Once upon a time, a joke was either funny, or it fell flat, and people moved on.
Now the big questions are:
Was it offensive?
Did it offend the right people?
Did it offend the wrong people?
Should you apologize? Should you explain the joke?
Is this the end of your career?
Much this explains some of the "new, fresh" comedians who make jokes along the lines of:
I hate Republicans.
Christians are haters.
Men are stupid.
Jokes like those really bring down the house these days.
The idiot referred to as "David Letterman" was still telling "Bush is stupid" jokes two weeks ago.
I watched because he had a guest on I wanted to see... can't stand him.