David Brooks: American curiosities

▲ Jon Stewart said on his show: This is what we know: that we don’t really know anything. We are going to come out of this election and we are going to make all kinds of proclamations about what this country is, what this world is, and the truth is that we are not going to know shit…Photo taken from networks

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Comedians and caricaturists of power usually summarize the political and social moment, find the absurd joke and respond to curses by provoking that collective laughter necessary for rebellions.

Perhaps the best synthetic summary of the election was that of the satirical newspaper The Onionwith the owner America defeats America. But in this American situation, you know things are very bad when even the jesters cry.

The hosts of the main national late-night television talk and comedy programs offered their first impressions 24 hours after the election, almost all of them used the word fuck and they admitted that it’s not easy to make jokes right now.

Jimmy Kimmel, host of Jimmy Kimmel Live! of ABC, declared that “it was a terrible night for women, for children, for the hundreds of thousands of immigrant workers who make this country work; for health, for our climate, for scientists, for journalists, for justice, for freedom of expression. It was a terrible night for poor people, for the middle class, for the elderly who depend on social security… for democracy and decency. It was a terrible night for everyone who voted against him and, you know what, it was a terrible night for those who voted for him too, although they still don’t realize it.” Her voice broke as she tried not to cry in the middle of her list.

His program began with his assistant Guillermo entering the dressing room where Kimmel was packing while declaring that he has to flee this country. The assistant tells him that the country needs him more than ever and convinces him to stay, but the assistant, who is of Mexican origin, puts on a charro hat and takes out his suitcase. Kimmel asks him where he’s going. Guillermo responds, I’m going back to Mexico. Fuck “This, I’ll leave it there for you.”

Stephen Colbert, host of Late Show on CBS, without his normal attitude of defiance, declared: “Well, fuckit happened again,” and for a moment his voice broke with sadness and anger. Already in his black humor monologue, he stated: “this is a democracy… And in this democracy the majority has expressed itself, and said that they really don’t care that much about democracy.” He added: Who knows what the next four years will be like. What we do know is that we will be governed by a monstrous child surrounded by cowards and scammers..

Jon Stewart, comedian who gained enormous national influence and was even rated among the most trusted voices in newscasts, despite the fact that the host – The Daily Show– was fictitious, this year he reprized that role once a week. In his first post-election comments he warned against believing the experts. “This is what we know: that we don’t really know anything. We are going to come out of this election and we are going to make all kinds of proclamations about what this country is, what this world is, and the truth is that we are not going to know shit… I just want to point out that… the conclusions that our experts will proclaim with certainty They will be wrong.” He offered several examples from the recent past with the experts mass media electoral reports claiming all kinds of things concluding with one from 2021, where a specialist proclaims that Trump, after his attempt to subvert the 2020 election, was forever a pariah who can never return to Washington again.

The cartoon published as the cover of The New Yorker It’s the Statue of Liberty walking a tightrope. Among the cartoons made with sadness, alarm and anger, there is one by Lalo Alcaraza that shows two figures, one with a t-shirt that says Latinos for Trump (royal group) holding a banner that says please deport my mom and next to him a woman with a banner that says: fuck your mother, asshole. Ian Stone, English comedian, concluded: The US elections are too important to be left in the hands of Americans.

A choice so funny that it makes you want to cry.

4 Non Blondes. What’s Up. https://www.youtu-be.com/watch?v=6NXnxTNIWkc

Grateful Dead. US Blues. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IBk5xk5Pec