I am surprised to see Sarah Palin chime in, claiming that Griffin actually came to Wasilla to confront Palin family members. That reeks of some sort of disorder...

For many years I've been disappointed that some people think what a comedian says is true. Nah.

Ask the Dixie Chicks if free speech has consequences. Natalie's remark about GWB cost them tens of millions of dollars, given their talent and visual appeal - and the remark was driven by a populist view of Bush, not reality.

"Life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid." - credited to John Wayne, possibly from antiquity.

I think she's kinda troubled, though there are almost by definition a lot of celebrities who are jacked in the head.

Years ago Griffin was on Loveline a few times. She made some good jokes... But when confronted with something distasteful, she would make SHRIEKING remarks of disgust, filling the studio and national airwaves with a child's expression of discomfort. Given that the show was about helping troubled teens to deal with their problems in a dispassionate way, this was not helpful.

Every other glimpse of her in media has suggested that same roaring temperament, as if to ask her to just tone it down a smidge would be the greatest imaginable violation of her natural rights as an organism in our Cosmos, with the child's presumption that everyone else needs to experience her every emotion.

Well, it's a distinctive photograph. And I imagine if you showed her a picture of a similarly bloodied and indistinct "face" between a red wig and a blue sweater, she would imagine herself to be inexcusably threatened.

This is not a nuanced psychological appraisal on my part.

But it doesn't need to be, because America knows what it likes.

And how many "companies" were there? She did a few paid appearances on CNN every year and had a line of toilet seats or something.

Her rights of expression don't appear to have been constrained.

...with the child's presumption that everyone else needs to experience her every emotion. ~ Crid at June 3, 2017 12:42 AM

I'm not intimately familiar with her act, but Griffin does seem to be one of those comedians whose routine is more personal therapy than an attempt to entertain.

She went too far with the severed head. Now, she needs to simply acknowledge that and lay low for a few months. The "he got me" and "bullying" press conference is going to diminish any forgiveness the public was ready to offer. Never take career advice from an Allred (mother or daughter). They are in it only for themselves.

"Life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid." - credited to John Wayne, possibly from antiquity. ~ Radwaste at June 2, 2017 11:09 PM

When I first heard that, it was credited to Redd Foxx. I've seen it credited to Wayne as well.

Griffin on going after an 11 year old boy:

"I’m happy to deliver beat down to Donald Trump — and also to Barron. You know a lot of comics are going to go hard for Donald, my edge is that I’ll go direct for Barron. I’m going to get in ahead of the game."

Comedians are expected to be "offensive"? So, are you laughing at Bill Maher saying "I'm a House N*gg*r" ? IMO, Griffin and Maher are on the same level on offensiveness. And, I see no humor in her photo or his statement. The main difference between them is that Maher is probably being honest, a character trait Griffin appears to lack. Calling oneself a "comedian" isn't a pass on personal responsibility, or facing consequences for your actions or what you say.

Yes, there are a lot of successful comedians who are offensive, but the folks who get hosting gigs and prime-time shows are usually way more family-friendly.

She can do/say as she pleases, of course. she's trying to milk the controversy for publicity. I think she's detached from reality.

Her rights of expression don't appear to have been constrained.

✔

I don't remember similar concern when Elizabeth Lauten came under fire.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/1/elizabeth-lauten-gop-hill-staffer-resigns-after-cr/

The very fact that the libtards are going after Barron implies that they believe their intentions are pure as the driven snow and that nothing is inexcusable.

Because it's the thought that counts. And it is always acceptable to punch Nazis.

CNN isn't going all "Whoa offensive" all of a sudden. They don't care how offensive Griffen or any other celeb is. Business decisions are made based on the money.

CNN has determined that keeping Griffen will lose them more viewers and thus advertising dollars. If research showed that it would increase viewership thus allowing an increase in ad rates, you can be sure they would double down on her exposure.

How much of the outrage has to do with Intrasexual Competition? As of lately feminist Shock Artists have done nothing but dipping/painting/recreating/staining Christian icons in human waste, or arts and craft while using menstrual flow as ink. So far the reaction from the audience has been Ho-hum. The most publicity so far was the bread made from yeast-infection and that was just a blip.

And then comes Kathy Griffin with this picture and it's all over the news.

Also, looks like the person responsible for the photo-shoot is prone to plagiarism:

Shields's copying of other's work was not the biggest problem with his photographs. "The issue with the work of Tyler Shields isn't so much that he's copying so many artists' work—though his shouldn't be an artistic model to aspire to—but that his appropriations replace the unique vision of the original with the cheap ploys of shock or nostalgia," she said in an email.

http://adland.tv/adnews/tyler-shields-decapitation-trump-and-stolen-inspiration/883853476

It's cool that a comedian might want to push the boundaries of taste, but

[A.] It would be great if that happened while the person was being funny as well, and funny is the much larger assignment for a comedian... All of us already have people in our lives who are crass and transgressive and politically self-righteous. (Brian Regan comes to mind as the counter-example for expectations of offensiveness: He's never salacious or aggressive, but he's plenty amusing.)

[B.] Because she wouldn't be forgiving if her own sluggish head was depicted that way, her offense is greatly easier to take and harder to forgive.

