# Conservatives: Where's the funny? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 6, 2011, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526 "2011-06-06T18:43:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/261 "2011-06-13T01:39:05Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Not helping here. Sarcasm always helps. Just ask **elucidator**! ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/262 "2011-06-13T01:48:09Z")
Awww, **John**! That’s really very sweet! ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/263 "2011-06-13T21:59:30Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Oh, I think his point is apt, and well said, which is to say, brief. Otherwise, how do we explain that in a country which we are constantly assured is center-right and basically conservative, how is it that in such a country negative humor about liberals isn’t more popular? Why is it that humor that caters to the majority opinions of the country doesn’t sell? And doesn’t sell to such an extreme that no one even makes the effort? It could possibly be - just maybe - that what I’ve been saying is true. There isn’t a specific “conservative humor.” Because, perhaps, we don’t need one. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2011, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/264 "2011-06-13T22:39:31Z")
> [@smiling\_bandit](#): > > …Because, perhaps, we don’t need one. May the Blessed Groucho take pity on you. ---
**Author:** ![Kyomara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8edcca/32.png) [@Kyomara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyomara)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/265 "2011-06-20T17:05:31Z")
I have to say that as a liberal I’m a bit miffed that people like Bill Cosby and Jeff Foxworthy are being held up as “conservative” comedians. Since their material is not overtly political, it seems the implication is that being non-offiensive automatically makes a joke conservative. Whatever their personal views, these comedians are not political, and it is not the exclusive ability of conservatives to find humor in family life, redneck jokes, etc. Some people who fancy themselves intellectuals may find Foxworthy’s material unsophisticated, but I think it’s a mistake to paint that as a liberal/conservative divide. I think this points out one of the problems with our political discourse today, which is that conservatives have somehow managed to lay claim to “family values,” as though those of us on the left don’t think babies and in-laws are funny. ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/266 "2011-06-20T17:19:47Z")
It’s hard to spin “HAHA POOR PEOPLE I GET A FEW EXTRA BILLION WHILE RUINING THE COUNTRY FOR YOU AND YOUR GRANDCHILDREN” into something approaching humor. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/267 "2011-06-20T17:42:16Z")
So we’re talking about Congress now? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/268 "2011-06-20T18:39:10Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > So we’re talking about Congress now? Perhaps he was trying to point out that what conservatives laugh at is something they don’t want to admit to outside of their own company? ---
**Author:** ![Profound\_Gibberish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/65b543/32.png) [@Profound\_Gibberish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Profound_Gibberish)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/269 "2011-06-20T19:09:16Z")
Ultimately you have to be able to laugh at yourself and the silly things you sometimes say, believe or hear from your elected officals. The real-deal conservatives I personally know truly believe that our country is going to hell in a handbasket due to whatever minority is in the news this week. They do not joke about these issues, and even when relaxed over a few beers cannot make light of their self-admitted extreme views. Crazy as this may sound, I do believe that one’s world view and outlook on life is set very early in life and that some people can laugh at themselves and that some really can’t. And that there certainly is a correlation between conservative world views and the ability to enjoy comedy. In summary: **The Devout Do Not Joke.** ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/270 "2011-06-20T19:14:19Z")
> [@Kyomara](#): > > I have to say that as a liberal I’m a bit miffed that people like Bill Cosby and Jeff Foxworthy are being held up as “conservative” comedians. They were and it was quickly pointed out they are not political, much less conservatively political. They were a reach anyway, and most likely appeared again and again here because as Starving Artist has admitted ‘there is a dearth of examples’ and these two have somewhat broad appeal. ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/271 "2011-06-20T19:42:08Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > You’re pretty close to spot on. For example, “Barack the Magic Negro” was neither racist nor “about” Obama; it was a parody skewering liberal hopes, beliefs and attitudes regarding Obama. No it wasn’t, because no liberal ever called Obama a “Negro”, using an antiquated word that is considered offensive nowadays by most is just an expression of how Rush and his fans really feel about blacks. It is just racism, and you find it funny because it agrees with what you think of blacks, which has been evidenced by many of your other posts on this board. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/272 "2011-06-20T19:49:05Z")
