# Its Mary Jo's Birthday! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 18, 2003, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-mary-jos-birthday/189485 "2003-07-18T22:32:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-mary-jos-birthday/189485/21 "2003-07-22T02:11:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jackelope \* > \*\*Oh, come on. I didn’t say death is funny and harmless. I said the OP was funny and harmless. If the OP did not exist (I mean the post, not **gatopescado** ), would Mary Jo Kopechne come back to life? If that were the case, I would head over to the Chicago Reader’s offices and smash the server myself. But it’s not so. > > To insist that _it is not possible for a death to have good consequences_ is fanatical nonsense. Kopechne’s death was tragic, and no one is pretending otherwise. The silver lining on that dark, dark cloud is that Ted Kennedy won’t be running for president. \*\* Well, but the OP manages to deliver that message, and _also_ ramp up the humor value of Ms. Kopechne’s death emormously, by implying that she willingly sacrificed herself in some sense (which I would submit is indeed pretending that her death was less than tragic). _That’s_ the part that I find so ass-achingly hilarious. To go back to an earlier example, it’s the difference between the following two approaches: 1. “Let’s take a moment to reflect on the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. The 5000 innocent deaths will not have been wholly in vain if Americans continue to value and defend their cherished freedoms.” **NOT FUNNY.** --turgid and pompous, yes, but little in the way of humor value. 2. “Man, it was great of all those people to let themselves get blown up like that just to give George W.'s approval rating a boost. Let’s hear it for them, they gave up their lives to distract the electorate from the sagging U.S. economy.” **FUNNY! PURE COMEDY GOLD!!!** I feel kind of bad for confusing **kambuckta** , though. > [@](#): > > I DO NOT GET IT. Either I am a moron, or your humour is too sophisticated for the likes of this down-under doofus. Nah, don’t beat yourself up, my fault entirely. Sorry about that, dude. I try to explain things clearly, but sometimes the fish voices find eyebrows in the wall pockets. The one we \*really \*need to watch out for is **jackelope.** Can you believe the nerve, accusing _me_ of overreacting? I’ve burned down whole neighborhoods for lesser insults. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-mary-jos-birthday/189485/22 "2003-07-22T14:24:13Z")
**Kambuckta** Try to imagine that Mary Jo is a relative of yours, maybe she is your sister, or maybe she is your aunt. NOW reread the op and see if you think it is funny. Itis really not that hard to see how this is mocking the dead. Besides, is the 18th really her birthday? That is the day she died. Were they at her birthday party? I may be mistaken but I don’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2003, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-mary-jos-birthday/189485/23 "2003-07-22T22:34:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jackelope \* > \*\* > > To insist that _it is not possible for a death to have good consequences_ is fanatical nonsense. Kopechne’s death was tragic, and no one is pretending otherwise. The silver lining on that dark, dark cloud is that Ted Kennedy won’t be running for president. \*\* Y’see, that’s the way I took the OP as well. Not, as **Terrifel** interprets it: > [@](#): > > Well, but the OP manages to deliver that message, and also ramp up the humor value of Ms. Kopechne’s death emormously, by implying that she willingly sacrificed herself in some sense (which I would submit is indeed pretending that her death was less than tragic). That’s the part that I find so ass-achingly hilarious. . I didn’t see it as a ‘humorous’ swipe at Kopechne, nor that there was any implication that she had ‘willingly sacrificed herself’. I now understand that **Terrifel** is trying to find offense where no offense was intended. NOW I can bung-in some rolleyes!! :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2003, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-mary-jos-birthday/189485/24 "2003-07-23T00:24:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Terrifel \* > \*\*Speaking of… Q. Why did Maria Shriver marry Arnie the Terminator? A. Because she wanted to produce an indestructible Kennedy. Oh, the laughs, they just keep on a-comin’… \*\* I don’t think they’re really married; I think they’re _the same person_. Look at those jawlines: Maria is really Arnie in drag. It’s just the public front for a cloning operation. When he says, “I’ll be back,” he’s not kidding. Does this tinfoil make my head look fat? ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2003, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-mary-jos-birthday/189485/25 "2003-07-23T02:55:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kambuckta \* > \*\*I didn’t see it as a ‘humorous’ swipe at Kopechne, nor that there was any implication that she had ‘willingly sacrificed herself’. \*\* Now, I cannot sit idly by as you wantonly impugn the deft comedic flair of the OP, just because you don’t percieve the humor. At the risk of seeming a trifle patronizing, allow me to “bold” the relevant funny bit: > [@](#): > > Be sure to drink a special toast to her today. **She gave her life** to keep Ted Kennedy out of the White House. “Giving one’s life” generally implies a willing act of self-sacrifice, at least in the English-speaking nations of the less-civilized Northern Hemisphere. Perhaps Down Under you blokes speak of “giving one’s life” unintentionally, such as being eaten by crocodiles while out getting the mail or something. It’s that darned cultural gap again. > [@](#): > > I now understand that **Terrifel** is trying to find offense where no offense was intended. Taking offense too easily? _TAKING OFFENSE TOO EASILY?!_ Where the hell do you get off saying that I take offense too easily? …oh, right, we’ve done that one already. Well… just for saying that, I’m going to have to _crush one of your precious “rolleyes” to death._ Try bunging him in after he’s joined the Choir Invisible, mate! I’m just sorry that it had to come to this. Ludwig, activate the **Rolleye Crusher!** _…oh dear god…the pain… …skull plates cracking… …eyes…filling with blood… …must…keep…smirking… …please, let me die… …I…I can see Jesus…_ O O [sup]o[/sup]o[sub]oo[/sub] **)))]**:rolleyes:**[(((** ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2003, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-mary-jos-birthday/189485/26 "2003-07-23T03:01:06Z")
**_SQUIT!_ )))]l[(((** [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-mary-jos-birthday/189485.md?page=1)