[golux]

Freedom of thought is the lifeblood of comedy; it has always - for centuries or even millennia - been the enemy of “communist” leaders. There is an idea, popular since the age of Sparta or before, that a few intelligent leaders can help everyone else live better. I went to school with these people. Now they’re at The Times, or The Post, or teaching, or what have you. They really do believe they are meant to rule the world. And what they hate, more than anything, is when their peers laugh at them. The only thing that could possibly be worse is when people laugh along. The solution, of course, for the Benefit of Mankind, is to silence certain voices. To engage “muscle.” To shut the “bad people” down.

[sparklite2]

Freedom of thought is the lifeblood of comedy;

---

Comedy also flows from oppression. The Soviets had some good stuff. There was a humor magazine called Krokidil that had this bit ...

Q: What should we do in the event of a nuclear attack?
A: Wrap yourself in a shroud and walk slowly to the cemetery.
Q: Why slowly?
A: To avoid a panic.

[a fool in paradise]

>>Freedom of thought is the lifeblood of comedy; it has always - for centuries or even millennia - been the enemy of “communist” leaders.

The Left cries that Bill Gaines, publisher of MAD, was red-baiting and playing on hysteria when he published his response to censorship calls from presidential hopeful Estes Kefauver and Dr. Frederic Wertham...

It ran on the inside cover of all of Gaines' EC Comics that month, not just MAD.