Conservatives aren’t funny
Why not? Two reasons, according to Ellis Weiner on Huffpo. “There are two reasons. One is that they’re not funny. The other is that they’re not conservatives.”
Not funny? Weiner describes conservative humor:
Whereas political humor, by definition, is anti-power. It makes fun of those in power — that’s what makes it political humor to begin with.
But while Republican comedians may be willing to indulge in some harmless joshing about their political leaders, they ultimately don’t want to mock, and thereby kill, Daddy. (Does anyone think a right-wing “humorist” will make fun of Bush the way that Stewart, Letterman, or Conan made fun of Clinton?) They need Daddy to stay alive, and retain his authority, so they can please him. That way, his strength can be theirs.
And not only his strength. If they defend Daddy, it’ll pay off. Daddy will give them a job at the Heritage Foundation, either pretending to fix the Iraqi stock exchange or writing lame-brain books (about how great Daddy is) that will be bought, in bulk, by the Heritage Foundation.
Instead, when they’re not mocking Mommy (i.e., liberals, and “caring,” “hugs,” “self-esteem,” etc.), they do what nasty children do to make Daddy think they’re all grown up: they impugn the sexuality of their target.
Thus, Hillary is a “bitch.” John Kerry is “French.” John Edwards is “a faggot” or “a Breck girl.” There’s your Republican humor: sneering cafeteria put-downs from the dumbest jocks in school.
Here’s how Weiner deals with the second point–that “conservatives” aren’t actually conservatives:
If it has accomplished nothing else, the Bush administration has scoured and, so to speak, “cleansed” the right of actual conservatives. These, you will dimly recall, are people who believe in limited government, balanced budgets, fiscal probity, individual rights coupled with personal responsibility, the sanctity of the Constitution, constrained foreign adventurism, and a respect for tradition, knowledge, and common sense.
- Why do conservatives become conservative? It’s not a rational choice.
- Why we shouldn’t let the conservatives characterize Bush as incompetent
- Frans de Waal responds to conservatives who try to shove bonobos back into the closet
- Conservatives get an “F” on national security
- Laughing at Not Funny Things and the Limits of Introspection
Actually, conservatives can be funny, but only when they are serious.
Years ago, when the U.S. was bombing Somalia, I had walked to the grocery store, and just outside the entrance was one of those ultra conservative citizens, smugly and self-assuredly preaching to a Somalian political refugee. The conservative was loudly proclaiming why the US was justified in bombing this poor country in order to bring peace to the region, while the Somalian was too scared by the ranting to just walk away.
As I approached the entrance, about a dozen of the local skateboarder crowd came up behind me and one made some remark about the the mans attitude.
The conservative apparently assumed that I had made the remark and started insulting and threatening me, which annoyed me. Knowing that self-righteous people NEVER respond to reason, I knew I could not try that, so I said to him, “So are you saying that we will have peace in Somalia, even if we have to kill everybody there to achieve it?”
The skateboarder picked up on this and began heckling the man. Faced with being mocked and ridiculed, he shut up and left. The Somalian thanked me (and the skateboarders) for running the man off.