Rant #1,915: Wild World

A few weeks ago, I told you about the end of the Politically Correct world as we know it, with the bombing of the Ariana Grande concert in England.

Yesterday, a much lesser event occurred, which although creating a firestorm on social media, paled in comparison to that bombing, but nonetheless resonates as the PC world goes into its own free fall.

Kathy Griffin, a supposed comedienne and self-styled political pundit, took it upon herself to post an opinion of President Donald Trump.

Many have done this before her, but the path she chose to take to try to eviscerate our commander in chief was a quite different one than others had taken before her.

She decided to post a photo of herself holding up a severed head of the president, and did this all in the cause of laughs.

The problem was, no one was laughing--and that includes the right, of course, but what she didn't count on was that the left wasn't laughing, either. And neither were those smack dab in the middle.

It is one thing to knock the president. People--and yes, comics--have been doing this seemingly since the dawn of time.

And that is their right in this country to do so.

And yes, the attacks against President Trump have often been vicious, more vicious than anything most of us have either seen or heard before.

It has become PC to bash the president for everything he does. Heck, in some circles, it is positively chic to do so.

But Griffin's attack against Trump, all in the cause of comedy, showed her complete and utter lack of common sense.

Holding up a severed head is funny? In what culture is this a cause for hilarity?

Well, even though Griffin apologized profusely after people from the left and right and middle started to take her "comedy" to task, that severed head might actually represent her career right now, which is in tatters as a result of her posting.

She has lost all credibility as a comedian, and some would say as a person. She reportedly brought complete distress to the youngest of Trump's children, 11-year old Barron, who was so upset after seeing this "comedic" depiction of his father that he called his mother over to explain to him what this was all about (this, of course, could be a good spin by PR gurus, but can you imagine if you were 11 years old and saw your own father depicted in this way?).

Griffin has also lost several endorsements, including from CNN, the normally liberal network that almost created the PC world itself.

I have yet to hear one person, one fellow Hollywood type, or one other comic defend her actions, and she must be hoping now that people simply "forgive and forget" and she doesn't fall into a hole somewhere.

Look, as I said before, political humor has existed for generations, and it is not going to go away.

Nor should it, in a free society.

But the current spate of political humor, and humor in general, is vicious in tone, and as I have said many times, I don't like today's humor, or the supposed comics who deliver it, because, quite frankly, humor is not supposed to harm people. Humor is supposed to bring light to life's foibles, and make us laugh at our own selves.

In the past, comics handled political humor much differently than they do today.

I think of Johnny Carson, who had the benefit of a daily, weekday show to throw brickbats at anything that moved.

And he did just that, but he did it on an even keel. He attacked Republicans, he attacked Democrats, but "attack" really is the wrong word. A better word would be "knocked" or maybe even the phrase "pointed a finger at" would be better used here.

But he was never vicious, even when he went off-script and took umbrage with decisions made by the political machine.

Today, comedy is directed at going for the jugular, and then cutting even deeper, and Griffin's actions personified that--and if "comedy isn't pretty," as Steve Martin once said, well, I will take it one further:

Today's comedy isn't funny either, and it is also disrespectful, filthy, and not fit for human consumption.

If I had something to say directly to Griffin, I would first ask her where her own head was when she thought this depiction would be funny.

Second, I would tell her to lay low for awhile. The damage she did to herself and her career might only be reversed by staying out of the spotlight for awhile.

Third, I would tell her to use the brain God gave her the next time she wanted to make a political post. Think of the reaction to whatever you are saying or showing before you put up what you personally think is funny.

Trump not only is our president, he is a father, a grandfather, and a human being.

Being a comedian does not give one license to cross the line, and Griffin not only crossed the line, she may have given her own career its own death knell with her imbecilic actions.

And she did it all in the name of comedy ... ??????????