Why Republican Jokes Aren't Funny

We've now been told that the nomination of Sarah Palin has energized Republicans and altered the dynamics of the entire 2008 election. And one of the big reasons for this, so we've been told by analysts like Ana Marie Cox of Congressional Quarterly, is that there is a "humor gap" between the two campaigns.

"Looking every bit like Tina Fey's older, more conservative sister, and with the same deft comic timing," wrote Cox, "Sarah Palin delivered an acceptance speech last night that contained at least twenty separate jabs at the Democratic nominee." Cox later added, "Palin will continue to wield her wit with deadly grace."

Can this be true? Is moose fur the new black?

As for myself, I found little humor in any of the GOP convention speeches. But I confess to being one of those intellectual types who takes his irony very seriously.

Other than the seemingly extemporaneous joke about a hockey mom being a pit bull with lipstick, it sure sounded like Palin was delivering the same canned one-liners as her non-soul mates in the GOP. The same deceptive, mean-spirited, divert-attention-away-from-the-real-issues attacks as Mitt and Rudy and Fred and so on.

That is why I have to confess that there's a snide, Mad magazine-reading version of me that wants to offer the following response to Palin's question about what the job of the Vice President actually is:

The #2 position is very important because if for any reason the candidate chosen as Mr. President should within the next four years fail to fulfill his official duties or live up to his obligations, then the runner-up, I mean, Vice President will become Mr. President America.

I'm quite confident I could get some lowbrow entertainment outlet to pay me decent money to write cheap shot jokes like this ridiculing the notion of a former beauty pageant contestant being a heartbeat away from the Presidency. Why? Because that's the nature of a post-Rove world in which you win a 50+1 majority by savaging, belittling, and dehumanizing your opposition.

But those of us who call ourselves progressives need to reject cheap shot politics of this nature. True irony and good political satire use humor to shed light on a wider and deeper truth hidden below the surface of official rhetoric. Cheap shots only reinforce the existing prejudices of the status quo. Cheap shots, like the ongoing Republican attack on "community organizers," are demagoguery served with a smile.

So the line I'm taking on the road is a response to the question, "What is a community organizer?"

I guess a community organizer is (pause) sort of like someone who gives a flashy speech (snicker, snicker) at the Republican convention (smile at the camera), except that you actually take responsibility to address the problems of the people and neighborhoods devastated by inhumane corporate behavior and failed Washington leadership.

John McCain helped bring this issue into focus when he exhorted us to "defend the rights of the oppressed" before proceeding to shout the word "fight" repeatedly and looking like a hermetically-sealed head atop a malfunctioning robot on the cartoon Futurama.

After the GOP convention, we now know that John the maverick (yes, I feel like I'm on a first-name basis with him now) truly stands on the side of the oppressed. John is the enemy of those who would put partisan rancor before country. The enemy of those who would divide the populace and poison our political discourse with their angry rants. The enemy of freedom-haters who would threaten to fire librarians who refuse to ban books that politicians don't like. The enemy of those who would tarnish the flag by supporting torture. The enemy of those who would destroy the conservationist legacy of Teddy Roosevelt by opening a nature preserve to big oil.

We also now know that John is a firm believer in the maxim, "Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer." Let 'em take over your campaign, deliver your convention's keynote, and serve as your running mate. Gotta love those mavericks.

But as John also told us, Cindy McCain is his real source of inspiration. After sending hearts and prayers to the victims of Hurricane Gustav, Cindy reminded us of the stories that have moved her deeply: "Families worried about losing their homes. Towns deserted by industries once at their center. Mothers with no choice but to send their children to unsafe and underperforming schools."

And then Inspirational Cindy helped us appreciate why Republicans have such a rosy view of the future. "Despite our challenges, our hearts are still alive with hope and belief in our individual ability to make things right if only the federal government would get itself under control and out of our way."

Will somebody please make a YouTube clip of Cindy McCain saying this line followed by Regis Philbin asking, "IS THAT YOUR FINAL ANSWER?"

In other words, after three decades of Reaganomics pushing deregulation, privatization, corporate tax cuts, and "monetarism"--the ideology that has put all our fates in the hands of Wall Street and the unelected head of the Federal Reserve--Mrs. Maverick wants us to believe that problems like the subprime mortgage crisis, capital flight, and the abandonment of rural and inner-city communities would go away if the federal government would just give corporations the real freedom they need to let the "invisible hand" of the free market work its magic.

Really, Cindy, shouldn't the more charitable side of you at least be willing to let them eat cake?

Folks, the Republicans are on a dangerous mission to kill real comedy in America. They use words and deeds that are so outlandish that they are obliterating the line between fiction and non-fiction. Goofy movies like Wag the Dog now come across as cinéma vérité.

Thank goodness we have The Daily Show to slice and dissect this Orwellian world in which wrong is right and far right means moderate. Last week, Jon Stewart played back-to-back clips of Karl Rove. In the first, Rove was playing up Palin's qualifications, including her stint as mayor of "the second largest city in Alaska."

Stewart then showed a clip of Rove disparaging the prospect of Tim Kaine being chosen as Obama's running mate. Rove pointed out that Kaine had only been the mayor of the "105th largest city in America" and had served as governor of Virginia less than three years. "If you were to pick Governor Kaine," concluded Rove, "it would be an intensely political choice where it said, 'You know what, I'm not really first and foremost concerned with is this person being capable of being President of the United States.'"

My dear Karl, how do you sleep with yourself at night? Twenty million Americans suffering from chronic insomnia demand to know!

Unfortunately, there's nothing funny lying at the end of this road. What we have in the GOP is a party, which because its policies represent the interests of a tiny sliver of the population, resorts to mockery to win elections by polarizing the citizenry, fueling resentment, and obfuscating reality.

