Kathy Griffin Wanted To Be Special

Yesterday Kathy Griffin went full Salon, posing with a replica of our president’s head. But this wasn’t your average under endowed statue or Hitler likeness. She posed with the bloodied, decapitated head of the sitting president of the United States. 

Do I care? Not really. I’m not going to feign offense because it’s politically convenient. It was in extremely poor taste but I think it’s a tad dramatic and even hypocritical for Trump supporters and sympathizers that constantly (and rightfully) accuse the left of oversensitivity to equate this with treason. Does anyone actually, seriously think that comedian Kathy Griffin is conspiring to have our president beheaded? If you do, I honestly don’t blame you given the collective meltdown of the left in the last seven months. But still, let’s be realistic. I’m sure some masked anti-fa basement dwellers are probably drawing up completely implausible assassination plans, but Kathy Griffin? Come on.

Her stunt demonstrated an incredible lapse in judgment, but more importantly demonstrated how far our standards for entertainment have fallen. Kathy Griffin and dozens of other celebrities like her grasping for any remnant of relevancy think that hating Trump is enough. Our threshold for discourse has become so low that people think that simply expressing contempt for our president is profound or revolutionary. People don’t feel like they have to form coherent, independent, meaningful thoughts anymore- they just have to hate Trump and do it loudly. Who cares about substance or value anymore- just do something obnoxious to express your distaste for 45, and they’ll make you a star. Or in Kathy Griffin’s case, they’ll dust off the coffin of your career and bring you back to life. That’s how it works, right?

Except no one cares. We’ve seen the same message sautéed, filleted, deep fried and baked to a crisp by Buzzfeed, MTV, GQ and virtually every other mainstream media outlet you could think of. And we get it. You don’t like Trump. He’s not your president, even though he literally is. You’re literally shaking. He’s literally Hitler, even though he’s literally not. But so what? If your hatred alone for our president was ever newsworthy, it isn’t anymore. 

Here’s a general rule of thumb: if the only reason you’re talking is to hear yourself speak, you should shut up. And if the only reason you’re doing something is for attention, it’s probably a terrible idea. To some degree, we all want attention. But people need to stop embarrassing themselves and their parties with these charades of pseudo-wokeness for clicks and retweets. 

You’re completely entitled to whatever opinions you have about our president, but they don’t make you special. If you’re relying on your contempt for another human being as your claim to fame, you’re doing it wrong, and ultimately adding nothing of value to the conversation.