Can We Hold On to Our Sense of Humor?

A Saturday Prompt

These are serious times. They need to be taken seriously. That means confronting the threats and facing the dangers with all the intensity that we can muster. But can we agree that we will not lose our sense of humor, both for our own sanity and well-being and because it’s a powerful weapon?

Consider: Trump henchman Kash Patel demanded through his attorney this week that former Mike Pence advisor Olivia Troye retract her statements exposing Patel’s propensity to lie and unfitness to serve as FBI director. In response, Troye’s attorney Mark S. Zaid wrote a letter treating the demand with the seriousness it deserves. “As you know, I am personally well aware of the impulsive nature fueled by your client’s appetite to sue individuals, as well as your firm’s proclivity to support such lawsuits,” Zaid wrote. “I am reminded of the Italian proverb that a ‘lawsuit is a fruit-tree planted in a lawyer’s garden’ and I can only imagine the number of apples and oranges growing in your backyard.” (Those are Zaid’s italics.)

And then Zaid concludes his short letter with this: “But to answer your specific question as to Ms. Troye’s intentions as to a retraction, I think Monty Python expresses it best.” He then inserted a photo taken from the film “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” in which a mustachioed French soldier makes a mocking gesture. In fact, that character is known as the French Taunter, who mocks and insults King Arthur and his knights.

Let’s leave aside the question of how hilarious you may (or may not) find Zaid’s mockery, a la Monty Python. Rather, let’s applaud his determination to defuse the intended threat and refuse to play the bullying Trumpist’s game. It’s not hard to see how the use of humor—indeed mockery—becomes an act of strength to let its target know that you know the truth and won’t be intimidated.

Permit me several other choice examples from Florida congressman Maxwell Frost. Here’s how he described the so-called Department of Government Efficiency that Trump has Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy fronting. “Let’s be honest about DOGE and this whole thing: It’s a joke,” Frost said on national television. “We are talking about two billionaires who are cosplaying as government officials.”

In response to the world’s richest man and X owner posting that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) should be defunded, Frost noted this with a laughing emoji: “The guy who owns the other platform thinks that the government is funding the ACLU. You know, the group famously known for SUING the government. This is what happens when billionaires buy themselves influence with absolutely no clue about what they’ve inserted themselves into.” Frost wasn’t done performing vivisection on Musk: “Elon pretty much paid Trump so he could become Co-President of the United States,” he posted on Bluesky. “We have serious work ahead of us to protect our Democracy by getting billionaires and corporate money out of our politics.”

An old friend of mine asked my wife last night over dinner how we’ve stayed together for so long (yes, amazingly, 30 years). She was quick to note: We have maintained our sense of humor. To which I added, rare days when our sense of humor evaporated were particularly long and unpleasant days.

I hope you have other and better examples of humor and mockery to share here. Goodness knows, this reckless and incompetent collection of Fox hosts, billionaires and other Trump donors that the next president wants to foist upon the country and call our top leaders are more than deserving of mockery and laughter. Better that than non-stop fury and tears. And this just might serve the critical purpose of revealing that many of these people—making pronouncements and threats—are just wannabe emperors who have no clothes.

So what do you think? Can we hold onto our sense of humor? Will this be natural for you or tough amid these dark and treacherous times? Do you worry that humor may serve to minimize the gravity in some cases? Are there any recent examples that you’d like to share?

As always, I look forward to reading your observations and the opportunity for this community to learn from each other. Please do be respectful in your remarks. Trolling will not be tolerated.

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*Photo: The French Taunter from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. That’s the image lawyer Mark Zaid included in his letter.