Shout-Out to "Mad"

To all my readers and, perhaps more accurately, non-readers, I have been on a bit of a hiatus from this blog. Yes, I missed it and, yes, it was nice taking a bit of a breather. Now, I am back. Over eleven-hundred blog entries and still counting. Not bad. Sadly, my return is a bit of a sad one as I wish to give a shout-out and appreciation to "Mad" magazine. This classic publication has been part of the American landscape for nearly seventy years. Recently, its publisher announced that the magazine will be ending its reign of wit, sarcasm, silliness, and lampooning shortly. I, for one, am not happy with this decision.

Could one say that I am now mad at "Mad" magazine? Perhaps. But more than that, I am grateful to the many smiles it has given me my entire life. (I "started" just a little before "Mad's" first edition hit the newsstands.) While I cannot say I read every issue of the magazine, I certainly read enough over the years to recognize it for the treasure it has been for almost seven decades. Being funny is not easy, especially on a consistent basis. But what the folks at "Mad" did, was take "funny" to a higher level by being clever, insightful and, at times, profound. Its jokes on such aspects of our culture as politics, entertainment and advertising, to name a few, has been spot-on.

Not on-purpose, with the U.S. and so many its leaders in an array of areas being the kind of people they are, "Mad's" writers were never without targets in which to poke holes. Though this may have ruffled a few egos over the year, it has long been my perspective those at the top need to be satirized from time-to-time. Not only does this give them an opportunity to assess their behavior, it also provides us affected by their decisions and personalities with a reminder that they are just as human as us and, as a result, no better as people. So thank you, "Mad" magazine. If you ever think of coming out of retirement, then that will be fine by me.