Comedians of the #Resistance, applying their talents to derail President Trump, were the subject of a Washington Post story on Monday, but it’s almost impossible for liberals to identify this as liberal. Instead, a headline about liberal American University in northwest DC suggested "'Comedian in residence’ furthers study of humor’s role in social change.”
Electing Trump could certainly qualify as “social change,” but the term is liberal code for “social justice,” that is liberal victory.
Post reporter Sarah Larimer explained comedian Bethany Hall has been retained for a one-year fellowship at American and is “underwritten by a foundation.” They’re not specific in the paper, but the online version links to The Atlantic Foundations – a liberal group.
More liberal code language follows. They study humor for how it can “engage” audiences and “spur the public to connect.” Comedy can be “leveraged strategically.” They just won’t come out and say what the point is: Using comedy to convert voters to the liberal view on issues. Kathy Griffin proved that pretending to behead Donald Trump wouldn't work.
It’s not like we have a shortage of comedians trying energetically to accomplish this, so it must be studied:
The arrival of the comedian in residence is the latest chapter in the Laughter Effect, which the school’s Center for Media & Social Impact inaugurated last year to enshrine its commitment to studying laughter, social issues and how good jokes can help us understand our world.
Part of the Laughter Effect focuses on research, working to understand how comedy can engage members of an audience and how it can spur the public to connect with social issues.
Caty Borum Chattoo, the center’s director, said it was designed to dig into “how comedy works when we think about social and civic issues, how we engage in issues differently when it comes through comedy.”
“But ultimately, we want to examine the possibility that comedy can be leveraged strategically when we think about engaging people on tough issues,” Borum Chattoo said.
Caty Chattoo’s mentor is ultraliberal TV titan Norman Lear, which also isn’t mentioned in the Post. It might make the liberal agenda too obvious.
Borum Chattoo said that at times, it can seem as though a person’s identity is defined by their political choices.
“And I just don’t believe that’s true,” she said. “I think that most of us actually meet in areas of compassion and concern for our communities and our families.”
Those are the values that Borum Chattoo believes can be leveraged in comedy.
So the uncommitted voter (or the weakly conservative one) can be “leveraged” into voting Democrat through their “compassion and concern for our communities and families.” Once again, the American university is creating "academic" products that read like the easiest of classes. "Laughing for Social Change" should have a pretty easy final exam.
