Comedy is a bastion of Democratic strength

A few years ago, I shot a segment about how Democrats are objectively funnier. It’s true; it just is. I’m sorry. We have a full monopoly on late night, and Tucker Carlson’s “you’re a bad little girl” bit earlier this year certainly didn’t bolster the public sense that the right is on the cutting edge of comedy.

The problem, of course, is that the things that Republicans are doing…aren’t funny. And now that they’re firmly in power…it kinda feels like…nothing is. Take SNL, for example, which – in my opinion – absolutely shone while covering the political disastrousness of the past eight years. The first post-election episode, where the cast was visibly rocked and the writers clearly had not wholly prepared for a Trump re-election: It wasn’t good.

But you know what happened the other night? Comedy came back, courtesy of one Mr. Chris Rock, who during his turn as host somehow managed to tell the truth, appropriately skewer not just the right, but all arms of the political spectrum, and – amazingly – make me cackle out loud.

Here’s Rock’s take on a surface-level unfunny topic: The murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

[Insert clip from monlogue]

Predictably, Rock got backlash: Bastion of journalistic integrity The New York Post, for example, said that his monologue “stunned” viewers with this “pathetic” joke.

Y’all. That is a freaking hilarious bit. Yes. Because I said so. During the show, Rock also handled racism, sexual harassment, and a serious prop kerfuffle involving a gallbladder and (spoiler alert) Adam Sandler – go watch it, it made me happy.

So sure, very little is funny these days. But goodness, am I grateful to our comedians for refusing to stop telling jokes. Here’s to 50 more years of SNL, assuming Trump doesn’t put those Weekend Update dudes in jail.