1 Boring Old Man

Most are in this category – racist jokes, or jokes mocking Hillary Clinton or Barak Obama – mostly Hillary. Back in the heyday of the Bush/Cheney era, they were rampant. The Kerry jokes were unmerciful during the 2004 campaign, usually modelled on the talking points du jour – flip-flopping, Fonda, Swift-Boating, etc. I’ve never filtered them, because I’ve wanted to know what they were saying.

I got interested in them during the 2004 campaign. On the morning after the Democratic Nomination, I was having breakfast with a group of people. John Kerry’s Purple Hearts came up. One guy said, "You know about that, don’t you? They gave those things out like candy. Everbody got one. And nobody used Purple Hearts to get their tour shortened like he did." Later in the day, I overheard someone else say exactly the same thing. That night, the same idea showed up in an email from the "jokester." After that, I began to notice that this kind of comment was "on the streets" daily – a dismissive or even contemptuous explanation for any point Kerry, or for that matter, any Democrat made. I wondered how the information was disseminated so quickly. I learned about Talking Points and Talk Radio. I suspected that the email jokes had a similar point of origin – some organized source that got them circulating in a coordinated way [though I felt kind of paranoid for thinking that].

But I’m thinking it again. I never got racist email jokes about immigrants from this crowd before. Now I get them frequently. Maybe such people spontaneously come up with such things on their own. Freud said that all humor is hostile – and he was right about that. But it sure feels like this is an avenue for Talking Point distribution like Talk Radio or Fox News or the right wing blogs. Those of us on the Left sure use the blogs for a similar purpose – getting the word out.

In fact, I worry about the hostility. When I read what I’ve written in the last several days, I can see that I’m getting pretty angry myself. It’s certainly not unconscious. The Washington Post series, The Rolling Stone article, Cheney’s non-position in the Executive Branch, their stonewalling – it’s infuriating. And Contempt breeds counter-Contempt. It’s almost impossible not to feel it. I was awed at Elizabeth Edward’s ability to stay calm with Ann Coulter screeching in the background. When Coulter defended her mockery of the Edwards’ loss of their son by saying "I said that years ago," I almost went through the computer screen.

But I think Elizabeth Edwards set a good example for us all. She didn’t take any of Coulter’s bait. She didn’t defend herself or her husband. She didn’t attack Coulter. She just stayed on her point. I doubt that I’ll be getting any Elizabeth Edwards jokes in the email. Some of the better bloggers are also good examples as well. Digby, emptywheel, Josh Marshall – all can be very funny, sharp tongued, even sarcastic – but they’re not contemptuous.