Over the next four years conservatives are going to need a good sense of humor. Fortunately, as psychologists have shown, most of us have one.
Indeed, the conservatives did rate the traditional golf and marriage jokes as significantly funnier than the liberals did. But they also gave higher ratings to the absurdist "Deep Thoughts." In fact, they enjoyed all kinds of humor more.
"I was surprised," said Dan Ariely, a psychologist at Duke University, who collaborated on the study with Elisabeth Malin, a student at Mount Holyoke College. "Conservatives are supposed to be more rigid and less sophisticated, but they liked even the more complex humor."
(But that wouldn't surprise anyone who has been paying attention to actual conservatives, rather than stereotypes. Reagan was famous for his jokes. Bob Dole, after losing the presidency, came out with a pretty good book of jokes. George H. W. Bush has a gift for telling stories on himself. And, though it is immodest for me to say so, regular readers of my site know that I often use jokes to make a point, or just for fun.)
Those who tell jokes regularly know that many jokes are recycled, with names changed in order to offend more of the guilty. For instance, there's this Sarah Palin joke, which can be adapted to many politicians.
The original of this joke is still one of the best, if you happen to be of a certain age:
After the 1964 election, President Johnson, Vice President Humphrey, and Mayor Daley were out on Lake Michigan in a small boat. A sudden storm came up threatening all of them. There was just one life preserver in the boat, so they agreed to vote on which man would wear it. As a loyal vice president, Humphrey voted for Johnson. Johnson voted for himself.
When they counted the ballots, they found that Daley had won, 3-2.
But it can be adapted:
After the 2008 election, President Obama, Vice President Biden, and Mayor Daley were out on Lake Michigan in a small boat. A sudden storm came up threatening all of them. There was just one life preserver in the boat, so they agreed to vote on which man would wear it. As a loyal vice president, Biden voted for Obama. Obama voted for himself.
When they counted the ballots, they found two votes for Obama and three votes for Daley — all of them disqualified.
Though I will admit that the second version is not as good as the original.
And then there is this famous joke, from the late 1960s:
A voter is musing over what has happened since the 1964 election, and confesses to a friend: "You know, they told me that, if I voted for Goldwater, there would be riots in our big cities and a massive war in Vietnam. I voted for Goldwater, and, by golly, they were right."
(Instapundit Glenn Reynolds has been using variants on that joke for almost eight years now.)
So, think ahead a little bit, and adapt that joke to, say 2010. The beginning is easy, "You know, they told me that, if I voted for McCain" — and I'll let you think of possible endings.
Or come up with your own joke. Here's another joke I linked to recently, and here's a list of ten jokes for more inspiration.
Cross posted at Jim Miller on Politics.
Posted by Jim Miller at November 08, 2008 02:07 PM | Email ThisBut there are plenty of jokes to go around. :)
Posted by: demo kid on November 8, 2008 02:28 PMThis is just Republican infighting and under-the-bus throwing and nothing more... although I'd be more than a little concerned if this is the kind of relationship that would have been carried into the White House.
Posted by: demo kid on November 8, 2008 02:34 PMShortly after the death of legendary Chicago Mayor Ricard J. Daley the city was hit with a record blizzard which stopped the city in its tracks. A TV reporter asked an elderly lady, standing in a snowdrift downtown, how she was making out during the storm. The woman didn't miss a beat, "This never woulda happened if Mayor Daley were still alive" she said.
Posted by: Bill Cruchon on November 8, 2008 03:27 PMPalin jumped into the icy water and swam 100 miles to shore...no problem as she does this once a month.
Al Gore stood up in the boat and started decrying to all who would listen that it was Man that caused the storm, because overfishing has let heat rise from the sea bed and cause CO2 to enter the troposphere and make heavy rains. However, a strong gust came up and blew him off the boat into the water.
Obama was left with the boat and the life vest.
However, he didn't have any advisers, Acorn supporters, rich con artists or media image makers with him so could not figure out how to put it on and both he and the boat capsized and sank.
Dan Ariely must be a liberal otherwise he would know conservatives have a great sense of humour. I noticed he didn't mention Obumma not being the one on SNL to draw the highest audience in 14 years.
Posted by: Burdabee on November 8, 2008 06:36 PMThe bartender says: "Hey Barack. The usual?"
Posted by: arby on November 9, 2008 08:13 AMSingle guys have it made. That study you cite was done by a married guy who would have never heard the end of it, if he had published his real set of results.
John Bailo and Arby - Nice jobs, both of you!
Absolutely, Jim Miller, about Glenn Reynolds - I think it stopped being funny about 1/2 way through those 8 years. Well, I dunno, let me try it:
They told me if I voted for John McCain over the overlord Obama, speech code would go into effect even over the internet. Guess what, I did, and ####################################################################################################
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PLEASE STEP AWAY FROM THE SCREEN, MR. LINCOLN. YOU ARE IN STRICT VIOLATION OF US CFR 131.43 SECTION A SLANT 4 DELTA - HERE IS A RECEIPT FOR YOUR LAPTOP. YOU MAY PICK IT UP AFTER YOU ARE OUT OF JAIL IN 5 YEARS, ALONG WITH EVERYTHING ELSE FROM YOUR POCKETS, (One rubber band, two dollars, eighty-three cents, one bus pass, one condom, slightly soiled ....)
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Councilman Arrested for Peeing on Crowd
( http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Councilman-Arrested-for-Peeing-on-Crowd.html )
mean that we can have Gregoire arrested for what she's done to small businesses in the state?
Posted by: AudacityWatch.com on November 9, 2008 04:09 PMHere's one:
Q: How many radical feminists does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: That's NOT funny.
And another:
Q: How many union electricians does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: Ten... You got a problem with that?
Posted by: Bruce Guthrie on November 9, 2008 07:31 PMConservatives will be just fine during the Obama years, rich people will be just fine during the Obama years; everyone else is screwed... and they will get the change they deserve.
That's why we are us and they are them.
I am proud to be in the 48% who believe I can manage my money better than the government can manage it for me.
Suppose you hate Bush. Eventually a Republican will take office again. I would tend to believe that as a liberal, you'd want THAT government to be as small as possible.