MountainMornings

If you can’t laugh at yourself, you’re doomed to a life of unending mediocrity. I learned this early, from my big brothers and Catholic School. On my Zoom call yesterday, I was recounting my instructions to Bob that he should shoot me if I’m ever really sick with Covid – like, will never recover sick. I immediately felt bad because that would mean he’d have to buy a gun, something we just would never do. We are so anti-gun it’s almost funny. But then Bob said:

“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t use a gun!” and the whole Zoom call burst out hysterically laughing.

Let’s face it, we could all use a good laugh right about now, and gallows humor seems appropriate. I’m lucky my pandemic partner can turn sourdough starter into bagels and still tickle my funny bone. But Mr T is sitting in the Oval, or maybe he’s at some Covid-super-spreader-rally somewhere, precisely because he has NO sense of humor. Because President Obama and Seth Meyer told a few jokes about him at that 2011 Correspondent’s Dinner, and he didn’t get it.

He can’t laugh at himself, and strangely enough his followers think that only they are IN on the joke of his presidency. Look at how strong T is, how he beat Covid, the Stock Market and all those conservative Judges! In this Sunday’s New York Times Magazine, I discovered that Mr T may actually have a twisted sense of humor, and it has a name, Ambiguous Irony!

“Ambiguous irony also lets the president hedge his bets. Trump is constantly saying things he doesn’t mean (Jim Acosta is “a real beauty”), or things he kind of means but goes on to retract (his authority is “total”), or things he didn’t mean at first but later does (“build the wall”), or things nobody thought he meant that he apparently did (“lock her up”), as well as things he seemingly did mean before he retroactively declared them sarcasm — like his televised claim that injecting bleach might stop the coronavirus. Ambiguous irony opens up space for Trump to revise the meaning of his statements later, when he knows how they have played.” https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/07/magazine/trump-liberal-comedy-tv.html

 He is the ultimate reality show star, constantly checking his ratings, his polls, his numbers; it’s more of a tactic than ironic. By this definition, Kellyanne Conway was right, in Trumpworld there are alternative facts! It’s pretty tough to make political punditry when the butt of your joke is a shape-shifter. Here is his attempt at self-effacing humor:

“What’s the difference between a wet raccoon and Donald J. Trump’s hair? A wet raccoon doesn’t have seven billion f—ing dollars in the bank.”

This morning, while members of the Senate Judiciary Committee take a few minutes to spew their ideology at the confirmation hearing for Judge Amy Coney Barrett, while she sits silently, masked in a tight fuchsia dress and pearls, I think that we, the American people are being hoodwinked. The hearing is a total sham because it takes 51 votes to confirm, and Republicans hold 53 seats.

Maybe Mitch thinks Democrats can’t count? I can’t look at Lindsay without throwing up a little in my mouth. This is why the world is laughing at us.