Beating the censors...

I was surfing YouTube the other night, and clicked on the video above. I'm a big fan of Craig Ferguson; in fact I think he's the best of the late-night hosts out there. Maybe it's the accent (probably), maybe it's that he's the least liberal and most aware of his status as entertainer. Anyway, I was watching this, and about 2 minutes in, they started talking about dealing with the censors in the days of the Smothers Brothers TV show, and how they got around them. Watch this, and listen very carefully, starting at about 4:50 and especially at 5:20. Tommy talks about negotiating with the censors, and how they might have to cut something bigger, but in return some smaller stuff would be allowed in. This reminds me of the way the current administration is working, especially this thing with the address to the children and the health care reform bill. I personally think that a lot of this controversy is about the principle of "shoot for the stars, but hit the moon". It's a time-honored principle wherein a politician puts forth some ideas that he knows in advance will never get past the voters, but in rejecting those larger ideas, some smaller ones slip by. And in the process, the politician's agenda is still furthered, just in more incremental ways than he might have liked. It's the old frog-boiling scheme all over again, only this time the frog appears to be fighting back. Keep kicking, frogs--maybe the water we splash can douse the flame of socialism and we can get about the business of life, liberty, and the pusuit of happiness.