It's Just a Joke, Folks!

(You could laugh if they let you.)

First off, a little only-tangentially-related side-note: There's a whole genre of jokes and cartoons about folks arriving at the Pearly Gates. While I was looking for an image to illustrate today's post, I ran across a cartoon with which almost everyone in Kansas City should be familiar. Drawn in 1982 by Lee Judge of the Kansas City Times, it accompanied the obituary of Arthur Bryant, the founder and proprietor of KC's Ur-barbecue joint:

And now, on to today’s post, in which a newcomer’s arrival at the Pearly Gates goes just a tad bit differently:

I am a compulsive joke teller and joke collector, and I pride myself on being able to tell a joke on just about any topic. I am also a joke wrangler; I can tweak a joke told by others, to improve its rhythm or flow, to make it less clunky and sometimes even funnier, and to update it and make it more relevant to current events.

I can also reconstruct a joke from incomplete elements, such as a set-up without a punchline or even a punchline without a set-up; in the early '80s I participated in a radio show in Portland, Oregon in which callers would begin to tell a joke and our studio panel would see how quickly we could "step on" the punchline; sometimes the caller got no further than "Two guys walk into a bar." The show was called “Stump the Comic,” which is also the answer to the riddle, “What do you call a comedian with no arms or legs?”

I've also been known to tell politically incorrect jokes that are based on cultural, ethnic and racial stereotypes, as well as jokes that are just clearly in bad taste. However, for the past 30 years or so I have prefaced them with a disclaimer: "I would never actually tell this joke; I merely repeat it to show the levels of insensitivity and tastelessness to which some people will stoop."

The joke I'm about to repeat qualifies for that disclaimer. It's a joke that follows a template, and I've told it, and it's been told over the years, about different persons. There's no telling when or about whom it was first told, but it was told about Barack Obama when he appeared to be on track to become the first Black president, and about Hillary Clinton and about Kamala Harris when they aspired to be the first female and first Black female president, respectively.

Some of you will immediately understand the punchline, and even see it coming like a train with a big ol’ headlight on the front, but for others it may be kind of subtle. It’s a joke that turns on what might be called wishful thinking.

And now it bears telling about Zohran Mamdani, the presumptive next mayor of New York City. You’ll understand why American Thinker declined to publish it. Remember, though, it's only a joke!

Here it is:

Zohran Mamdani dies and goes to Heaven. [Unlikely? Perhaps, but just go along with it; it's a joke.]

At the Pearly Gates he is stopped by St. Peter (or, if we want to keep this non-denominational, by a nameless angelic gatekeeper) with a list in hand, who asks for the newcomer's name as he scans his list. "I'm sorry, Mr. Mamdani," says the gatekeeper, "but I don't see your name on my list. Tell me again, just who are you?"

"I'm Zohran Mamdani!" says the newcomer, growing agitated and stamping his foot. "I was the first Muslim mayor of New York City, and in fact the first blatantly outspoken Jew-hating mayor of New York City! Do you realize the significance of that, in a city that has the largest Jewish population outside of Israel??!!

"And, speaking of Israel, I also made crystal-clear my hostility and contempt for that nation! I even made it abundantly clear, to anybody who was paying attention, that I condoned the atrocities committed by Hamas in their massacre of Jews on Oct. 7, 2023, and I even incorporated the phrase 'Globalize the Intifada' into my campaign rhetoric! Everybody knows who I was and what I stood for!! You must have me on your list!!"

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Mamdani," the gatekeeper says again, trying to be helpful, "But I just don't see you listed here. Tell me, just when, exactly, were you elected?"

And Mamdani, even more agitated, replies, "Just a couple of minutes ago!!"

ST