# Liberal vs Conservative Sense of Humor **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 19, 2004, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-vs-conservative-sense-of-humor/235310 "2004-03-19T23:45:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![edwino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@edwino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwino)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2004, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-vs-conservative-sense-of-humor/235310/21 "2004-03-20T08:07:23Z")
Oh, let us not forget that one of Gore’s daughter’s (Kristen IIRC) was a staff writer for “Futurama.” That gives the liberals a huge leg up, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2004, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-vs-conservative-sense-of-humor/235310/22 "2004-03-20T08:49:39Z")
Liberal here. Even Gore could make fun of his image. He once gave life-sized cardboard cutout of himself to Bill Clinton as a gag present. [quote] **msmith537** : …liberals tend to take offense at non-PC humor. I don’t know about most other liberals, but you have me pegged. Since I have been aware that language influences the way we think, I really hate _most_ jokes about the differences in men and women or jokes that stereotype their behavior. The same is true for racial and cultural jokes. {b]Phase42’s\*\* “racial” joke above is an exception. It doesn’t play on the stereotype of Blacks. It’s funny because of the twist. And my all-time favorite conservative, William Buckley, has had such a caustic sense of humor that he made me pay attention to what he had to say. I am open to almost anyone who is genuinely witty. Another funny conservative was Barry Goldwater. He was with JFK once and Kennedy was notorious for never carrying money. He asked Sen. Goldwater for a dime so that he could call one of his friends from a phone booth. Goldwater responded, “Here’s a quarter. Call both of them.” ---
**Author:** ![Planet\_of\_the\_Shapes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Planet\_of\_the\_Shapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Planet_of_the_Shapes)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2004, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-vs-conservative-sense-of-humor/235310/23 "2004-03-20T12:33:58Z")
I’m not an American, so i’m probably not qualified to comment on the question like i’m just about to… 😃 But it strikes me this is a silly question. There is a kind of implicit assumption in it that conservatives and liberals are two completely different kinds of people, who are relatively homogenous within their own particular group. This is wrong, people have all sorts of political beliefs, ranging from authoritarian to liberal (libertarian), far left to far right. Political beliefs are distributed along two or more continuums, rather than just been divided into one of two types. The same happens with sense of humour, and there is no evidence to suggest that your position on the political belief scale is in any way correlated with your position on a sense of humour scale (if it were possible to objectively analyse humour). ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2004, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-vs-conservative-sense-of-humor/235310/24 "2004-03-20T15:28:09Z")
Oh, I’d say it’s a wash. Ideologues of any and all persuasions have their sacred cows, and get really touchy when anyone mocks them. And if you think the Religious Right is utterly humorless, explain Ralph Nader or Noam Chomsky. I don’t think either of those guys has ever SMILED in his life, let alone laughed. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2004, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-vs-conservative-sense-of-humor/235310/25 "2004-03-20T15:42:51Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Oh, I’d say it’s a wash. Ideologues of any and all persuasions have their sacred cows, and get really touchy when anyone mocks them. Agreed. By the measure of “ability to laugh at oneself”, both the liberal and conservative true believers are a remarkably humorless bunch. The capacity to launch heavy-handed gibes at the other camp doesn’t count. Oh, and when it comes to “dry sarcasm and witticism”, you could probably cite such luminaries as William Buckley and George Will. There are probably people who think Will is a laff riot, but include me out. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2004, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-vs-conservative-sense-of-humor/235310/26 "2004-03-20T15:49:48Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Don’t know…who’s funnier? Bill Maher or Dennis Miller? > > I think on rare occasion, I must agree with rjung. Conservative humor tends more towards mocking of others while liberal humor tends more towards clever, self depreciating witacisms. Of course, you say this as a liberal. Isn’t it amazing how liberals all are in 100% agreement that their brand of humor is witty and intellectually superior while the humor of the enemy is of an inferior sort? Should we go ask KKK members if their racial beliefs are valid or not and use that as the sole yardstick to measure them by? ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2004, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-vs-conservative-sense-of-humor/235310/27 "2004-03-20T15:52:03Z")
