# Kathy Griffin and Trump Derangement Syndrome **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 30, 2017, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kathy-griffin-and-trump-derangement-syndrome/787740 "2017-05-30T23:11:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kathy-griffin-and-trump-derangement-syndrome/787740/141 "2017-06-02T16:42:28Z")
Also…Shodan is spitting all kinds of Truth in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kathy-griffin-and-trump-derangement-syndrome/787740/142 "2017-06-02T18:47:39Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > I would at least expect Paul Reubens to have some coherent thoughts about it, and not to outright lie to me. (post shortened) Try to remember not to shake his hand. just sayin’ 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kathy-griffin-and-trump-derangement-syndrome/787740/143 "2017-06-02T18:51:02Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > You should stop thinking that way. > > Number 2 off my do-gooder imposition check list done. Hehehehe. You said, “Number 2”. I guess that makes you a little funny. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kathy-griffin-and-trump-derangement-syndrome/787740/144 "2017-06-02T19:05:17Z")
> [@snoe](#): > > 1. I don’t understand why CNN was ever putting Griffin on the air, paid or no. (Applies to much of the rest of CNN’s on-air talent, to be fair.) The only time she is on is on the New Year’s Eve telecast, and she’s on because (a) she drives Anderson Cooper crazy, and (b) pretty much everybody watching CNN instead of, say, New Year’s Rockin’ Eve wants it that way. Side note: CNN covering the ball drop is a relatively new thing; I think they started doing it on a regular basis in 2000 as part of its coverage of worldwide celebrations (IIRC, they had a split-screen with Washington DC lighting the Washington Monument and the Times Square ball drop). Before then, you were lucky to get 30 seconds of the ball drop live. (“Watch it live on another channel” was not an option when you live out west where everybody else airs it on a three-hour delay.) ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kathy-griffin-and-trump-derangement-syndrome/787740/145 "2017-06-02T19:26:55Z")
Kathy can be funny and I bet she’s in the top 10 funniest celebrities to split a pitcher of beer with after a hard days work. Yes, I know she’s a comedian, but she’s also an artist. This was performance art. Not all performance art works, but we don’t burn artists at the stake nor should we. Say you hate her art… or like it. Say she’s funny or turn the channel. But… if yo go after her employment for being an Artist, then YOU are the Irredeemable Asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kathy-griffin-and-trump-derangement-syndrome/787740/146 "2017-06-02T19:28:44Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I don’t think it is different. If burning Obama symbolically is a big deal, then symbolically beheading Trump is a big deal. If either is deserving of more than token disapproval, then both are. > > And if the idea is to behave just as despicably as the person being attacked, that kind of misses the point. Behaving despicably is bad. And “you didn’t condemn that enough, so I am not going to condemn this enough” isn’t much better. > > Regards, > Shodan But most of the people in this thread are condemning the photo enough. What they are refusing to do is support the OP who claims that this event signals a new and as yet unseen level of derangement that is found only among those on the left. Pointing out that this was done by others with respect to Obama (and with routine frequency) destroys that argument. On the good side it was nice to hear for once an apology in which the apologizer actually took responsibility, and declared that she was out and out wrong to have done it. Usually with these sorts of things you get a mealy mouthed, I’m sorry if anyone was offended, which really shifts the blame to the offended. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kathy-griffin-and-trump-derangement-syndrome/787740/147 "2017-06-02T19:32:37Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > Kathy can be funny and I bet she’s in the top 10 funniest celebrities to split a pitcher of beer with after a hard days work. > Yes, I know she’s a comedian, but she’s also an artist. This was performance art. Not all performance art works, but we don’t burn artists at the stake nor should we. But should we burn artists in effigy over stuff like this? Or is that too meta? ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kathy-griffin-and-trump-derangement-syndrome/787740/148 "2017-06-02T19:53:15Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > Say you hate her art… or like it. Say she’s funny or turn the channel. > But… if yo go after her employment for being an Artist, then YOU are the Irredeemable Asshole. I’m anti-witch hunting campaigns in general, but if a corporation decides a particular person’s persona is bad for business, I think they are well within their right to make whatever decision is in their best interest. By and large, I have no problem with people being fired for doing stupid shit, though I do have a problem with offended people launching firing campaigns except in extreme cases. Often the offended people are grossly misinformed (see: that guy who got fired for using the word ‘‘niggardly’’), or they are overreacting way disproportionate to the event. In that sense they back the company into a corner, forcing their judgment based on popular opinion vs. whatever business ethic they might have. But I think in a complete vacuum absent any public backlash, this would probably be a firing offense. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kathy-griffin-and-trump-derangement-syndrome/787740/149 "2017-06-02T20:02:48Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > I never had much respect for Kathy Griffin to being with, but as an artist, she should have stood by whatever statement she thought she was making. > > As to the image - my first thought was “not helpful”. My second thought was that I liked how Kathy didn’t have a speck of blood on her, like this is just the latest bullshit gift from her cat. I honestly thought it was just a take on the Der Spiegel cover from a while back of \*45 and the Statue of Liberty. [http://static.lakana.com/media.fox32chicago.com/photo/2017/02/04/der-spiegel-cover-trump\_1486225140369\_2703523\_ver1.0\_640\_360.jpg](http://static.lakana.com/media.fox32chicago.com/photo/2017/02/04/der-spiegel-cover-trump_1486225140369_2703523_ver1.0_640_360.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kathy-griffin-and-trump-derangement-syndrome/787740/150 "2017-06-02T20:06:29Z")
