Archie Bunker Wasn't Really Funny

The popular sitcom All In The Family tried to portray Archie Bunker as a lovable conservative, a working-class curmudgeon who had a good heart and just valued tradition. But in fact he was a stupid bigoted asshole and the beginning of the end for any kind of principled conservatism. The shows producers were trying to be progressive and understanding of the changes Reaganism was bringing, but mistook tolerance for politics. We can now see the results of this desire for unity. Instead of being another prejudiced dumb bastard, he was "politically incorrect". Aggrieved and full of resentful self pity, the audience was supposed to sympathize with a "regular Joe" in a changing America. We knew he wasn't a "real" racist because he had such a sweet, dumb (but loaded with "common sense") wife who liked her role of wife and mother but wanted to cautiously test the role's feminist boundaries. In this sense I see Archie as a precursor to Tea Party Trumpism with all it's defiant, boastful incoherence.When they say Make America Great Again they mean bring back Archie, exalt Archie as the anti-woke, crass, working stiff. The worker who blamed Outsiders instead of the Boss. Who wanted to fight a culture war instead of class war. Who just wanted to kick back in his easy chair and watch tv and have his wife bring him beers. Democrats blamed Hillary for alienating the Archies by calling them deplorable. But they are deplorable whiners and they were alienated long before Hillary's campaign.Now they have abandoned all pretence of political philosophy and in favor of the blood thirsty howl of the self-righteous mob.