Cho: It is fear based and an example of our own self defeating self-censorship and being unable to stand on our own as liberals. It is as if being liberal is enough of a cultural affront, so that we must be as conservative as possible as not to offend the conservatives any more than we have to.

What is the terrible thing about being compassionate? Why is it so bad to care about other people? After all, this is what the democratic party to me is all about. Not being selfish.

Unfortunately on the 'political' stage, this is considered somehow undisciplined and needing some way to rein it in when it gets too honest. The hyperbolic and insane rants of neo-con pundits is tolerated because the conservatives know that the key to winning is keeping a united front. The Democrats haven't gotten that far yet.

BuzzFlash: Dennis Miller introduced George W. Bush in Wisconsin recently and implied that Kerry and Edwards are, as Governor Gropinator would say, "Girlie Men." Why does he get away with this stuff and no one on the Democratic side calls for his removal from corporate sponsorships and his sad-assed television show?

Cho: The Democrats have a long-term inferiority complex, where we feel we do not have the right to protest those who stand in the ivory tower of privilege. This is why no one calls out conservatives when they are offensive, which is often.

The conservatives know that the only way to get anywhere is to stand together. They have the luxury of not having to worry about a backlash, because they can look up at any protest and brush it off, acting as if the other side can't take a joke.

The sad thing is that it is true. We can't take a joke, especially if it comes from one of our own. We are incredibly intolerant and biased against our own party. Once we have an ease and acceptance that we are all different, we can have a sense of humor and we can laugh without fear of retribution or worry about retaliation.

BuzzFlash: You've got a huge following in the the gay and lesbian community. The Republicans are using gay and lesbians for political target practice this campaign. You're an outspoken defender of individual gender choice. We can see them canceling Jerry Falwell, but why you?

Cho: I don't really know, and I don't wish to speculate, because it is divisive. I am going to continue with my work as an activist within the queer community, and that includes working diligently for the same organization that would ban me from their event. I look at the big picture, rather than the small-minded thinking that would have my opinion be too 'racy' or risqué for their political function.

It is out of bounds what the conservatives are doing to the gay community. We are being dehumanized, looked at as less than deserving of equal rights. If you really listen to what they are saying, it is likely that if we let them get away with talking like this now, what would stop them from having us all removed from American society altogether?

I don't see why we must accommodate their intolerance to advance ourselves politically. It makes no sense. But this is what it means when my voice is silenced. We are accommodating intolerance.

BuzzFlash: Okay, Whoopi Goldberg gets canceled from Slim-Fast; Linda Ronstadt gets thrown out of the Aladdin Hotel; and Howard Stern gets his show canceled -- all for not towing the Bush Cartel line? Now, you've joined them on the right wing politically correct "shut up or lose your contract" wall of fame. Whatever happened to the First Amendment?

Cho: It is like blacklisting all over again.

Fortunately, we have people who are willing to stand up for their beliefs and the fact that they suffer for it gains the attention of others who have similar views, which is far more than we realize. We cannot censor intelligent thinking, and, therefore, these people that you have mentioned will be remembered for doing just that, and being vocal about it, and being punished for it which makes them cool.

Being a dissident is cool. Being anti-establishment is cool. Whatever the conservatives or the liberals try to do, they can never take that away from us.

* * *

Here is our earlier recorded interview with Cho:

BuzzFlash: The last time we interviewed you, you had just performed for MoveOn.org for the “Bush in 30 Seconds” video contest awards night. And the right-wing completely misrepresented your statements and jokes and called you profane. After which the “freepers” – the psychos from the Free Press --went after you with their bigoted and racist hate mail. But recently Vice President Dick Cheney told Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy to go f**k himself inside the Senate Chamber. Cheney later defended his outburst and refused to apologize. What’s your take on the hypocrisy?

Cho: It’s not hypocrisy because Cheney’s already told the whole world to go f*** themselves. It’s surprising for somebody who is supposed to be a leader and supposed to be very diplomatic not to have some kind of anger management program that they attend regularly. But he’s just a hothead and cantankerous. The gentility of the whole administration is so questionable. It always has been, so none of that is surprising to me.

BuzzFlash: How do you balance being a comic, whose job it is to make people laugh, when you talk about political or social issues? I mean, your primary job as a comic is be funny.

Cho: I guess because if you didn’t laugh at it, it would be really tragic. If you didn’t try to find humor in whatever was going on, you just want to die, because it seems hopeless when you look at the mainstream news about everything that is happening -- like this idea that handing over power to Iraq is going to make everything better. The hypocrisy and the lies are terrifying. So it’s more like gallows humor than anything else. People who work in emergency medicine have the meanest sense of humor of all. That’s kind of the way that I see what’s happening; we have to be really frustrated but also retain a sense of lightness about it because if we don’t, we’ll just perish under our own anger. And then that’s not the point. You want to be able to survive it.

BuzzFlash: Are there any political topics that are so personal that you can’t or won’t talk about?