And it is not necessary to mention that if it were Mr. Obama's bloodied head, cities would be burning.

Because she wouldn't be forgiving if her own sluggish head was depicted that way, her offense is greatly easier to take and harder to forgive. ~ Crid at June 3, 2017 8:33 AM

The level of offense in these kinds of matters is usually based upon whose ox is being gored.

It would be great if that happened while the person was being funny as well, and funny is the much larger assignment for a comedian.... ~ Crid at June 3, 2017 8:33 AM

Same argument I made about the Colbert rant and Letterman's Chris Christie fat jokes du jour.

Stop aiming for the low-hanging fruit. Put some wit into it. Funny is easy. Fart jokes are funny. What they're not usually is witty. The's the problem with most comedies today, they're funny but not witty.

Trump jokes are easy. He makes them easy. And all your liberal friends will laugh at them, no matter their actual comic content.

Griffin's bloody Trump head was not funny, nor witty. It was intended to shock. It was intended to elicit gasps as the audience wondered, "she didn't really go there, did she?" followed by nervous giggles as everyone looks around to gauge the appropriate reaction.

Kinda like when the first comedians said "fuck" in their acts; or when Howard Stern invited his first stripper guest to actually strip in the studio. "Do we laugh?" "Are we offended?" "Are we shocked?"

It's pushing the bounds of taste for no reason other than to push, a teenage tantrum.

Flaunting the boundaries of decorum can have some benefits. September Morn can now be shown in art museums. "Banned in Boston" no longer has any meaning, or power. We can now discuss taboo subjects openly.

It can also have detriments. As a culture, we've come to define deviancy down. Destructive behavior is ignored, even sanctioned. The culture has become coarser and more crass. Witness Kathy Griffin's bloody Trump head or Piss Christ.

It’s All Fun and Games Until Obama’s Feelings Get Hurt

https://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/peter-roff/2013/08/13/obama-rodeo-clown-loses-his-job-and-america-loses-its-sense-of-humor

Rodeo Clown In Obama Mask Sparks Outrage, Apologies
"It was feeling like some kind of Klan rally."

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/08/12/211324453/rodeo-clown-in-obama-mask-sparks-outrage-apologies

Free speech doesnt mean consequence-free speech. Companies are free to drop whoever they want. Theres typical foul comedian, then theres this.

Whereas I was just shocked to find she was a comedian.

I don't really care so much about the photo, but I find it interesting that when the "joke" didn't go her way suddenly she was a victim.

You can do what you want, but you'd better own your own shit.

+1 @ Daghain

Griffin's photo was outrageous, but so what. What's offensive is her complete lack of actual conviction. If you are going to make offensive art, then do it. Don't issue a limp apology for it, and then bawl about how you're being 'bullied' by the people you deliberately sought to offend. Did Lenny Bruce apologize? Burroughs? Nope. Griffin is the definition of a weak suck-puke.

Company's right. Allred and her spawn are mediocre, noisy self-promoters.

Here we go again... London Bridge is falling down...

Emergency Plan - 10 steps to take in case of a terrorist attack:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DBbtrwvUAAA_5rf.jpg

Wonder Woman has a near-impenetrable skin, and yet she uses her magical bracers to stop bullets, ever wonder why?

http://i.imgur.com/2oWwPZV.jpg

1980's, probably.

Clever

Comedians are expected to be "offensive"?

Um...no. Comedians are supposed to be funny.

Sometimes they achieve this by being edgy, and getting us to laugh at ourselves and our own hang-ups. Some of the scenes from Monty Python's "Meaning of Life" come to mind. When I first saw that movie (in a theater), I would have walked out, but I was laughing too hard.

Kathy Griffin failed to be funny. It's not clear that she even tried to be funny. She was only shocking, and hence, she was only offensive.

Not only was she offensive, Not only was she not funny, not only did she not "own it" (I totally agree Daghain!), but she (like Hillary) is blaming others for her own failures - she now claims that the white males (and old ones to boot) have been beating her up her whole life.

She claims that her paychecks have always been signed by old white males (as if that is a bad thing) - well, maybe she should learn to not bite the hand that feeds her?

"It would be great if that happened while the person was being funny as well..."

What? You expect comedians to be funny? They have important work to do! They're busy leading the Resistance! They're not going to lower themselves to mere humor!

Saw Sinbad the week before last. Yeah, Sinbad. He's still around. And you know what? He's pulling sellout crowds. Because he's funny. And he's refreshingly politically incorrect. There's a lot of ethnic humor. But nobody minds because the love gets spread around, and everyone recognizes the cultural foibles that it is based on. You get the impression that he's a guy who just loves people. The kind of guy who invites the neighborhood over to his house to grill burgers, and play basketball in the driveway.

Griffin had long struck me as being unstable. Her shtick about being a D-list celebrity is actually a good idea, but she's never really figured out what to do with it. Part of her problem is that Joan Rivers mined that territory for decades, and Rivers was a much more clever (and likeable) person that Griffin is.

After this WaPo story, Kaus put it like this (Friday, March 21, 2008): Always trust content from Sinbad.