O P I N I O N
NOT THAT PROFOUND
By Nathan Graziano
[Author’s note: I have recently been diagnosed with a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) by MAGA experts. So, MAGA members, this opinion piece will contain information that is highly incompatible with the “alternative facts” that your King continues to spew to you. You might want to skip this piece.]
In case you missed it, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of the Comedy Central cartoon television show “South Park,” have opened up with both barrels parodying the Trump Administration and the MAGA movement in the first two episodes of Season 27.
A shortlist of some of the more ribald roasts of our aspiring fascists: Trump, complete with a micro-phallus, tries to engage in a romantic love affair with Saddam Hussein’s ex from the show, Satan; Jesus returns to Earth, perplexed by the disconnect between his actual message and the “Christians” who can somehow resolve supporting Trump and believing in Him, then warns humanity about Trump’s threats to sue if you speak out against him; Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and head of ICE Kristi Noem shoots dogs with automatic weapons and needs a full staff of Botox maintenance workers to keep her face from falling off; and Vice-president JD Vance is presented as Tattoo from the series “Fantasy Island,” a.k.a. Mar-a-Lago.
Is the satirical humor crude, crass, offensive and off-color? Of course. Anyone who has ever watched the show knows that, for Parker and Stone, there is no such thing as a sacred cow.
Has the thin-skinned Trump administration handled the ribbing with grace and good humor? Not even close.
South Park Screenshots. Image Credit/Comedy Central
White House press spokesman Taylor Rogers said this in a statement to “Variety”: “This show hasn’t been relevant for over 20 years and is hanging on by a thread with uninspired ideas in a desperate attempt for attention.”
In response to the parody of herself, Noem said, “It’s so lazy to just constantly make fun of women for how they look. Only the liberals and the extremists do that. If they wanted to criticize my job, go ahead and do that, but clearly they can’t, they just pick something petty like that.”
One might be inclined to believe that an administration hellbent on jailing brown people without due process and eroding our civil liberties might have bigger fish to fry, but this is Donald Trump and his henchmen that we’re talking about.
First of all, let’s make this clear: Parker and Stone are not liberals. They never have been. In fact, they are nearly impossible to peg politically, although it has been speculated that they are liberatians. Throughout their 27 years of making the show, they have skewered every president, every celebrity and every current event with little heed for whom they may offend.
Secondly, Trump’s attempt to takedown and discredit all shows that are critical of him is the very foundation of fascism. In the United States—at least for now—the First Amendment protects the freedom of speech, press and expression. You—even the President—may not like what a fellow citizen has to say, but they have the right to say it without being threatened with cancellation, like CBS recently did with Stephen Colbert in a thin-veiled attempt to appease the King, although Trump has denied any responsibility in the matter.
The sad fact is that if anyone wants to fight back against this bully, they’re going to have to roll in the mud with him, matching his own obscenities and lewdness. They’re going to have to do exactly what Parker and Stone are doing right now.
With Donald Trump, there is no such thing as a high road. With a man so crude, cruel and sociopathic, you can’t use logic or compassion to combat him and his lies. In fact, I have my doubts that Trump has the intellectual capacity to understand satire, irony and its functions. To fight Trump, you will have to go low and get dirty.
It’s the only thing that he will respond to.
Most of the Democrats, who have been sitting on their own thumbs watching fascism overtake democracy, can learn something from Parker and Stone, which makes them more relevant than they have ever been.
With the exception of maybe California governor Gavin Newsome, senators Chris Murphy and Cory Booker and maybe a dozen other elected Democrats in power, the people opposing this authoritarian coup based on lies, hatred, bigotry and avarice, have forgotten the most essential lesson that we all learn in elementary school: The best way to fight a bully is to punch back.
Nathan Graziano can be reached at ngrazio5@yahoo.com