Cho: I don’t think so. Everything’s pretty much open to ridicule, or everything is not. There’s nothing that hits me personally that I would say I want to back away from an issue, or I haven’t seen it yet.

BuzzFlash: Is it ever difficult for you to talk about your life, your heritage, or your sexuality, when you’re on stage? The ideas that are most personal to you are more likely the funniest.

Cho: I think that’s because they’re the most relevant. The things that are the funniest probably have roots in a lot of pain and frustration. Things that are personal don’t really affect what I see as potential material for putting into a show. When I’m with an audience for a performance I want to feel like I know them, or I want to feel something emotional with them. I don’t like a distant kind of emotional-less robotic entertainment. It’s got to have some sort of substance to it emotionally so it becomes valuable.

BuzzFlash: You say at the end of your performance that silence equals non-existence. Have you always felt that way? Is that what spurred you into going into stand-up comedy?

Cho: I never heard voices out there that were similar to mine or were relevant to mine. I always was trying to find some kind of outlaw voice out there that I could identify with. Being able to be an uncompromising performer is very important, and not having to be silenced by anything is really great.

BuzzFlash: Do you feel that times are changing with respect to Americans becoming more open-minded about gay and lesbian issues and same-sex marriage? Are you optimistic?

Cho: I think so. But I only travel in these circles where it’s totally acceptable and completely fought for, so I don’t know. I look at the mainstream media and I see how difficult an issue this acceptance about sexuality and about gay marriage is. I just don’t get the problem. I’m optimistic and I’m optimistic that the communities involved are very excited about this change. But I want to see it worked out and made legal and made acceptable on a lot of levels. Marriage and recognition of relationships are very auspicious ideas. They’re very wondrous things, and they should be available to all human beings, not just a select few.

BuzzFlash: You talk about this issue in your performances. Does it surprise you that people don’t frame this as a civil rights issue?

Cho: Yes, because does that mean that gays and lesbians are not human beings? Or are they somehow less American because of their families or the unions that they decide to forge ahead and make? It just doesn’t make sense to me that there’s this inherent deviance that goes along with the idea of homosexuality. It’s a myth. Homosexuality is not a deviant notion -- it’s something that we lived with in society for so long, and we’ve dealt with the hatred and discrimination toward us for so long. These are the same problems that existed with segregation and the denial of interracial marriage. Same sex marriage is following the same circles and struggle with power that we overcame during the civil rights movement. It’s odd to me that there would be so much resistance to it now.

BuzzFlash: Does knowing your show is being filmed change your performance at all, or how do you approach the show?

Cho: No. It’s just a live show. It’s different, but I guess I’ve filmed the show 70 times now; I can’t really say what makes it different.

BuzzFlash: You don’t feel more nervous or more engaged in the performance?

Cho: No, no, because I’m usually about the same. When I go out and I perform, I really am very committed to what I’m doing, so the level of engagement and excitement is similar. It remains the same to me. The only difference is the lighting changes, and it’s just a different setting for the people that I work with.

BuzzFlash: How did you develop "Revolution"?

Cho: It began with a series of ideas, and they get connected and the show goes through about a year of preparation, going from venue to venue, and developing as a comedy show. I never know what it’s going to be when I start out. The title comes pretty late in the process. This all depends on the social climate and political climate and what’s happening.

BuzzFlash: I think a lot of people would be surprised that it takes that long to complete and grow the show.

Cho: Yeah, it kind of grows. But at the same time, I would think that it’s able to reach out or evolve in every incarnation because the show has to be done in front of an audience. It can’t be processed in a mirror. I need the dialogue with a live audience.

BuzzFlash: Have you ever had an experience where you’ve been urged to be less political or do different forms of comedy in order to advance your career?

Cho: Well, yeah, but those days are gone. The reason I work as an independent performer and the people that I work with now is because I don’t have to worry about that anymore. I have my own production company. It’s very much part of the past. All that sort of weird career censorship is very boring to me now.

BuzzFlash: What’s next for you? Do you have any future projects you’re working on now?

Cho: We're looking for financing for a movie I wrote called "Bam Bam and Celeste." Some really cool people like Sandra Bernhard and Wanda Sykes have said they're interested in being in it. I’m also writing a new show and my production company is producing a TV show for the new Logo network. But I really want to continue to do what I’ve been doing, too.

BuzzFlash: Do you have a title for your new show that you’re working on?

Cho: Not yet. The show that is going to be touring in the fall before the election -- it’s called "State of Emergency." It’s pretty much already written, but it’s also going to be very timely, very much about current events, so it’s changeable as well.

BuzzFlash: Are you going to tour through some of the swing states before the election?

Cho: Yes, to get people more inclined to vote, and to get people who I haven’t performed for before. That’ll be really fun, and I’m looking forward to that. I’m doing a couple of dates in there with Ani DiFranco, whom I really love. So it’ll be a little rock thing that I throw in my own comedy too. Then, the next year, I’m going to launch a worldwide tour.

BuzzFlash: Margaret, thanks for speaking with us again.