Janeane Garafalo might be slipping in terms of celebrity when her interview with the Washington Post is for the Express, the free commuter tabloid -- well, not actually, in the tabloid, but on the tabloid's separate website, ReadExpress.com. All there was in Tuesday's paper Express was a photo and the promo that she called Ann Coulter a "clown" and Mitt Romney an "unprintable." She professed that doing cable talk shows doesn't do much for her: "it does nothing but result in my puppet's head getting blown off in Team America." She's at least this smart:
EXPRESS: In the last few years, what drew you into the world of political punditry and led you to take your views public?
GAROFALO: Well, it wasn't because I thought I was good at it. And it wasn't because I thought people respected my opinions.
After all, the former Air America radio host was the one who hilariously suggested Bush was "unelectable, in my opinion" -- on the night of his inauguration. When she co-hosted CNN's Crossfire, she made odd attacks like the Bush administration is the "conspiracy of the 43rd Reich." Garofalo then unspooled for the Express her regular complaint that the conservative corporate media prefers celebrity bubbleheads like her on politics:
Because the mainstream media or corporate media — whatever people call it — whenever there is a view to be represented that is counter to the Washington consensus, or counter to the conservative consensus, they will put on people to represent it who are easily mocked and marginalized — aka me — and other actors, musicians, what have you. I don't know why that is, but the mainstream or corporate media, for whatever reason, tends to like to paint any view that is outside of the conservative Washington consensus as a bit wacky and out of touch.
She kept downplaying her pundit talents as she describes how she aches to declare that Ann Coulter is nothing like Bill Maher:
I don't really do it much any more only because I'm just not that good at it, "pundit-wise." But … there's some stuff that gets under my craw, like spin — the latest two main spins — that Scooter Libby's a good guy and Ann Coulter is a comedian like Bill Maher. Now, I believe Ann Coulter is a clown. There's no doubt about that: She's a performing clown. But there's a huge difference between Ann Coulter's representation of herself and Bill Maher. That's the kind of thing that gets me going. So I used to really take the opportunity to be on these shows but I realized it does nothing but result in my puppet's head getting blown off in "Team America." That's the end game of that.
From there, we learned without much elaboration that Garofalo thinks Governor Romney somehow earns the rectal insult:
EXPRESS: So you're not going to be doing much political pundit-style commentary as the election season cranks into high gear?
GAROFALO: I don't think anybody's interested in asking me about that. I can't imagine that. Honestly, I really don't foresee anyone saying, "Come on the show and tell us what you think about [former Massachusetts Gov.] Mitt Romney." I think he's an a--hole. I'll tell you that, but you didn't even ask, so, unsolicited, I think Mitt Romney's an a--hole. And you may quote me. But I can't imagine anybody asking me.
