ADDED: WaPo interviews the lawyer for the man who was dragged off the United flight:
Would you compare Dao’s dragging to Comey’s firing?AND: The lawyer's remark exemplifies the loss of a sense of humor in Trump's America. I understand why a lawyer would maintain a humorless demeanor, and I even understand why Trump's antagonists won't absorb his weirder statements — "James Comey better hope that there are no 'tapes' of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!" — as comedy. I think Trump thinks he's funny, and I think he's funny. But when the funnyman holds vast power, he's like the classic bully whose taunt is "What's the matter, can't you take a joke?"
Dr. Dao had his glasses askew, he had blood coming out of his mouth, he may have been unconscious at that point. And here Mr. Comey is looking as dapper as ever, and he’s not harmed.
The analogy was not respectful of what Dr. Dao went through.
And yet, if political discourse loses its humor dimension, and it becomes nothing but outrage and That's not funny, many people — I feel it happening to me — will turn away. We need the leavening, most of us.
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202 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 202 of 202"Nobody except us conservatives seemed too put out when Obama "joked" about siccing the IRS on people who crossed him, and then did it."
When he first made that joke and there was criticism of it on one of the pro-freedom blogs I used to visit (I think it is now moribund), one of the "liberal" regulars among the commenters on that blog indignantly protested, "But he was only kidding! It was a joke, people!"
I responded with something like, "Assuming it was a joke, it's like a joke a Joe Pesci character in a movie might make about whacking you. You might laugh, but nervously, and looking over your shoulder."
And then it was no longer funny at all.
3rdGradePB_GoodPerson said...
The problem w/ a bully (or someone using power to harm others) isn't related in any way to his/her sense of humor.
Is there a tag for: Althouse grasping at straws.
5/13/17, 10:07 AM
Oh no, that's you to a T. Since you don't do anything else I wouldn't have thought you'd run away from it but yeah, you're a damn bully, and a fine one, if you like praise. Right down to the "can't you take a joke?" You're a nasty fellow and you like being a nasty fellow. Own it.
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