Man. Myth. Morland.: Miller: rantings and ratings

Since Miller has jumped—swooned, actually—into bed with the G.O.P., he's morphed into something like Lenny Bruce in reverse. Think about it : where Bruce shredded pieties and tore-down the hypocrisies of the 50s and early 60s, the new and improved Miller defends the status quo, and uses his comedic platform to bolster those in power. Forget speaking truth to power: Miller whispers sweet nothings in power's ear and even writes jokes to come out its mouth from time to time. The shaggy mutt with the wily look in his eyes and the occasional fangs has become a lapdog, happy to roll over and have his tummy rubbed by the President.

I used to be a big fan of Dennis Miller as well. His frenetic delivery chock-full of esoteric references always brought back memories of a hyperactive early-career Robin Williams (though while Williams used stunning quantities of cocaine as propulsion, Miller always seemed to leverage instead the rather conspicuous chip on his shoulder), at least with respect to the level of attention demanded of its viewers. Unfortunately, like Jack, Miller went on to prove an immutable law of comedy regarding the staleness of prolonged reliance on formulaic rapid-fire monologues.

I think in Miller's mind, he's as anti-authoritarian as ever. When he first arrived on the scene, his derision fell upon much the same targets as the average Joe's. Now, years of working in Hollywood having warped and shifted his conception of the politician median far to the left of its actual national resting place, he likely sees this as an attempt to assail the perceived establishment once again. That he has to ally with a different machine, one that some would deem far more insidious than the last, is to him a small and ephemeral price to pay to dive a burr into the sides of all those smug actors, writers, and executives whose company his galactic ego has been forced to suffer all this time. This is just another act of adolescent rebellion, Alex P. Keaton style. It's just so much easier to rebel against your parents (or entertainment honchos) than to step back and survey the whole situation.

He's likely to prove another immutable law, this one political, about the staleness of prolonged reliance on formulaic iconoclasm.