Here’s another installment of the Great American Syndicate newsletter - We pluck the ripest stories from the American Tree of News. No ladder needed.

Here’s what we have for you today:

• Sacrificing Compassion for Comedy and Clicks

• Democrat Dick Durbin Wants to Put Illegal Aliens into Our Military

• Michigan Town Replaces Entire Local Board To Fight Against Chinese-Owned Plant

Sacrificing Compassion for Comedy and Clicks

When is something funny, and when is it too far? Turns out this creates a lively debate. And I welcome your opinion here, too. 

As for me - well, my thoughts on this have changed over the past few years, in direct correlation with personal events in my own life and with the plunge away from compassion we as a People appear to have taken. 

It feels as though we have been pushed so far for so long now, that we have lost the ability to maintain a high road.

What do I mean by this?

I mean we have been told we are racists and terrorists for refusing to apologize for the color of our skin, or allow our young children to read pornographic books in school.

We have been told we are selfish “Grandma Killers” for refusing to buy into the lies about COVID, or take the shot.

We have been told we are just bad human beings for refusing to call a man “Ma’am” or not wanting that same man to change with our daughters in the female locker rooms, or to compete against her in sports. 

We are being called more bad things for insisting we protect our borders before we defend another country’s borders, and wanting to deport people who came here illegally not just at our financial expense, but at our personal safety expense. 

But worse than that- we have been censored, threatened with legal action or in some cases, faced with legal action for these very things as well.

And we have HAD IT.

So it’s understandable that we are sort of purging ourselves now, when so many kept quiet for so long. I get how frustration makes it feel like it’s now acceptable to dehumanize others, the way we have been dehumanized for so long.

But…. is it?

The jokes and memes about the Titanic exploration trip, where everyone was killed, are a good example of misplaced frustration- those people did nothing to any of us yet here we were as a collective unit, mocking and meming away, and shaming those who dared say… “Hey, maybe we should show some compassion here.”

Just this week I scrolled through IG, happy to stop on one of my favorite comedians for a workday giggle. But instead, I was left feeling saddened and maybe even a little defeated. Because this clip wasn’t just about advocating for abortion, which I can grasp - I believe the majority of people frothing at the mouth to preserve abortion cannot possibly understand how an abortion is actually performed on infants who can feel pain, and I see an opening there to slowly change that.

But in this instance, the comedian was mocking abortion and insisting he receive proper recognition not just as a “hitman” for murder if he should ever be arrested for his girlfriend’s abortion, but as a murderer himself. More specifically, he wants the badge of honor for killing a relative because as he says, he “found her up inside my lady.”

Finally, his big finish on this piece was when his girlfriend wanted to go for drinks when he picked her up after her abortion, but he told her “It’s probably not smart to drink on an empty stomach.”

His audience clapped and laughed along.

I believe this clip personifies the point that “Just because you CAN doesn’t mean you SHOULD.

But more importantly, to me, it spotlights how far we have deviated from the course of humanity, where we think abortion is funny.

There is a difference between dark humor, where we joke about hard or tragic events in our lives- largely as a coping mechanism- and where we mock those events in others’ lives. 

This clip crossed the line for me. I’m not sure excited to give it any more juice with additional views, but it’s worth it to get your feedback. 

Watch it, and let me know what you think!  Maybe I’ll invite you to my podcast to discuss!

- Barb

🇺🇸 GREAT AMERICAN MEMES 🇺🇸

Was it as good for you as it was for us? Make sure you tell all your friends so they don’t miss out next week! 🇺🇸

Barb Allen & Dave Brown
www.greatamericansyndicate.com