Yesterday morning, John Cleese–yes, that John Cleese–kicked off a breathtaking series of tweets with this gem:
No. A sense of humour goes with a sense of perspective,which the PC police lack.Seriously,what do PCPs find funny ? https://t.co/AoqQ1BH9tx
— John Cleese (@JohnCleese) June 19, 2016
Now, OK, aside from the obvious deriding of the “PC police” I think a lot of people might overlook Cleese’s ranting as just the tweets of a grumpy old guy who just doesn’t quite get it. I mean, many of us grew up with Monty Python and Cleese’s signature “barely controlled rage” schtick. But then this happened:
The world knows the Jewish people have a great sense of humour, and a lot of their best jokes are self-deprecating.. https://t.co/bBRMWDa588
— John Cleese (@JohnCleese) June 20, 2016
Click that link and go see for yourself. Cleese went full Dawkins. And not to just anyone. That’s my friend, master cartoonist Jon Rosenberg of Scenes from a Multiverse and Goats he’s maliciously quote tweeting there, and sending the full force of his 5 million followers at. That’s…I mean, holy shit. What is it with celebrities and railing about the “constraints” of political correctness? That whole business of being offended when someone points out you’ve just said something offensive? But maybe that’s not the worst of it. I mean, look at this tweet from one of Cleese’s followers:
https://twitter.com/BubbaMacLeod/status/744934260977524738
And that was mainly for Jon Rosenberg merely suggesting, “Hey, maybe we should be kind to each other.” Yes, OK, free speech is important, but it’s not a license to be a dickhead all the time. It doesn’t give you impunity from criticism, either. In any case, it’s cast John Cleese, a man who’s comedy I grew up loving, in a rather unappealing light.
Jon is one of the funniest guys I’ve met on Twitter, and the most politically intelligent. He also happens to be in the hospital right now with stomach issues, so if we could all send him some art love, that would be swell:
