Do conservatives have a sense of humor?

[grumpyduck]

Been wondering about this for a while. I don't watch late-night shows, but it seems all the hosts we ever hear about are liberals.

There's a lot of humor here on DU, plus the animal stuff and of course Sunday LOL Cats. The times I checked Conservative Underground, there was no humor at all, unless they were laughing at the liberals.

I know my subject line is very very very generalized, but I'm really curious.

[Zorro]

1. They find humor in making others miserable

[Wounded Bear]

2. Conservatives want to laugh at people...Liberals tend to laugh with people.

Conservative humor tends to be an oxymoron.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. Conservative "humor" involves punching down, which is why it isn't funny.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

31. Oh, crap, I didn't see your response when I posted mine.

Great minds and all. I hate punching down satire and that's about all Republicans have.

[panader0]

4. Their idea of a dirty joke is: "A white horse fell in a mud puddle. Get it?"

[LuckyCharms]

16. I don't get it...

[treestar]

5. Only with derision of other people

When they can put someone down.

[LuckyCharms]

15. +1. Exactly right.

[rurallib]

6. from my observation, RW humor consists of some under group getting

screwed over royally.

Not the kind of thing many people laugh at.

[Irish_Dem]

7. McConnell thinks being called the Grim Reaper is funny. nt

[dlk]

8. Republican humor has a sadistic twist

They are twisted, themselves.

[HUAJIAO]

9. NO

[stillcool]

10. I think they put the hate where the humor's supposed to go.

[Aristus]

11. Right-wingers tried to do a comedy news show, hoping to capitalize on the popularity of the

left-leaning The Daily Show.

It was called The Half-Hour News Hour, and the title was the funniest thing about it. It consisted of kick-them-when-they're-down polemics against liberals, progressives, minorities, and poor people.

The show lasted six months because right-wingers aren't funny...

[Mike Nelson]

12. They think...

... being "politically incorrect" is fumy, but they confuse the term with merely being vulgar and cruel.

[underpants]

13. Rarely do they "get" sarcasm or Irony.

I’ve used this as a litmus test of sorts. Say something a bit ironic or maybe not too (smartassed) sarcastic. Not expecting a laugh out loud but usually a nod of the head. Those who have no reaction are almost always conservative.

In the 90’s there was another “tell” that I encountered- people who proudly announced that they didn’t watch Seinfeld were almost always conservatives.

[grumpyduck]

18. I'm glad you said "almost always."

I didn't watch the show.

[underpants]

20. Yeah but these people wanted to make sure everyone knew it

It was strange to see. I’ve never watched a whole Lucy show but I don’t go around telling people that.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

25. *Almost* always.

I didn't watch Seinfeld either.

[Turin_C3PO]

32. Yeah but with conservatives

it was like a badge of honor to say how much they hated Seinfeld. I liked it ok but many conservatives seem to have a fiery, raging, hatred against it.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

37. I didn't hate it; just didn't think it was all that funny.

But I'm not a fan of most sitcoms anyhow - they tend to get stale pretty fast.

[treestar]

39. Or who take it literally

Use of certain "arguments" too.

Discussion of a novel can be interesting. You say something sarcastic and they take it literally. You can tell they are politically conservative. Conservatives will take any sarcasm literally, to pretend you are crazy.

Also if they won't back up their point, telling you to do your own research. Saying you are being entitled to have them do your research for you. When they are the ones demanding you do their research for them. Anyone who has handy proof for their own argument will produce it

[tblue37]

42. Or those who thought the Stephen Colbert show was not a send up, but an actual

Last edited Thu Dec 31, 2020, 07:13 PM - Edit history (1)

right wing show.

[underpants]

46. Yes they did.

[Baitball Blogger]

14. Of course they do. It's malicious and meanspirited.

[MenloParque]

17. NO!!

Unless you find Twin Peaks, 70s cop shows, MASH, and Kubrick funny. From what I see this is what most of my conservative co-workers watch. The stupidest, weirdest shit.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

30. That's a weird list to label as conservative.

MASH was pretty strongly anti-war and pretty inclusive for the 70s. And if a liberal is laughing at Dr Strangelove, they don't get it. Kubrick's early stuff is pretty solidly liberal. Then he gets weird, but not conservative. And Twin Peaks? Lynch is weird as shit, but not conservative.

Other than 70s cop shows, I wouldn't call any of that stupid.

[MenloParque]

36. Well

I don’t know any conservatives other than my co-workers. We are all Senior Engineers in Silicon Valley. It’s what they watch and I don’t find it enjoyable and funny in the least. So based on my limited interaction with RW nutjobs, I find their humor and viewing choices not in my taste.

[Mossfern]

44. Agreed 1,000,000%

Loved Twin Peaks, Mash and a bit of Kubrick.
Not so much cop shows either... although my kids like those.

[Turin_C3PO]

33. MASH?

What’s wrong with MASH? It wasn’t a conservative show.

[wellst0nev0ter]

40. Let's say some of the humor aged really poorly

It is a seventies show that is set in the fifties. Think constant sexual harassment and nicknaming one of the few black characters on the show "spearch**ker."

[BGBD]

19. Their best comedians are

Dennis Miller and Kelsey Grammar.

So, no. They aren't very humorous.

[SamKnause]

21. No.

[Fiendish Thingy]

22. For Conservatives cruelty equals humour nt

[Shermann]

23. They can be funny when they want to be

When they aren't focused on "the left", they can be a riot.

When Tucker Carlson turned his ire on Kim Jong Un, it was epic.

They are also pretty adept with the memes on the forums, for better or worse.

[iscooterliberally]

24. You have to have a sense of truth in order to have a sense of humor.

Comedy requires truth to get the laugh. Conservatives aren't really funny because they just don't care about the truth. They just want to believe what they believe and can't handle anything that disrupts their world view.

[David__77]

26. South Park seems like "conservative humor" to me.

Cynical and mean. Of no interest to me.

[Cuthbert Allgood]

29. They are left-leaning libertarians, not conservatives.

Usually they are on the right side of things in my opinion.

And they are geniuses at satire. I mean, they made a movie that--IN THE MOVIE--made fun of the people the were attacking the movie. That's some multi-level chess right there.

[Turin_C3PO]

34. I don't think South Park is conservative humor.

It’s definitely not for everyone (I can take it or leave it) but I definitely wouldn’t call it Republican-friendly.

[Yeehah]

27. Only cruel humor, like Trump mocking the disabled

"Har har har them disabled people sure is funny."

[Cuthbert Allgood]

28. Conservative satire is usually bad because they punch down

whereas satire that is usually received well is punching up.

That and they're assholes.

[sakabatou]

35. Their sense of humor is only insults and being a troll

[wishstar]

38. My right wing bro's sense of humor almost always only involves sarcastic digs at expense of liberals

and like many of those on the narcissistic spectrum he has difficulty ever laughing at his own foibles or those of his right wing idols

[onethatcares]

41. no

end of that thought.

they only laugh when someone else is crying or hurt

[KentuckyWoman]

43. Yes

Kicking disabled veterans out of their home on Christmas seems to give them quite the chuckle.

[JHB]

45. Yes, but it's the "Punch & Judy Show" kind of humor

It punches down.

I usually put it in terms of (conservative comic strip ) Mallard Fillmore vs the non-conservative strips it was designed to "balance," like Doonesbury, Bloom County, or The Boondocks.

The latter three frequently poke(d) at political topics, but had ensemble casts that generated multiple storylines that weren't necessarily political, took potshots at some of the absurdities of their own "side," and from time to time acknowledge their biases with some self-deprecating humor. For instance, The Boondocks would poke some self-referential fun at Huey Freeman's political stridency with storylines where he's spinning conspiracy theories about Santa Claus, or how politics so crowded Jasmine out of the strip that Aaron McGruder had her reappear after two years and Huey didn't even notice she was gone.

In contrast, Mallard Fillmore has one joke: liberals are stupid, Democrats are venal, and the "reasonable people" are perpetually perplexed at how they don't implode. The laughter is more like a braying donkey than mirth-filled belly-laughs.