Readers Forum: Gridiron: incorrect and proud

By TOM CAMPBELL
2/10/02

Some of the greatest humorists in U.S. history would be in deep trouble if they were writing today. They would be so busy defending themselves that their creative output would be curtailed significantly. Much of what they wrote or said would be labeled "politically incorrect."

Mark Twain, H.L. Mencken and Will Rogers would be on the firing line. Mencken, the legendary editor of American Mercury Magazine, once wrote: "Faith may be defined briefly as an illogical belief in the improbable." He also said: "The opera is to music what a bawdy house is to a cathedral." Expressed today, those opinions would gain him admission into the Politically Incorrect Hall of Fame.

Will Rogers also could be in trouble today. His quip, "I have never been depressed enough to take up golf," might brand him as unsympathetic to the mentally ill and a detractor of the sport that gave us Tiger Woods. His jokes about women would infuriate feminists.

As for Mark Twain, his masterpiece, "Huckleberry Finn," is removed from school libraries on a regular basis for alleged racist overtones. Two of William Shakespeare's plays, "Othello" and "The Merchant of Venice," are being blacklisted for supposedly anti-black and anti-Jewish sentiments.

Here in Oklahoma, Gov. Frank Keating has felt the sharp pain of political incorrectness, and learned that facetious remarks are dangerous indeed. The governor (probably) didn't want to shoot school teachers when he jokingly made such a suggestion. His chagrin at his wife Cathy's loss in the congressional primary didn't mean he necessarily thinks Tulsans are stupid -- but the outcry was tumultuous.

Admittedly, there are a few fonts of political incorrectness who move along with relative immunity -- among them Rush Limbaugh. He's such a good-natured guy that even ACLU members sometimes smile at his pontifications.

As someone who has helped write the Gridiron show for 27 years, I believe that the 2002 script assembled by P. Casey Morgan, chief author, is a pacesetter in terms of political incorrectness. Two scenes set the pace. One highlights Oklahoma's forging ahead of Texas for the No. 1 national position in executions, and the other details the troubles of Joe Williams, city councilor. The skits are exaggerations, which is a trademark of satire, but they are sure to annoy many attendees as well as elicit laughter from most of them.

The show also will feature scenes dealing with football mania, the U.S. Open, the prairie dog dilemma, the Phillips-Conoco merger, Mayor Susan Savage's farewell, anthrax mail, J.C. Watts and his airport antics and Harry Potter. The title of this year's Gridiron is, "Lame Ducks and Councilmen or Osama, Where Art Thou?"

In addition to Morgan, Gridiron authors include Randy Krehbiel, Eva-Marie Gooden, Tom Campbell, Dennis Smiley, Jeff Buckley, Paul Davidson and D.J. Morrow, chairperson of the sponsoring Tulsa Press Club Educational and Charitable Trust. Sonny Gray will continue his prestigious reign as musical director.

Proceeds will fund journalism/communication scholarships at several universities and colleges in Oklahoma.

Tickets to the 8 p.m. general admission show on Thursday, Feb. 21, can be purchased for $10 at the Novel Idea Bookstores or at the Tulsa Press Club, located in the lobby of the Atlas Life Building, 415 S. Boston Ave. People interested in the Friday banquet show should call the Tulsa Press Club at 583-7737. Performances will be in the Bernsen Center of the First Presbyterian Church.