Our US empire is in steep decline. In order to wrest complete control over the globe and feed a rapacious thirst for resources and wealth, the American ruling elite is wreaking havoc around the world. Meanwhile, average Americans are suffering, legs trembling under a mountain of debt as they toil at unfulfilling, underpaying jobs. And those with enough time and energy to get angry and fight back are told that the answer is to vote for one of the two pro-war, pro–Wall Street corporate parties claiming to be their savior.
This epic tragedy does not sound like the beginning of a joke. But somehow comedian and TV host Lee Camp makes it both funny and interesting. Whether he is setting his sights on the scandal of $21 trillion worth of unaccounted-for financial adjustments at the Pentagon or the scorching environmental and human tragedy caused by climate chaos, it’s unsurprising that one of our most incisive political commentators is technically a comedian. Camp knifes his way through the jungle of fake news, alternative facts, mainstream media lies, and government blackouts, trailblazing a path between Hunter S. Thompson and Jon Stewart.
Perhaps the present-day story of America can only accurately be told by a comedian, otherwise no one would believe it. In a world where con men are heralded as leaders, locking up peace activists is perceived as justice, trumpeting state propaganda is considered journalism, and mocking environmentalists is championed as strength, it’s only appropriate that a comedian is viewed as more reliable than the evening news.
Lee Camp is an American comedian, writer, activist, and host and co-creator of the hit comedy news show Redacted Tonight with Lee Camp and Redacted Tonight: VIP on RT America. He’s a former Headline writer for the Onion and a former staff humor writer for the Huffington Post. He has performed thousands of stand-up comedy shows throughout the US and internationally. He’s also the creator and host of the web show Moment of Clarity. His other books include Moment of Clarity, and his 2018 stand-up comedy special Not Allowed on American TV has received rave reviews. He’s also the cohost of the weekly podcast Common Censored.
Chris Hedges is an American journalist, Presbyterian minister, and visiting Princeton University lecturer. His books include War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction; Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle; Death of the Liberal Class; Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt, written with cartoonist Joe Sacco; Wages of Rebellion: The Moral Imperative of Revolt; and his most recent, America: The Farewell Tour.
Jimmy Dore is an American comedian and social critic, producer of The Jimmy Dore Show, and the author of Your Country Is Just Not That Into You.
