Resisting with joy and humour

Bring in the clowns!

Dear friends,

In July 2005, I was still living on our farm in highland Scotland when the 31st G8 Summit was held at the very posh Gleneagles Hotel in nearby Auchterarder. Along with the diplomats, heads of states, police up the hoo-ha, and members of the press, came the Clown Army (aka the Clandestine Insurgent Rebel Clown Army). I learned all about this wonderful protest group from my cousin David Solnit who had traveled from California to don his military fatigues complete with sequinned epaulettes, red nose, and funny wig to disrupt this somber political gathering with super goofy, yet effective tactics. After the farce of the G8 Summit, David spent a few days on our farm, where he performed a one-man-show of Robin Hood for my kiddos, built us some cold frames for our early crops, and delighted us by recounting tales of the hilarious shenanigans he and his fellow clown army protesters got up to in Auchterarder. Two decades later, I am still smitten with the creativity and humour these fabulous people used to challenge the "corporate globalization, war, capitalism, and heavy policing of protests" unfolding at the G8 Summit.

Scotland has always been funny.

Being married to a very funny Scotsman, I have long appreciated his humour, wit, and choice vocabulary that seem to be a national trait.

Not long after the wannabe dictator descended down the golden escalator (barf), he was already causing problems in Scotland with his cursed golf course, but the Scots were having none of it. The fabulous Scottish comedian Janey Godley (may her memory be a blessing) showed up to greet the orange asshole with her now-famous sign affirming, as only a Scot can do, that Trump is a Cunt. I mean.... Janey set the stage for Scottish protesters to unleash their charming national linguistic creativity en masse this summer when he dared to show up again on their beloved turf.

Who's a funny guy (and the hilarious gal behind him)?

At this point, we've all been seeing (and hopefully, enjoying) the new and hilarious social media posts coming from the Governor of California, seriously mocking the orange menace. What a delightful and refreshing approach to calling out the Fascist-in-Chief. What makes it even more delightful, in my eyes, is that the brains behind this new strategy is Camille Zapata (she/her) - 'a queer Chicana-Boricua from Stockton, CA.'. While it appears that she has full consent and cooperation from Governor Newsom, there is no doubt about it, this badass young woman is absolutely winning this psych war with her razor sharp humour and quick wit. I can't imagine how good it must feel for her to have this platform to shred the big bastard who is furiously attempting to erase her.

There is so much joy to be had in Camille Zapata's relentless mocking of Whatshisname. There is the joy in watching how it is clearly deflating his over-inflated, undeserved self confidence. There is the joy in watching MAGA decry Newsom's posts as being 'narcissistic' and 'infantile', completely missing the point of this imitation (duh). And there is the joy of seeing how humour is being so deftly used to fight rising fascism. If the historians and psychologists are right, humour has often been one of the strongest forms of defence against these cruel, angry, humourless, power-grabbing bastards. Camille feels like our funny Joan of Arc just now.

And this specific form of humour appears to be contagious, which must really be pissing off the Toddler-in-Chief. This week, it looks like Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD) couldn't help but join in the fun as he berated the idiot responsible for making the cost of living infinitely less affordable in a language MAGA can understand. I imagine (hope) other Dems will also start to realize that we aren't playing by the rules anymore, and will turn to humour as one of their more powerful tools.

Laughing at my own jokes.

Personally, I turn towards humour to help me navigate these shocking times we're experiencing. When writing my almost weekly emails to Republican senators, I try to employ as much humour as I can muster while calling them out on their very seriously bad behaviour. I'm not sure if they (or their office staff) notice, but it makes me feel better.

Here's an email I sent the Republicans earlier this month with the subject line being Are We Nazis Now?

Dear Senator,

In a mere 6 months, with your unwavering support, Trump has destroyed most of our country that so many have fought and died for. With your unfaltering support, he is ripping apart democracy, replacing it with the authoritarian regime of a madman. With your undying support, he has turned ICE into a department of terrorism that is devastating communities and sending thousands of innocent people to concentration camps where they face abuse and torture. With your unquestioning support, he is flagrantly pissing on our Constitution. With your blind support, he is trashing, not only our economy, but the global economy, causing hardship everywhere.

