We talk about comedy a lot here on the Glenn Beck Program. Because comedy really is important. Laughter is important. It's part of what makes us as humans special. And it's the greatest coping mechanism there is.
All too often, though, comedy is turned into a weapon, and, all too often, it's aimed at conservatives. Case and point: Saturday Night Live. Lately — the last decade or so — the problem with SNL's so-called comedy is that, well, it just isn't funny. It hasn't been funny in a while. Even the left-leaning people who enjoy the show are not watching because it's funny. I've talked to many left-leaning people about SNL skits and they don't laugh when they watch them, not in the enjoyable way. They laugh in a weird "my beliefs are superior" kind of way, if they laugh at all.
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This weekend offered the perfect example, with Pete Davidson's clunky segment during Weekend Update, in which he gave his first impressions of some of the candidates, one of whom was Texas Congressional candidate Dan Crenshaw, a Navy SEAL who did five tours of duty and now wears an eye patch after losing his right eye when he was hit by an IED blast in Helmand province in 2012. He medically retired in 2016 with two Bronze Stars, the Purple Heart and the Navy Commendation Medal with Valor.
Here's Davidson's take on Crenshaw:
Weekend Update: Pete Davidson's First Impressions of Midterm Election Candidates - SNLwww.youtube.com
Mr. Crenshaw showed class, responding on Twitter:
Good rule in life: I try hard not to offend; I try harder not to be offended. That being said, I hope @nbcsnl recognizes that vets don't deserve to see their wounds used as punchlines for bad jokes.
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) November 4, 2018
Davidson's joke is tacky, but that's Davidson's whole schtick — he regularly makes jokes about the fact that his dad, who was a New York firefighter, died on 9/11. He makes fun of himself regularly. But that doesn't make it any less annoying for conservatives, once again, to be the butt of the joke.
I've mentioned this quote before, because it's important: In an article with Vulture.com, Lorne Michaels was asked if there are any "basic political rules" for material on Saturday Night Live. He responded: "Republicans are easier for us than Democrats. Democrats tend to take it personally; Republicans think it's funny."
