Or at least, I am capable of really poor taste.

August Pollak takes on the Hillary metaphors head-on.

Only they’re not metaphors. I’ve seen YouTubes of several of the characters he’s describing. YouTubes done to make fun of Hillary. And some of them made me laugh.

No, I’m not given to tell stereotype jokes. But as I have laughed at Sam Kinison and other comedians who hurl thunderbolts that both amuse and disturb, I know part of that is the enjoyment of caricature, and hyperbole carrying exaggeration to absurd levels, I have occasionally wondered if it’s really hidden bias that makes the caricature so enjoyable.

Have you heard Kinison do “Are You Lonesome Tonight”? Having been through the heartbreak of a love turned unfaithful, I felt his thundering rage is a tonic built on the idea that yeah, wouldn’t it be nice to vent like that, instead of just hurting?

Now I don’t buy most of the micro-analysis about every gesture and every word of Clinton and Obama meaning some ulterior thought or feeling’s at work. I don’t believe that one’s a racist or one’s a sexist. I do believe that it takes a huge ego to even want the job of president. I mean kids may think that’s a cool goal, but as adults, we see how much shit one has to endure in pursuit of the job or in the job. And a fair amount of compromise is part of that, including ethical compromises. One has to have an ambition strong enough to accept those compromises. For most people that’s untenable.

So that’s why I view everyone who runs to be a bit suspect. There’s gotta be some crazy in them and they have to have awfully thick skin, both against critics and against themselves in the compromises made.

As a result, when I watch Saturday Night Live skits, I laugh. Not because I consider it to be accurate portrayal. But because I love the genius involved in creating rich caricatures that magnify the possibilities of the caricature flaws as well as magnifying the silliness of critics who see extreme villainy in political opponents. Such caricature, after all, really attacks both targets.

Just yesterday, I saw a YouTube of Hillary as Hitler. And of course, I immediately thought “that’s way over the top; Hillary is nothing at all like Hitler.” Yet the parody did poke fun at the possibility that she might rage magnificently in private. So I found it clever and inventive, though completely absurd. And frankly, the only part of it that really made me wince was when the ‘c’ word (a reference to female genitalia) was used. Afterwards I asked myself ‘why did I find the ‘c’ word offensive without being offended by the comparison to Hitler?

I concluded that it was, in fact, because Hitler has become a metaphor for evil madness and the intent of the comedian is to utilize metaphors to make a point of reference, not to claim the target is really anything close to the very real evil of such a man. Still, it’s certainly an insult to be called Hitler, just as it’s an insult to ever use the c-word.

Ultimately, I long ago concluded that I relish over-the-top humor. Not because I love sexist caricature or racist caricature, but because I have ultimate faith in the idea that most human beings are flawed - including myself - and most of us have moments where we do act ridiculously. And if we can laugh at our own weaknesses and flaws, that means it’s okay to poke fun at everyone. Or at least, appreciate the ‘naughty’ comic genius that plays on the absurdity of the human condition and human bases.

But maybe I’m wrong. Maybe I just make excuses to rationalize away the simple fact that I hate everyone, including you. Maybe I should feel guilty at the enjoyment of any comedy; after all, most of it is ultimately hurtful.

Alice Roosevelt Longworth famously remarked; “If you can’t find something nice to say about someone, sit yourself down here by me.” Fran Leibowitz and the Algonquin Roundtable members and others have built careers out of the capacity to utilize snarkasm honed to a fine and painful edge.

Ultimately then, comedy often requires a bit of sadism from those who appreciate it. A love of sick humor is at least a recognition that one is partly guilty of something, that we recognize the caricature of ourselves as much as the caricature of others.

In the final judgment, does that mean we’re horrible sexists or racists or whatever when we spontaneously laugh at certain caricatures? Probably. And yet I find it equally troubling when I encounter people who seem resistant to humor entirely. For me, humor is a pressure-relief valve, the way to take away the dour and the seriousness and pains of living, and for a moment, to escape to the world of teh silly.

I have no answer to all of it. Maybe I’m just a bastard who should not be permitted to live. Or to, at least, be shunned by polite company. Maybe ‘fuckemiftheycan’ttakeajoke’ is the ultimate mark of my beastliness. Maybe ‘lighten up’ is a lame and ineffective defense.

All I know is that some responses in life are instinctive. And if I get too reflective and too self-critical, I spend an enormous amount of time feeling guilty, ruining my enjoyment of life itself. That way yields certain misery and I cn’t find anything redemptive in that.

It’s really quite the dilemma trying to come to any certain conclusion. But I enjoyed Pollak capturing that, too. I hope I’m a reasonably tolerable bastard. Or at least as tolerable as the bastard in you.