For the life of me, I cannot understand your wholehearted support for a man who is clearly insane, utterly delusional (most recently boasting to UKPM Starmer “I’ve stopped six wars in the last—I'm averaging about a war a month.” As if!), showing increasing signs of dementia, and is the meanest bastard since Idi Amin.

If this narcissistic madman has any policy at all, its ethos is cruelty and corruption. With your support, he has made life dramatically more costly for struggling Americans, while spending millions of tax dollars on his own decadent pleasures (golf trips galore, refurbishing his luxury jet, and now, a gilded ballroom).  With your support, he has packed his administration with Nazis, white supremacists, idiots, and mobsters. He is packing the courts with men who care more about flouting the laws for their own gains than upholding the Constitution. With your complicity, he is being protected from paying the consequences for raping children.  

Trump is now the most unpopular president in our nation’s history, and his unpopularity will reflect on you at election time. No matter how much the Republican party tries to rig and gerrymander and corrupt the elections, Americans are realizing that they have been duped and we will not stand for it. Your job was to stand for us and for the Constitution, but you have sold your soul and your conscience to the idiot king, and you will be held accountable for your complicity in the destruction of our country. - Jessica

p.s. RELEASE THE EPSTEIN FILES!

Then, to my delight, I received these auto-replies with my catchy subject line from deep red-state senators such as Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Ashley Moody (R-FL) and Pete Ricketts (R-NE)! I'm not sure why I get so much enjoyment from this silliness, but it feels better than despair, I suppose.

Fascists hate funny (but we love it!)

Fascists' favourite commodity is fear. They peddle that shit like candy, hoping we'll all choke on it and then give them everything they want. They want us to swallow their fear-mongering whole so they can have their wicked ways with our beloved world. They may thrive on fear, but what fascists really hate is funny. If we're having a good guffaw and poking fun at their mind-bogglingly idiotic antics, it robs them of the power they falsely assumed was theirs. Our mocking makes them weak. Funny trumps fear every time.

Everywhere we look these days we are seeing an abundance of beautifully creative humour being used to fight fascism, and it is highly effective. From Newsom and his shit-hot team to the concerned citizens making a mighty racket all night outside the hotels that are harbouring the ICE ghouls, to the thousands upon thousands of funny and oh-so pithy protest signs, to the British protesters who drove an advertising van with Vance's bloated, bald meme face around the luxury home where Vance was trying to get some R & R after his hectic schedule of endless expensive holidays (on the taxpayers' nickel), the comedians are everywhere and they are ready for action. Funny isn't the only way to fight fascism, but it's a powerful weapon that brings a much-needed levity to a very grave situation.

JD Vance's Bald Meme Face Haunts His Lavish U.K. Vacation as Trolling Van Cruises Around His Rental.

'Stress relief from laughter? It's no joke.'

A quick Google search for the medical science behind how laughter helps us cope with stress led me to this headline from the Mayo Clinic followed by a brief list of both the short-term and the long-term benefits of laughing. Short-term, laughter can stimulate your organs, activate and stimulate your stress response, and soothe tension. Some long-term benefits of laughter include improving your immune system, relieving pain, and improve your mood. You probably didn't need the Mayo Clinic to convince you that laughter just feels so damned good. Whether it's a quiet guffaw or a pee-your-pants belly laugh, laughter is good for both body and soul. And, of course, it is highly contagious. Add to these benefits that it's a powerful weapon in fighting fascism, one might argue that it is actually our civic duty to find the funny in the world and use it wisely.

I'm the first to admit that at least twenty times a day I gasp in horror at the latest piece of terrifying news while screaming inside my head "WE'RE FUCKED!". Maybe we are fucked, and maybe we're not, but while we figure that out, I'm going to be looking for the funny in the fight as we step up for "what we love and what loves us".

And we are going to fight for all that we love with whatever tools we have. And, of course, we must stay strong and healthy to last the duration ('cuz you know authoritarian regimes don't leave willingly). So even if you're feeling scared and angry and sad, and fighting an overwhelming urge to curl up in a ball of despair, I hope you can access something really, really funny every day that makes you laugh a lot and out loud. I hope the Mayo Clinic is right and that laughter will strengthen you in both body and soul. We need you. We need laughter.

You know the drill - Live. Laugh. Love.

Jessica