“Power, money, persuasion, supplication, persecution—these can lift at a colossal humbug—push it a little—weaken it a little, century by century; but only laughter can blow it to rags and atoms at a blast. Against the assault of laughter, nothing can stand.” Mark Twain, The Mysterious Stranger
The other day, I received a note from my friend John Glover regarding censorship of Andy Borowitz on Facebook (FB). I was, and remain, puzzled by the algorithm that flags political satire. After all, political satire is a stable of humor, but then I got to thinking about the attachment John sent that someone posted on FB.
“Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t hate comedy. He just prefers it slow, flat, and dead inside. The kind of “funny” you find on an Amazon Alexa ad narrated by a comedian who died in 2017 but was digitally resurrected through a licensing agreement.”
John’s note and the Alexa resurrected comedian got me wondering if the FB algorithm would censor Erasmus (In Praise of Folly), Chaucer (The Canterbury Tales), Art Buchwald (Funny Business: The Legendary Life and Political Satire of Art Buchwald), Christopher Buckley (Make Russia Great Again, and Supreme Courtship), Molly Ivins (She DID Say That) Rick Mercer (Streeters Rants & Raves from This Hour Has 22 Minutes, and The Road Years: A Memoir) to name but a few. And let us not forget The Onion (https://theonion.com/news/)
The late Mort Sahl, who was my favorite political satirizer, once said, “Comedians have to challenge the power. Comedians should be dangerous and devastating – and funny. That’s the hardest part.”
Being funny is the hardest part. Andy Borowitz is an astute political observer who knows how to be funny. Before continuing, a few observations from Borowitz may lighten the gravity of the observing algorithm’s mood, and perhaps Zuckerberg’s, or at least mine:
“2025 Canceled by Popular Demand.”
“Trump Establishes New Cabinet Department to Process Huge Volume of Bribes.”
“Karoline Leavitt warns That Migrants Are Smuggling Math into the U.S.”
“Next time someone says, ‘Where has big government ever gotten us?’ the correct answer is ‘Mars.’”
“On July 4, we celebrate government of the people, by the people, and for the people, or as they are now called, corporations.”
Let us contrast Borowitz’s humor with Donald Trump’s political humor. Yes, he knows how to be funny. The following are actual quotes.
“Comedy isn’t dead, it’s just in disguise as Trump quotes.”
“Nobody loves me like I love me, and nobody does it better.”
“I can make mountains out of molehills, but the view is a slice of success.”
“Checks and balances? Not a problem for me.”
“I may have a serious face, but my words keep the laughs rolling.”
“Make America laugh, one Trump quote at a time.”
The difference between these two humorists is that one makes you chuckle as he takes aim at the powerful, and the other makes you groan as he… well, talks about himself and does the iconic Trump dance to YMCA. I wonder if that dance has caught on in LGBTQ nightclubs.
Andy Borowitz’s deadpan FB post, “Trump Claims Springsteen Not Born in USA,” apparently landed him in trouble with the algorithm. Perhaps there was a computer glitch, like those in a SpaceX launch that gives us fireworks and scatters debris. But I have to confess that I am a bit worried. Bruce was born in New Jersey. I was born in New Jersey. We both drop the New and say Jersey. “I’m from Jersey.” We don’t say, “I’m going to the beach.” Instead, we say, “I’m going to the shore.” There are other linguistic quirks in how we speak. If Jersey isn’t part of the USA and we talk differently, does that mean Bruce and I can expect a visit from immigration officers (ICE)? Should I apply for voluntary departure? Should I apply for immigration refugee asylum in Canada?
Political humor, at its best, is dry. It sneaks up on you and challenges you to think. The problem with algorithms, AI in general, is that their creators want to do the thinking for you. The same is true of Trumpian algorithms that wander off into, well, the space (Mars anyone?) of free association during his speeches as you wait for the punchline.
I think Mark Zuckerberg has a sense of humor, laughing as he does all the way to the bank thanks FB Market Place. He is probably wondering when Trump will give him a ride on that newly gifted jet from Qatar on one of his “diplomatic” trips. By the way, Mark, I’ll try to consume more if you promise to free Andy Borowitz from censorship.
I am going to give the last word to Molly Ivins.
“Satire is traditionally the weapon of the powerless against the powerful.”
“There’s never been a law yet that didn’t have a ridiculous consequence in some unusual situation; there’s probably never been a government program that didn’t accidentally benefit someone it wasn’t intended to. Most people who work in government understand that what you do about it is fix the problem — you don’t just attack the whole government.”
Images
Title: Canadian cartoonist John Wilson Bengough caricatures himself giving a chalk talk
Artist: John Wilson Benough (1851-1923)
Collection: John Wilson Bengough, Canada’s earliest cartoonist, as well as an editor, publisher, writer, poet, entertainer, and politician.
Source: Link http://commons.wikimedia.org/
SOURCE LINK: CLEARANCE & RESEARCH: public domain
Title: Substitutes for Bread;–or–Right Honorables, Saving the Loaves, & Dividing the Fishes
Artists: James Gillray (British 1756-1815)
Credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Charles van Heck's Woodhull Journal 
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