> [@Planet of the Shapes](#): > > I’m not an American, so i’m probably not qualified to comment on the question like i’m just about to… 😃 > > But it strikes me this is a silly question. There is a kind of implicit assumption in it that conservatives and liberals are two completely different kinds of people, who are relatively homogenous within their own particular group. Congratulations! You have just found the heart and soul of American politics. The way it is approached in this country is essentially identical to a form of racism. The liberal and conservative races hate each other with a passion, indulge in demonization at every and all opportunities, and consider the other to be genetically and irredeemably inferior. It’s not politics, it’s a form of religion. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2004, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-vs-conservative-sense-of-humor/235310/28 "2004-03-20T17:32:23Z")
> [@Planet of the Shapes](#): > > But it strikes me this is a silly question. I support this theory. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Truth\_Seeker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5fc32e/32.png) [@Truth\_Seeker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truth_Seeker)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2004, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-vs-conservative-sense-of-humor/235310/29 "2004-03-20T18:33:57Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Liberal humor, IMO, tends towards sarcasm and dry witticism. Conservative humor seems to be primarily about mocking the target. > [@](#): > > "I’m Al Franken, author of _Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot,_ Uhh, right. Throwing out the extremes (which has several posters have pointed out, are always humourless) The first big divide isn’t politics, it’s intellect. Smart people of any stripe are going to have better senses of humour than people who aren’t so bright. Down on a political level, it seems to me that conservatives are more likely to poke fun at a person’s attitudes whereas liberals (paradoxically enough) are more likely to poke fun at a person’s attributes. Think, for example, of the endless hilarity over Bush’s pronounciation of certain words. In general, and only slightly, I think there is more a tendency for conservatives to be irreverent and poke holes in sacred cows. Conservatives seem to be more able to make fun of themselves, perhaps because they’re a bit more cold-blooded and don’t identify themselves as personally with the policies they support. It’s therefore more possible to make fun of yourself without damaging the cause. There are, of course, lots of funny people all across the spectrum. Franken and Clinton are funny (though he was hardly a hard-core liberal, I suppose) but so are McCain and Schwarzenegger. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2004, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-vs-conservative-sense-of-humor/235310/30 "2004-03-20T18:45:41Z")
Tom Lehrer did a pretty good job of mocking both sides equally. ---
**Author:** ![Planet\_of\_the\_Shapes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Planet\_of\_the\_Shapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Planet_of_the_Shapes)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2004, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-vs-conservative-sense-of-humor/235310/31 "2004-03-20T18:54:40Z")
> [@Dogface](#): > > Congratulations! You have just found the heart and soul of American politics. The way it is approached in this country is essentially identical to a form of racism. The liberal and conservative races hate each other with a passion, indulge in demonization at every and all opportunities, and consider the other to be genetically and irredeemably inferior. It’s not politics, it’s a form of religion. Come again? I criticised the question, not American politics. I said there was an implicit assumption in the question, but i didn’t say that that assumption was shared by anyone else, let alone that it characterised US political debate. ---
**Author:** ![HomerIU](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HomerIU](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HomerIU)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2004, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-vs-conservative-sense-of-humor/235310/32 "2004-03-21T06:02:24Z")
Matt Stone and Trey Parker are Republicans? Kind of surprises me, although based on the shows they make it makes sense. They definetly leave no room for pity for either side, though. Ditto The SImpsons, which is an itneresting contrast because, even though I live the show, it seems many of the writers/producers are fairly liberal. Actually, I can’t say for sure about Groening, but I saw James L. Brooks give a political speech once and he seemed to leave no doubt about his political leanings. However, the show, much like South Park, will tell whatever joke makes people laugh no matter what political figure it skewers. After all, while they did do the whole episode where Bush Sr. moves in next door and Homer picks a fight with him (classic), they also had Bill Clinton “appear” on two separate occasions, neither one of which was very flattering at all. One he asks Marge to sleep with him and says something alone the lines of ‘I’ve slept with pigs’ (not sure if that is a sly Monica reference or not) and in another he comments about how if you don’t like the outcome of a contest, you complain until you get your way (ironically this was pre-2000 election). No pity for either party seems to be shown. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2004, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-vs-conservative-sense-of-humor/235310/33 "2004-03-21T07:29:53Z")
