De-mock-racy: Comic Framing as Political Wrecking Ball

Abstract

This chapter shows how humor, more specifically ridicule, is used to damage national idealism and destroy individuals. Political advocates of the twenty-first-century America square off against a public sphere equipped for instantaneous and voluminous attacks of ridicule organized and orchestrated from the internet via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and an array of social media-driven communication platforms. The case study of Governor Sarah Palin is instructive as to how the process works presently. The problems of comedic annihilation remain with us during the 2016 presidential campaign. The decline of civility is observable everywhere, and most Americans would like to see our political sphere move away from its cynical assumptions and toward civility. Public mockery does not contribute to public debate, deliberations, or knowledge.