If You Need to Explain the Joke, It Wasn’t Funny

I gave up on late-night TV, specifically late-night comedy, when Jay Leno left the scene. Maybe we were spoiled growing up with Johnny Carson and Jay Leno, but I think we witnessed the end of an era and with it, a period of good humor. These guys were funny, and it was never in a malicious manner. They did not have to resort to character assassination or “dark” humor to get a laugh, and nobody back then knew what a click was or why you were judged by how many you had.

The Colberts and Kimmels of today survive by the old newspaper adage, “if it bleeds, it leads,” philosophy. It doesn’t matter who you offend as long as you deliver the quotes people are talking about in the morning, and you help to chip away at Donald Trump’s power and supporters. It must be so rewarding to think you are so important that you can insult and alienate 70 million people and remain on the job. Kimmel will not be around much longer; maybe there will be a podcast for him in the future, and maybe he can team up with Don Lemon. That would be like cock fighting, as you put two guys who think they are the most important in the world in the same room. There is no best man in this case for the best man to win.

Kimmel took an ugly shot at First Lady Melania Trump last Thursday. To say it was disrespectful would be a gross understatement, as he said, “she had the glow of an expectant widow.” You need to wonder the state of mind of someone to think of that term, but then about the comedian who has the audacity to deliver it on national TV, about anyone, let alone the First Lady. Kimmel has spent days attempting to spin and explain his “joke.” If you need to explain the joke, it was not a joke at all. When I first heard the dribble, I was shocked at the laughter in the studio. Then I pictured the stagehands carrying large signs urging the audience to laugh, and like obedient Border Collies, they performed on cue. The difference is that the pups can think for themselves when they are herding. Democrats are not even as free-roaming or smart as the sheep under the Collie’s control.

I do not agree with Trump’s demand that ABC fire Kimmel, nor do I agree with his open criticism and demand for FOX to turn away from Jessica Tarlov. I agree with him on his assessment of both people and their feckless performance, but not with Trump trying to exert his power over the media moguls while ignoring our First Amendment. When he does this, he undermines his own credibility, and his condemnation of these people and their vile, inaccurate statements should suffice.

There is tremendous debate over which Party is fostering the negative rhetoric that is dividing our country and feeding this frenzy for lone wolves to take things into their own hands and eliminate or assassinate the opposition. The Left stands head and shoulders over the Right in this comparison. The Left is not just a few individuals like Cortez, Sanders, Warren, Newsom, and Mamdani. The Left is a nationwide machine coordinating the politicians, educators (and I use that term loosely), and the media. They all get the same daily marching orders and talking points. They may not realize what they are doing, but they are pushing away their voting blocs like the Blacks/Browns, middle-aged men, union workers, and even some women. The Left has no policies that will help our country grow and prosper, and they have become a source of noise and bad jokes. They have also become a tool for the non-consequential to grab the limelight. Why should anyone be listening to the women of The View, or James Carville’s southern rants, or Rosie O’Donnell? Even Barbra Streisand found a way to come out of obscurity to get some clicks by calling for Jesse Watters of FOX News, “to be silenced.” To anyone with a gray hair, that phrase means to have someone eliminated or killed. Barbra may have the right to say that, but she would have been better served to stay in obscurity and let her music do the talking. The ratings and the free market will take care of Kimmel and Tarlov, but there is no cure for TDS, and it makes you wonder what the cause of the Left will be after Donald is gone from Washington in 2029.