We love this country too much to let its sense of humor be distorted by another four years of this claptrap.

Comments

[deliriousgod]

Republicans aren't funny because humour, no matter how dark the satire or 'off-colour' the ironic devices are, must appeal to what is best in us. Peel all the layers off of a Republican and you just have an Onion. 'Funny' people make you feel good about yourself by creating an identification that resonates with Humanist values. The 'inside' joke is that the comedian and the listener both know that they aren't one of 'those people', the people who are actually a blackhole of ugliness, but we're a fraternity of essentially decent folks, no matter how abrasive the presentation. The comedic brotherhood of Man just wants to nudge everyone else along to the most equitable arrangement of politics. Partisan humour is prostitution and advertisement and has an agenda smaller than the interests of everyone. Republicans have convinced america that 'liberal' is a dirty word. 'Socialist' also, because who needs a society? Society is for losers and commies. How about Humanist; has that word been rendered into a snicker?

[wendyleigh]

CHECK OUT THIS DEWSY!!!! DAILY KOS new

Newsweek Bombshell: Palin & Family Warned of "Emotional Child Abuse" by Judge

[neo1]

ARE YOU TIRED OF BEING TOLD WHAT TO DO BY YOUR REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT?

WHO'S THE BOSS HERE ANYWAY, THE PEOPLE OR THE GOVERNMENT?

WHY ARE WE ALLOWING THEM TO CONTINUE THEIR CONTROL?

WE HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO FINALLY "KICK THEM TO THE CURB".

LET'S DO IT AND SAY "GOOD RIDDANCE" -- WITH NO LOOKING BACK!

NO WAY, NO HOW, NO MCCAIN/PALIN, NO BAD MOUTH.............


OBAMA/BIDEN '08

[Haniel]

I guess the author missed the sound of 20 million tvs clicking off because of viewer disgust with her "deft humor".

Right! I'm still trying to get the taste of bile out of the back of my throat!

[JimR]

Do not underestimate the public's perception of candidates as "good people." It worked for Bush... twice.

[Jingo]

You just do not get Republican humor as it is either too highbrow or subtle for you. Republican humor is not in the snarky jokes they tell. Their humor is akin to The Onion where, on its face, everything appears completely ridiculous - and that's the joke. C'mon. Do you honestly think that Sarah "Scandal" Palin is a realistic VP pick? Is the President who ignored terrorist warnings a national hero when they strike. Can a law really be called The Patriot Act when it undermines the rights patriots fought and died for? No. The real problem lies with a public that does not have a good sense of humor. Until Americans wake up and realized they're the butt of an ongoing political joke, Republicans will keep getting elected. The problem is that when most people get "punk'd" they try to pretend that they were in on the gag the whole time and they try to prove it by continuing to go along with the joke.

[YankeeYahoo]

You speak of ... Republican humor and ... butt of an ongoing political joke. I feel this clip of Mr. Blinky "Whistler"/ Morse Code McBush, pretty much sums up exactly what you're saying ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qUVQDmLf7s&feature=related

and if you watch it again ... check out McPalin's reaction ... looks like he makes even HER skin crawl.

While I'm at it ... what's with the CONSTANT blinking ... ever watch someone interviewing McBush one-on-one ... he even gets them blinking (very high "refresh rate" for him, eh??).

[anticonformist911]

It's a sad statement when only The Daily Show and the Colbert Report are able to get to the truth

[DrFitz]

I guess a community organizer is (pause) sort of like someone who gives a flashy speech (snicker, snicker) at the Republican convention (smile at the camera), except that you actually take responsibility to address the problems of the people and neighborhoods devastated by inhumane corporate behavior and failed Washington leadership.

John McCain helped bring this issue into focus when he exhorted us to "defend the rights of the oppressed" before proceeding to shout the word "fight" repeatedly and looking like a hermetically-sealed head atop a malfunctioning robot on the cartoon Futurama.

In other words, after three decades of Reaganomics pushing deregulation, privatization, corporate tax cuts, and "monetarism"--the ideology that has put all our fates in the hands of Wall Street and the unelected head of the Federal Reserve--Mrs. Maverick wants us to believe that problems like the subprime mortgage crisis, capital flight, and the abandonment of rural and inner-city communities would go away if the federal government would just give corporations the real freedom they need to let the "invisible hand" of the free market work its magic. Really, Cindy?
_____
There were so many vomit-inducing moments during the RNC, it's hard to pick. Next to the sacrilege of the 9-11 film, fake soldiers, and Gouliani speech, I'd vote for the moments you chose. It's true parody is dead when Jon Stewart has to tell you which clips are parody and which he's playing as is. I feel like I'm living in the film Idiocracy.

[tompoe]

Time to call the corporate media on the carpet. Palin told voters the government had to take over Fannie and Freddie as they had become too big a burden on taxpayers. We are in the midst of corporate media's encore to the runup to the invasion/occupation of Iraq.

[aurorafan]

The added irony to the Tim Kaine thing is that he was lieutenant governor for 4 years prior to being governor, and the city of Richmond (where he served as mayor for 2 terms) has 200,000 people--many many times more than that of Wasilla!

[XME]

Jon Stewart covered that fact about Kaine fantastically:

http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=184086

[mcthfg]

I disagree. Cheap shots, one-liners - we need to beat the republicans so bad that they're embarrassed to be racist, sexist jerks. I mean beat 'em BAD.

[Leslib]

I agree, but in order to be embarrassed you have to have a conscience. I sincerely doubt any Republican politician HAS a conscience. They only know how to mudsling and fingerpoint.