Don’t Trust Anyone Without A Sense Of Humor
Never trust anyone without a sense of humor. Don’t get me wrong, I know many solid people who are humorless who never think of doing harm to another human being. But it takes a razor sharp wit to cut through today’s bullshit. It takes humor to see things in a different light, to see through the narrative of the manipulators. Those who are unable to laugh, even in the face of the most serious situation, may find themselves doing harm when they think they are doing right.
According to his goddaughter, Donzaleigh Abernathy, Martin Luther King had a wonderful sense of humor. He did not see fit to demonstrate it in public, but behind closed doors he would make people laugh by doing impressions of public figures.
Adolph Hitler was never known for making people laugh. Nor am I aware of any photo or film footage of him laughing. To be fair, though, it is said that he watched Charlie Chaplain’s The Great Dictator not one but twice. Perhaps it was the parody of Benito Mussolini, Benzino Napaloni, he found amusing.
It used to be that Republicans were incapable of being funny. Dennis Miller became unfunny overnight when he became an advocate for George W. Bush’s war on terror. God, in his infinite mercy, deprived Lyndsey Graham and Mitch McConnell of any sense of humor lest they be forced to look in the mirror and see themselves as they are.
It must be stated that Donald Trump is capable of landing a zinger rather often. I don’t bring this up in order to bolster my argument but for the sake of honesty.
Joe Biden has never demonstrated a sense of humor. Granted, he tours with Jeff Dunham, but I have never found him funny, either. It’s hard even to laugh AT him, he is more a sad clown than a funny one.
Kamala Harris is always chuckling uproariously, though nobody knows in reaction to what. It is a nervous tic, a learned sycophantic behavior, nothing more. Insane asylums are filled with those who laugh out loud a propos of nothing, but nobody says of them that they have a good sense of humor.
Amy Klobuchar is arguably the least funny person alive. Someone should tell her, for her own sake.
Bill Krystol, mindful of his namesake, attempts witticisms à la William F. Buckley Jr. But to witness him doing so is to be reminded of a baby attempting to pass gas.
Moderate liberals used to be modestly funny, former SNL member Al Franken, for example. Nowadays, attempts at comedy by liberals are killed dead by political correctness and an obsessive hatred of all things Trump.
Speaking of dead, I once watched a comedian die on stage. Figuratively of course, not literally, though the resulting pall cast upon the crowd was not so different. If I even want to be reminded of that moment — and I never want to be reminded of that moment — I would turn on Saturday Night Live.
Vladimir Putin often makes astute jabs at the West that shows he is acquainted with irony and sarcasm, but to be fair the West provides him with such rich material it would make anyone look like George Carlin.
I recently watched Compton Jay, a very progressive left winger, laugh while watching a Tucker Carlson clip. I want point out that he was not laughing AT Tucker Carlson but WITH Tucker Carlson as Tucker was playing video of President Biden walking around a room looking lost (click at the 16 minute mark). This does not bode well for Democrats in the upcoming elections.
Humor is an important, nay a vital, aspect of what it means to be human. Those who are unable to laugh are unable to look at life as it is, which is essentially absurd. At least some aspects of it are, and such aspects are best dealt with a sense of humor. If you’ve lost your ability to laugh, you’ve essentially plugged up the relief valve inside you that keeps you from exploding.
Listen to the comedians. Listen to Russell Brand, Jimmy Dore, Graham Elwood, Ron Placone, Lee Camp, and so many other people who are saying things others are afraid to say. You don’t have to agree with everything any of them say, but we’re living in a weird time when people are getting offended by and attacking comedians, and this does not bode well for us as a society.
Oh, yeah, read Caitlin Johnstone, too. Her use of humor is sublime, and perhaps the only way one can look at the truths of the world without going insane. (You didn’t really think I’d miss an opportunity to plug Caitlin Johnstone, did you?