Possibly, but hopefully not permanently. She IS good at her day job. If this was a vacuum decision, then that’s that. But a shorter word for badly informed people demanding permanent solutions for others who cause minor irritations is still “mob”. And this decision stinks of torches… ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kathy-griffin-and-trump-derangement-syndrome/787740/151 "2017-06-02T20:59:02Z")
Politics aside, was it supposed to be funny? She’s a comedienne, but I don’t see the funny in it. ---
**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 2, 2017, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kathy-griffin-and-trump-derangement-syndrome/787740/152 "2017-06-02T21:13:13Z")
> [@Patx2](#): > > Politics aside, was it supposed to be funny? She’s a comedienne, but I don’t see the funny in it. Sorry, but we can’t pretend that this isn’t about politics because, politics aside, this type of overreaction to a simple visual joke is fucking insane. This has nothing to do with whether it was funny or not. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kathy-griffin-and-trump-derangement-syndrome/787740/153 "2017-06-02T21:21:03Z")
> [@Patx2](#): > > Politics aside, was it supposed to be funny? She’s a comedienne, but I don’t see the funny in it. IMO, it was gross malpractice in comedy. It’s the kind of bit you try out in some hole in the wall comedy dump, then never do again because it bombs. She’s been around long enough to know there are no take-backs on the interwebs. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kathy-griffin-and-trump-derangement-syndrome/787740/154 "2017-06-02T21:22:58Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Does anyone seriously believe that Ms Griffith was seriously advocating the physical injury of the President? The Secret Service, supposedly. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kathy-griffin-and-trump-derangement-syndrome/787740/155 "2017-06-02T21:44:35Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > The Secret Service, supposedly. No. I doubt it, anyway. The Secret Service sets the investigative bar very low in cases that involve their protectees, like a liquor store with a sign saying, “If you look under 45, we will ask for ID.” This doesn’t mean the Secret Service regards the Griffin video as a genuine threat; it means that their protocol is to investigate even when they don’t regard the act as a genuine threat out of an abundance of caution. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kathy-griffin-and-trump-derangement-syndrome/787740/156 "2017-06-02T21:45:55Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Oh, her. I don’t see why anyone who works for a television “news” company can be plausibly characterized as a journalist, let alone a respected journalist. > [@CurtC](#): > > She now works for NBC News, which is an actual (no scare quotes required) news company. Nope. Journalism hasn’t been a thing on television since “60 Minutes” proved that network news divisions could be profit centers, and opened the door for “Inside Edition,” “A Current Affair,” and eventually, CNN. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kathy-griffin-and-trump-derangement-syndrome/787740/157 "2017-06-02T21:59:53Z")
I’ve never been a fan of using violent imagery - even as a joke - to make a political statement. If a conservative comedian had a noose around an effigy of Obama, people would have been outraged, and understandably so. There are just some lines you don’t cross, no matter how much you dislike someone. But more than that, I think people need to understand that these are not normal times. The right wing is increasingly comfortable using violence as a tool and as a form of expression. There’s no need to throw gasoline on that fire. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kathy-griffin-and-trump-derangement-syndrome/787740/158 "2017-06-02T23:26:42Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Clearly I am in the minority here (which I guess should be comforting to me) but I don’t see it. > > Does anyone seriously believe that Ms Griffith was seriously advocating the physical injury of the President? > > To my eyes, she was very clearly expressing her deep displeasure with the Trump presidency, but metaphorically. It was a shocking image, but surely it was MEANT to shock. But that shock should not give rise to a feeling that somehow this is a call for literal violence. > > So what, specifically, is the issue? I’m also usually very ‘eyerolly’ at shit like this and certainly went eyerolly on her victimhood claims…but the initial fracas? Enh. Performance art. Shock art. It’s supposed to shock. She should have stuck to her guns rather than apologizing and then going batshit insane. ---
**Author:** ![Okrahoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90db22/32.png) [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kathy-griffin-and-trump-derangement-syndrome/787740/159 "2017-06-02T23:42:37Z")
Wow I just saw her today’s appearance. She really went full retard. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2017, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kathy-griffin-and-trump-derangement-syndrome/787740/160 "2017-06-02T23:50:13Z")
Honestly, I think the hammer would have come down even harder on her if she were a man. Women’s rage is still, to a certain contingent, amusing and harmless. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kathy-griffin-and-trump-derangement-syndrome/787740.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kathy-griffin-and-trump-derangement-syndrome/787740.md?page=9)