Before we ask who has a better sense of humor, shouldn’t we define that better? It’s _relatively_ easy to poke fun at yourself because you’re in control. So I don’t count Bill Clinton’s video for much. Ditto for the self-mockeries of the top comedians because they’re always in control. It’s much harder when you’re not in control. I’ve found a sense of humor in that circumstance is very rare no matter where you look. > [@rjung](#): > > Liberal humor, IMO, tends towards sarcasm and dry witticism. Conservative humor seems to be primarily about mocking the target. I **M** O the most common form of what appears to be intended as liberal humor seems to be calling Bush “Chimp” and “Shrub” and stupid. There are also occasional references to pubbies and Repugnicans. Perhaps repeated schoolkid taunts like these have drowned out whatever sarcasm and dry witticism there is. > [@Phase42](#): > > Tom Lehrer did a pretty good job of mocking both sides equally. I’ve considered this, and I’m confused. I can see only one song that specifically mocks the left: “Folk Song Army”. “National Brotherhood Week” mocks phonies with limited tolerance. You might argue “Pollution” and nuclear weaponry (“So Long Mom”, “Who’s Next?”, “We Will All Go Together”) have continued under both Republicans and Democrats, but to a lesser extent under the latter. Is he mocking the left or the right? Other songs clearly mock the right, not so much their policies but un-hip sentimental songs: “My Home Town”, “She’s My Girl”, “The Wienerschnitzel Waltz”. Maybe it depends on where you see the middle. Or where Tom saw it. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2004, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-vs-conservative-sense-of-humor/235310/34 "2004-03-21T08:29:26Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > the most common form of what appears to be intended as liberal humor seems to be calling Bush “Chimp” and “Shrub” and stupid. There are also occasional references to pubbies and Repugnicans. Perhaps repeated schoolkid taunts like these have drowned out whatever sarcasm and dry witticism there is. “Sore Loserman.” “Feminazis.” “Billary.” “The Dean Scream.” Pull the other one, it’s got bells on. ---
**Author:** ![Zagadka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zagadka/32/7272_2.png) [@Zagadka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zagadka)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2004, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-vs-conservative-sense-of-humor/235310/35 "2004-03-21T08:50:38Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > O the most common form of what appears to be intended as liberal humor seems to be calling Bush “Chimp” and “Shrub” and stupid. There are also occasional references to pubbies and Repugnicans. Perhaps repeated schoolkid taunts like these have drowned out whatever sarcasm and dry witticism there is. That isn’t humor, that is contempt. Totally different thing. It is like calling a rock “boring” Mudslinging aside, this is pretty silly. You can go on comparing as much as you like - we’re all pretty much the same as people. Look at a place like Fark, and you’re grabbing humor from every walk of life in the same cauldron. It is easier to divide humor into “irreverant” or “satirical” groupings than political groupings. One group isn’t any more funny than the other. > [@](#): > > A Soviet judge walks out of the courtroom, barely managing to suppress his wild laughter. A colleague asks, "What is it you are laughing about? “Well, I just heard a great joke,” the judge says. “A joke? Tell me!” “Are you crazy? I just sentenced a man to five years for that joke!” Ba-dum-ding OK, so maybe Soviets weren’t the best jokesters in the world. But the point stands. ---
**Author:** ![annaplurabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@annaplurabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/annaplurabelle)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2004, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-vs-conservative-sense-of-humor/235310/36 "2004-03-21T11:08:30Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > I **M** O the most common form of what appears to be intended as liberal humor seems to be calling Bush “Chimp” and “Shrub” and stupid. There are also occasional references to pubbies and Repugnicans. Perhaps repeated schoolkid taunts like these have drowned out whatever sarcasm and dry witticism there is. Just a few of my faves: **Clenis Envy** : (Cl)inton’s p(enis) Envy. **Clenis Syndrome** : An uncontrollable urge to blurt out “Clinton did it!” or “Oh yeah? What about Clinton?” rather than using logic and reason to make one’s point. **Coulter-intuitive** : Making shit up that has nothing to do with the known universe. **Condi-ment** : A statement that needs to be taken with a heavy pinch of salt. **Crying Wolfowitz** : Telling lies to achieve an objective. **Applepiety** : A “holier (and more patriotic) than thou” attitude. **Cheney’s Razor** : A philosophic rule that the most complex explanation of an unknown phenomenon is probably correct. **False DickChenomy** : The arguer offers only two options in a situation, one of which is objectively pro-Saddam. **Going Dennis Miller** : Using 9/11 as one’s excuse to support the entire GOP agenda, because you endorse George W. Bush’s goal to rid the world of the “Godless, Judeo-Christian-hating mud people” - but in a way that doesn’t sound racist - because 9/11 hurt you a lot. **Europlexy** : The condition of a conservative being worked up into a froth about what Europeans think of the U.S. while simultaneously insisting that he/she “doesn’t care at all” what the Europeans think of the U.S. **Limbaughcrisy** : loudly denouncing “degenerate” and illegal behavior, which one nevertheless secretly practices. **Noonanism** : Wet, rapturous bombast about the feet and other appendages of _Conservative Real Men_ - habitually used in comparison to Bill Clinton. See also: **Pegstasy**. **Reagantology** : The cult of Ronald Reagan, who was obviously a perfect human being with no character flaws, and the 4th member of the Holy Trinity. Its adherents are known as **Reagantologists**. **Scaliosis** : A condition wherein the afflicted develops a preternatural ability to read the minds of Constitutional framers at a remove of over 200 years. **Occam’s Pretzel** : The logical fallacy of attempting to deduce the policy of the Bush administration by assuming that Bush makes the decisions. **Cableism** : An obvious lie repeated so many times it functions as a truth, for the time being. Originally compiled by [Atrios](http://atrios.blogspot.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2004, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-vs-conservative-sense-of-humor/235310/37 "2004-03-21T11:20:58Z")
As a rabid _West Wing_ fan, I like the interplay between liberals and conservatives. Ainsley Hayes, for example, the conservative white female White House counsel confronted a rather bellicose feminist working as a temp in Sam’s office. Their exchanges over Sam’s remark that Ainsley would make a good dog break a leash were illustrative. The conservative humor seems more disarming to me, as in “See? We’re not the monsters you suspected we were.” And the liberal humor seems more aggressive to me, as in “Could you possible _be_ more of an idiot?”. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2004, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-vs-conservative-sense-of-humor/235310/38 "2004-03-21T23:05:15Z")
No offense, **Lib,** but I think using a _television program_ featuring _fictional politicians_ isn’t really the most reliable way of drawing conclusions. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2004, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-vs-conservative-sense-of-humor/235310/39 "2004-03-22T01:16:32Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > “Sore Loserman.” “Feminazis.” “Billary.” “The Dean Scream.” > > Pull the other one, it’s got bells on. You contended right humor is mostly mocking. You give examples although I didn’t dispute the point. You contended left humor tends to be witty and sarcastic. I disputed that and gave common examples. You do not address them. What exactly is it you think I was trying to pull? > [@Zagadka](#): > > That isn’t humor, that is contempt. Totally different thing. It is like calling a rock “boring” So how would you classify **rjung’s** examples? > [@](#): > > Mudslinging aside, this is pretty silly. You can go on comparing as much as you like - we’re all pretty much the same as people. Well, that’s basically what I was trying to point out with my examples. **rjung** contended otherwise. **annaplurabelle** : I think most of those are forced and not very funny. I’m probably influenced by the fact that I don’t agree with Atrios’s politics. Of course, no one on the left would ever let their politics influence what they think is funny. _cough_Dennis Miller_cough_ ---
**Author:** ![annaplurabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@annaplurabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/annaplurabelle)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2004, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-vs-conservative-sense-of-humor/235310/40 "2004-03-23T05:49:30Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > **annaplurabelle** : I think most of those are forced and not very funny. I’m probably influenced by the fact that I don’t agree with Atrios’s politics. Of course, no one on the left would ever let their politics influence what they think is funny. _cough_Dennis Miller_cough_ I picked those examples because I thought they would work better in this format (ie debate terms parody) than a transcript of a stand-up routine (where timing and delivery nuance gets lost in print). To be fair, I tried to find some conservative/gop equivalents on the net and didn’t have much luck. There’s [gopfun.com](http://www.gopfun.com/), “Home of the original _Dubya Dance_” ?!! From [conservativehumor.net](http://www.conservativehumor.net/): > [@](#): > > We have to end this dominance of political humor by the left. Right now, conservative humor has absolutely no credibility in the world at large. > > We need your help, we need your comments. We can start here, then move on to newspapers and magazines, a few might have the nerve to try the comedy clubs, then maybe one day some of us (i.e., some of you) can barge our way into television and the movies. > > Political humor remains one of the strongest remaining bastions of the liberal mindset. Let’s storm that citadel. If you’ve got any examples of what you _do_ find funny, please share. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-vs-conservative-sense-of-humor/235310.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/liberal-vs-conservative-sense-of-humor/235310.md?page=3)