> [@rogerbox](#): > > No it wasn’t, because no liberal ever called Obama a “Negro”, using an antiquated word that is considered offensive nowadays by most is just an expression of how Rush and his fans really feel about blacks. It is just racism, and you find it funny because it agrees with what you think of blacks, which has been evidenced by many of your other posts on this board. I’m sorry to say that **Starving** has it right here. “Magic Negro” is actually a lit-crit term invented and used mostly by people who, by the laws of probability, (because they are lit-crit profs,) are almost all liberal-to-radical-leftists. The term refers to characters in works of art who are black and who serve for the most part to save white people from themselves in some fashion or other, whether literally through magic or in some more metaphorical way. The idea is that a lot of works of art which have a surface message that is pro-black are actually, upon analysis, racist, because they relegate black people to a role that is in service to white people. The song “Barack the Magic Negro” is using that phrase in that very sense, accusing liberals of seeing Obama in exactly the same way they criticize consumers of literature for seeing blacks in general. _On the other hand_ it’s a sure bet that lots and lots of Limbaugh’s listeners have no idea about this and do not get the joke as it is intended. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/273 "2011-06-20T20:02:56Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > _On the other hand_ it’s a sure bet that lots and lots of Limbaugh’s listeners have no idea about this and do not get the joke as it is intended. And I’d say it is a sure bet that Rush is one savvy talkateer that knows who is primary audience is, and(even though I know he is certainly smart enough) wouldn’t talk above their heads like you are suggesting. It’s convenient that you can scrape together another explanation for why he used the term, but I’m sure he knew what his core audience would assume, and why. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/274 "2011-06-20T20:06:35Z")
[Here](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110619/ap_on_el_ge/us_republicans_obama_parody) is a case that demonstrates the point. At the Republican Leadership Conference a guy did an Obama imitation, making a bunch of jokes about him being biracial. Nothing offensive as far as I could tell (I haven’t watched the clip) and well received. He then started making jokes about the Republican candidates, his mike was turned off, and he got the boot. Clearly putting humor in front of political correctness is a career limiting move for a conservative comedian. ---
**Author:** ![pope\_hentai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@pope\_hentai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pope_hentai)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/275 "2011-06-20T20:32:33Z")
well i know as a fiscal conservative/mild social liberal i’ve found alot of times “conservative” political humor is hard to laugh at, because things like the national debt just aren’t funny to me. You can see the recent trouble with representative weiner as hilarious and worthy of ridicule, but an amount of conservatives see it as sad, and sorry that irresponsible philanderers like that get voted into office on either side of the fence in the first place. though i have found some of the stuff from pjmedia pretty entertaining. [Under My Bus: ZoBama's 100 Days & Throwing People Under the Bus - YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfL-Oj1rQ-c) so i d suppose this is an example of conservative humor i did find funny. ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/276 "2011-06-20T20:34:23Z")
I’m well aware of what a magic negro is, but it can’t be a parody of liberal expectations of president Obama since no one claimed in the first place that he was a messianic figure except in conservativeland. Secondly for sure Rush’s audience was as aware of what a magic negro was as Sarah Palin was aware of what a blood libel meant. Rush was using imagery in a racist way as usual. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/277 "2011-06-20T20:44:02Z")
