Hang the Jester, Burn the Witch

            Saturday night Michelle Wolf gave a monologue at the White House Correspondents dinner. This event has traditionally been an evening for the press to grab the spotlight from their Washington hub. The mix of politicians and journalists usually produces a black tie social event for the elite who are supposed to represent the needs and concerns of the everyman. And it didn’t take Michelle long to point out the hypocrisy looming in the room.

            I found her jokes to mirror much of my sentiments over the past two years. We’ve turned a corner in our democracy and are driving down a dark dirt road with no headlights, heading towards a cliff. If you’re a person of color, a woman, and / or a middle to low-income person you know we’re not in the driver’s seat. The person who is driving resembles a wealthy white elite man, who more than likely has his exit strategy in place should he bank a curve or hit that ridge, leaving the rest of us strapped in, white knuckling the handle on the door. So she did what any reasonable person does in a crisis situation who is looking to avoid the impending horror, she spoke truth to power.

            Wolf’s jokes were funny to those of us who have spent the last two years watching in horror as our tenuous democracy erodes even further. We have an administration that has gut institutions created for accountability and fairness and used the corpses to disguise corporate and special interests that have slipped into the skins. We have shills posing as leaders and a press whose freedom is restricted by its profitability. For most of us the past two years have been spent screaming for answerability and finding our voices falling mostly on the deaf ears of Washington. For many of us, Wolf’s jokes were a confirmation that we are not alone in questioning just what the hell is going on with the institutions created for our life, liberty and pursuit of happiness. Her humor was a confirmation to the gas lit masses that we aren’t crazy; shit really is fucked up right now. And that confirmation was a hysterical relief to hear. 

            For those of us who grew up in a dysfunctional family, we’re familiar with watching a belligerent parent abusively dominate the home. As children we look to other adults, which in this case are our other elected leaders and press to speak up and hold the abusive leader responsible and best case remove him from the home. But in some cases, the other adults are just as scared and therefore they forfeit their role as protector of the safety and security of the home. If you were siblings in the family you adopted roles, some were the fixers, always trying to soothe or calm the tension letting the others know everything was going to be ok. Others withdrew, fending for themselves. But my personal favorite role of the siblings in a dysfunctional family was the comic. The comic entertained the others in a closet while dad was drunk and raging downstairs. Wolf was our older sister at the correspondence dinner, saying yes, ‘shit is fucked up and I’m not sure if we’ll survive but I’m here to let you know I’m with you and you’re not alone and we’re gonna laugh until dad passes out.’

            Her jokes were unflinchingly honest, and for those of us who have been turned into the punch line for so many jokes played on us by our corrupt capitalist society, it felt like watching a room full of Marie Antoinettes having to eat a cake prepared by Minny Jackson. For many of us who have long been concerned with how our country’s leaders have been treating us, Wolf’s monologue was vindication. And the criticism that followed the next day only confirmed that our leaders (in both politics and the press) are too arrogant, blind and in denial to see their own faults and just how off course we are as a professed first world nation. Much like the #MeToo movement, speaking truth to power produced a wave of ear plugging, finger pointing and defensive arrogance.

            Much like in The Handmaids Tale, this administration has shed light on women separating those who claim to be allies for other women and those who actually are. The backlash on Wolf's joke comparing Sarah Sanders was focused more on a perceived attack on physical appearances and fewer critiques on the similarity that Saunders, much like Aunt Lydia, is a woman who is beholden to a white authoritarian patriarchy that requires the suppression of women to stay in power. The ability to keep the focus on a possible attack on a woman's physical appearance seemed easier to process for the crowd of intellectual elites, rather than examining the more disturbing relationship women have with each other in relation to our patriarchal society. So again, an opportunity to dissect and process an ongoing institutional problem that is detrimental to our culture was missed by the people tasked with digging deeper into issues and conflicts.

            Michelle was confirming what so many of us without power and prestige have been taking to the streets saying: Our country is broken and no longer serves the people it claims to serve under a democracy. We are looking for leadership but as we speak up we find troubling results. When our bodies are violated; our justice systems fails to vindicate the innocent. We see corruption becoming more blatant in our representation, and our neighborhoods are becoming too polluted to live in. The issues are given a spotlight just long enough to sell the story, but never supported enough to correct the wrong and heal the wound. I cannot deny it was painful to see the backlash after her speech, especially from some women I admire… which has also been a theme for many of us these past two years.  For many women who believe in the power of intersectional sisterhood, it’s very defeating to realize not all of your She-ro’s see things the same way. 

            

            Wolf touched on the rage that is real in this country and felt by those of us who have consistently hoped for change, improved living standards, social justice and equality. She spoke to the rage that is growing among an electorate as each new election fails to produce quality leaders capable of representing the people. She spoke truth to the power of a broken system that claims to hold the ideals of the people sacred while they line their pockets with dark corporate money insuring corporate voices are heard over our own. Knowing the flaws in our system it’s hard not to see those who attacked Wolf as being stained with complicity. Because when they were confronted with the truth, much like an angry king or totalitarian, they demanded the jester be hung, the witch to be burned. This reaction is the antithesis of how a country with a stable democracy and a free press should react.