Civil Discourse, or, “Why, Jimmy Dore, Why?”

I’m a big fan of the comedian Jimmy Dore. I first learned about him from The Young Turks, a progressive internet news show. I like Jimmy’s take-no-prisoners honesty, and his unwillingness to overlook crimes committed by Democrats just because they’re Democrats.

I’m also a big fan of The Jimmy Dore Show, his podcast of news and comedy. There aren’t many podcasts that make me laugh out loud, but Jimmy’s regularly does. And it does more than that, too. Jimmy’s interviews are insightful and pointed, such as the interview on the most recent episode (Jan. 6, 2017) with reporter Glenn Greenwald.

For me, among the highlights of every episode are the phone calls. A very talented impressionist leaves voicemails or does live conversations as Mitt Romney, Barack Obama and many others. On the Jan. 6 episode, one of the calls was “Harrison Ford,” talking about Carrie Fisher. You can listen to the call for yourself at the top of this post. Please note that the audio is the property of The Jimmy Dore Show. I’m posting it here because I don’t want you to have to take my word for the content.

I was really surprised by the call. I thought it was tone deaf and misogynist and made light of mental illness, all things I find very uncharacteristic of Jimmy’s show. I think when public people make missteps, we can and should speak up. So I tweeted at Jimmy:

@jimmy_dore I thought the Harrison Ford call was tone deaf and misogynistic and very surprising for your show.

— Jason Crane (@JasonDCrane) January 7, 2017

I got this in reply:

@JasonDCrane that's why we're the pros and not you, but thanks for ur concern. #Holyfuckballs

— Jimmy Dore (@jimmy_dore) January 8, 2017

This is condescending and much more representative of what I’d expect from a less progressive person than Jimmy. I said as much:

@jimmy_dore This response is also really disappointing.

— Jason Crane (@JasonDCrane) January 8, 2017

And Jimmy replied again:

@JasonDCrane you should get a new hero. and blow me

— Jimmy Dore (@jimmy_dore) January 8, 2017

I sent one last comment:

@jimmy_dore I respect you so much. I can't imagine why you'd act this way.

— Jason Crane (@JasonDCrane) January 8, 2017

Is this a big deal? No. It’s just disappointing. Jimmy’s not a hero of mine, but I respect his work both as a comedian and as a truth-teller. I expected better. But I guess this is where our culture is at these days.