> [@rogerbox](#): > > No it wasn’t, because no liberal ever called Obama a “Negro”, using an antiquated word that is considered offensive nowadays by most is just an expression of how Rush and his fans really feel about blacks. It is just racism, and you find it funny because it agrees with what you think of blacks, which has been evidenced by many of your other posts on this board. Horseshit. There’s a HUGE difference between actual racism and what liberals call racism. “Barack the Magic Negro” was exactly what I said it was, which is a lampooning of liberal attitudes about Obama as a black candidate. As for my many posted examples of “what I think of blacks”…_CITE_? I absolutely defy you to come up with one post out of my posting history of over 10,000 posts, where I exhibit the slightest trace of anything that might objectively be defined as racism. I leaned long ago that when a liberal calls you a racist, what he really means is that you disagree with his politically-correct way of thinking, and it almost never has anything to do with genuine racism. Hell, I’ve seen Bill Cosby, Clarence Thomas and Herman Cain called racists simply for stating such obvious and simple truths such as ebonics being harmful to one’s future employment and income prospects, the importance of education, and/or the need for responsibility in having and raising children. It’s only in the world of liberalism that one gets called vile names for championing education over thug life, meeting responsiblity in having children, and - dare I say it? - “family values”? And it’s that attitude which Limbaugh derides, not black people themselves. (Or perhaps you have another explanation for the fact that Limbaugh was married by a black Supreme Court Justice and has black guest-hosts on his program…Oh, wait! Of course! _They’re_ racists too! :rolleyes:) And on preview, I’d like anyone to come up with any actual evidence that Limbaugh’s audience doesn’t “get” the joke? The idea that Limbaugh is presenting non-racist humor that is intentionally above his audience’s head while simultaneously feeding their alleged racism is not only ridiculous but a perfect example of how much of right-wing racism exists only as a construct of the liberal mind. “If it isn’t obvious racism, why, it must be subliminal racism! After all, it came from a _conservative_, so it _has_ to be racist!” I sometimes think that if liberals couldn’t call people names and impugn their motives they never get anywhere. Do you oppose government health care? Then you’re a “selfish, evil bastard who wants to see people dying in the streets!” Do you oppose higher taxes? You’re a “selfish, evil bastard who doesn’t care about other people because you already got your own!” Oppose abortion? Why, you’re a “sexist, evil pig who thinks he can dictate to women what they can do with their own bodies!” See what I mean? There’s rarely a debate of the pros and cons of an issue when it comes to liberals; it’s just agree with them or have your motives impugned and get called vile names. Why is that? Have you no substantive ammo of your own with which to argue the issues? Or is perhaps that you are more manipulative of your audience by far than the Limbaugh who exists in your imagination could ever hope to be of his? > [@rogerbox](#): > > Rush was using imagery in a racist way as usual. No, he wasn’t. He was making fun of the way the country’s good liberals were running around ecstatic over the propect of a black president and behaving as though he was the instant solution to all of our problems. Secondarily, he was making fun of the hippie culture that gave rise to songs like “_Puff, the Magic Dragon_” and of the political correctness of the time, in which “Negro” was deemed the politically correct term to use in referring to blacks. I realize that many members of this board are too young to make these connections, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/278 "2011-06-20T20:48:45Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > He was making fun of the way the country’s good liberals were running around ecstatic over the propect of a black president and behaving as though he was the instant solution to all of our problems. A situation completely divorced from reality that he pretty much made up out of whole cloth so that he could ‘lampoon’ it with a song that had the word, ‘Negro’ in it. Oh, that clever, clever Rush. ---
**Author:** ![Dostoyevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Dostoyevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dostoyevsky)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/279 "2011-06-20T20:52:58Z")
I haven’t read the entire thread, so here goes. Rob Long at National Review is supposed to be funny… and sometimes is. [Link.](http://nrd.nationalreview.com/article/?q=MzQwZGZkZTEyMGE5MzgxN2Y2ZGM4OGRjZGIzMGM5OTQ=) ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2011, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526/280 "2011-06-20T20:57:16Z")
> [@Jack Batty](#): > > A situation completely divorced from reality that he pretty much made up out of whole cloth No, actually it was an impression created by the media and liberal/Democratic spokespeople (and more than a few members of this board - Hi, **Shana**! :)). Hell, I probably read a dozen or more articles decrying the media’s behavior over Obama written by liberal journalists themselves, thoroughly aghast at the way the news media was promoting/rolling over for him. Anyone with a shred of objectivity or journalistic integrity could easily see it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservatives-wheres-the-funny/584526.md?page=15)