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Airplane is full of referrences that didn't stand the test of time - no one speaks "jive" anymore, including the people who spoke it, there aren't a bunch of movies out featuring airplanes being landed by nonqualified personnel (it's a riff on the Airport series, after all), and Kareem Abdul Jaabar isn't an instantly recognizable athlete to anyone under 25.
Then again, "Roger, roger", "Over, Under" and "Clearance, Clarence" along with "I picked a hell of a week to stop sniffing glue" are pure comic genius.
There's lots of other timeless comedies - Animal House, most of the Monty Python movies, Caddyshack, American Pie (should have been on my list), the Princess Bride, The Pink Panther - none of them focus primarily on the news of the day. They tell a story that's interesting about people we can relate to and the comedy comes from the hijinx that follow.
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"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - B. Franklin
"There ought to be limits to freedom." - George W. Bush
"We have met the enemy and he is us." - Pogo
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