with the righteous every single day, but when it comes to voting in this particular election, we don’t have a lot of wiggle room when it comes to the statement of voting for Nader.