From a best man's speech I gave in December 2016:
"I'm so glad that we could all gather to celebrate *** before president trump starts a nuclear winter next month. Okay, I didn't hear many laughs on that one, is it too soon? I did have a Hillary Clinton version of that joke ready in case she won, but I lost it when I deleted my emails."One of the ways that the last four years has made me an angrier, more embittered person is that I no longer find anything about this funny, and I think it's irresponsible to even attempt to mine humor from the situation. Thesis: trump is a fascist and a stochastic terrorist; any attempt at humor, even from someone who hates his fucking guts, only serves to soften his image. I don't think it's an image that deserves softening.
This shit isn't a joke. People are suffering. Kids are in cages. Earnest citizens are being beaten by the gestapo just so trump can get a picture holding a bible. Basic human rights are being denied while trump and his cronies fatten their pockets. This isn't funny.
So I cringe when someone tries to make it funny. I didn't think it was funny when someone received a roll of toilet paper with trump's image on the ply during a Christmas pollyanna. I don't think it's funny when someone tries to do a trump impression. I didn't think it was funny when RuPaul's drag queens parodied trump in a musical. It doesn't matter that drag queens obviously dislike trump, and would never purposefully do anything to help his cause—they're doing it anyway by even associating the act of laughter with such an unfunny creature.
Every act of mirth is the equivalent of Jimmy Fallon ruffling trump's hair. It is to say that trump is, after all this, human. I disagree. No human could possibly have such disdain for his fellow man.
And so I then turn the mirror toward myself, and watch as I crack open a beer called "Make America Juicy Again," a play on the well-known slogan of the modern nazi. I had no pretense that I would like the taste of this generic hazy IPA; I bought this beer so I would have the opportunity to write about not appreciating humor when it has to do with our orange leader. And yet here I am promoting a beer I ostensibly hate. Who is the joke on now? Watch as I smear mud on my forehead to spell out the word "hypocrite."
I know this is a problem. I've known it for the entire length of this presidency. I'm not happy with the fact that I laugh less these days. I can feel myself collapsing inward every single day. I can feel the temptation to just lash out, say fuck this beer and fuck anyone who thinks such a lazy play on a phrase is clever or funny or warranted. I just want this year to end.
NOTES
BEER: Make America Juicy Again
GENRE: NE IPA
ABV: 6.5%
BREWED BY: Heretic Brewing Company
LOCATION: Fairfield, California
PURCHASED AT: IGA
PAIRED WITH: a small calzone (we had ordered a large stromboli, R.I.P. Tony's Pizza)
GRADE: 0.5 pukes out of 5
BEER COUNT: 352.5
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