I did some work in Cairo in 2012, a little over a year after the revolution. One of my clients explained to me that the Muslim Brotherhood had taken winning the post Mubarak election as carte blanche to do whatever they liked. There was a coup d’état in 2013.
I’ve been thinking of this a lot lately.
This is one of those situations in which Freud pointed out there’s no such thing as a joke. It represents what to him is a profound desire & truth. Presenting it as a joke creates plausible deniability, because normal people will say “How ridiculous! He must be joking. Let’s not take it seriously.”
I’ve heard this sort of person called “Schrödinger’s douchebag”: someone who says something deliberately offensive to provoke outrage and then declares whether they were joking or not based on the reception from the listener.
'Can't you take a joke, love?' is the constant refrain of abusive men when accused of harassment and abuse by women. I am not surprised that Trump deploys this move.
School bullies throughout my 80s-10s career: "We were only mucking about." Made way worse when someone started sitting them in a room with their victim, who nodded along, making the "restorative" process an extension of the bullying.
When Cromwell declined the Crown he did so in part because the power of the Crown even by 1650s was subject to certain formal limitations by which he did not want to be bound.
As a teacher, I was kind and approachable but oh, I'd come down doubly hard on anyone who excused their hurtful words or behaviour with "But it was just a jo-oke." That's just cowardice on top of malice. If you're going to be a shit at least have the decency to own it and accept the consequences.
Yes, it’s exactly that. “I want to voice my true feelings but am unsure of your response. If you don’t like my feelings, this allows me to blame you for not getting that I was joking.”
The guiding public style of this administration really is that of the extremely online troll. Those of us who are, to our shame, extremely online understand the tone and recognise exactly what is happening. Those who are not are baffled, and struggle to process it.
Up there with “I don’t know, but some people say that [insert the ridiculous assertion that you want to put into the public discourse, but don’t want directly attributed to you]”.
This is just a FYI: but the /r/conservative subreddit (MAGA central) is beginning to talk about "king Trump". It's interesting to see how they are trying to bend reality into knots.
In Richard Prior's comedy "Moving", RP's character buys a house. During the viewing, the sellers keep making jokes about taking everything when they leave.
When Prior's family moves in, everything - appliances, doors, stairs and swimming pool - have gone.
Comments
I’ve been thinking of this a lot lately.
Not a joke
A smoke curtain, a cover up
It is a form of ethical immunity, to complement a taste for legal immunity.
Right?
Good joke right guys?
Unless, I mean unless....nah, of course. Just a really great joke I did that people love. Like they love me.
Unless you guys like that idea.... I mean it's not that bad of an idea. Right guys?
Great stuff recently from you, btw.
http://schrodingers-douchebag.urbanup.com/7259160
A good dissection here
Deeply dishonest.
I found this 2019 paper, have skimmed some of it.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331911359_Deplorable_Satire_Alt-Right_Memes_White_Genocide_Tweets_and_Redpilling_Normies
When Prior's family moves in, everything - appliances, doors, stairs and swimming pool - have gone.
"Well, we told you" was the get-out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHANLC9JtWI