No comedic "envelope" was being pushed.

Sometimes, ironic truth is also funny truth. Not always, but sometimes. And at other times people affirm that things are truth, but those affirmations (whether correct or mistaken) are neither ironic nor funny.

That's a 7th-grade-level social observation, right? But it's still to technical for Griffin —and for most every student on every college campus— to comprehend. So I think that's where you're getting tripped up.

These are people who demand to be flattered by every notion passing through their skulls. If it flatters them to smirk at something, they'll smirk. But if they don't smirk then that notion is not funny, Mister!, and they'll find flattery in thinking of themselves as courageously speaking truth to insolent meanies.

I can well imagine that Griffin never considered for a moment whether or not here depiction of decapitation was humorous... She's as stupid & oblivious as her audience, and that's a grim standard.

The screech of that woman's voice tells me everything. She's crazy proud of her ability to connect with others, but deaf and blind to what her presence means in a room of people.

In NO SENSE is this woman's access to public expression —or her opportunity for comedic impact— being constrained. Not by government, not be businesses, not by the public. Rather, her thoughts and jokes are being rejected on their merits (and lack thereof).

Comedy today has problems deserving thoughtful reflection, including the frustrations Seinfeld and others have found on campuses. But Griffin's difficulties are her own.

Also, the newest Louis CK special was a letdown, too. And he had a sensational ten-year run, even though I disagreed with his politics, and maybe wouldn't have selected him for a buddy-pal anyway. The guy was FUNNY, and he earned it by telling the unfunny jokes described by Seinfeld... And then improving them over a year's worth of touring.

In a podcast, CK said it takes 25 years for a great comedian to refine the skills. And now I'm thinking that it ends on the fiftieth birthday, whether great or not. Hollywood's favorite word is "Next!"

It's possible that Griffin simply hit the wall.

The outfits which fired Griffin are in the business of impressing audiences favorably. The idea of "favorably" differs from audience to audience, of course.
The price of major unfavorable is likely to be substantial in a financial sense to those same sponsors and they are smart to avoid it.
Let Griffin fund her own tours and keep the ticket money. Cut out the middle man.
All she has to do is advertise her schtick and they will come.
Right?

"The notion that Kathy Griffin -- who is a comedian, not a nursery school administrator -- did something horrible with that Trump head is just ridiculous..."

I'll play this game.
• Why must it be a comedian doing this for it to be funny?
• Would you think her stunt horrible if it was Obama or Hillary's effigy? Mother Teresa's? Alec Baldwin's? Kanye West's? Harriet Tubman's? Caitlyn Jenner's?

Just whose head must it be to be funny? Is there a person whose effigy would make this funny?

Franken said Griffin has lost her sense of humor, and recommended she take some time off then return with an appropriately named tour.

...is under investigation by the United States Secret Service....

And this is a surprise? She made a graphic photo of herself holding the severed head of the president. Remember Ted Nugent? He was investigated by the Secret Service for his crass comments about President Obama.

The Secret Service investigates everybody who comments about the president with violence or implied violence. And holding the president's severed head definitely counts as implied violence.

I'm guessing that investigation by the Secret Service was Griffin's objective here.

As for President Trump using "the power of the government" to "bully" her, she is not being hindered by the IRS. The BLM is not having her arrested in an unpaid grazing fees dispute. The EPA has not declared her land an untouchable wetland. The FBI has not surrounded her compound with tanks or shot her standing in her doorway. The local government is not using eminent domain to seize her land to give it to a developer.

It was presidents Nixon, Clinton, and Obama who overtly used the power of the government to bully or hinder their political foes. Trump, so far, is innocent of at least that charge.

Charlie Hebdo Goes Kathy Griffin With Theresa May Cover: Multiculti à L'Anglaise -- multi culti the English way

http://www.adweek.com/creativity/charlie-hebdo-theresa-may-cover/

It reminds me of that guy.

Another.

The Secret Service investigates everybody who comments about the president with violence or implied violence.

Case in point, Senator Jesse Helms was investigated by the Secret Service for his comments about President Clinton, implying violence if the then-president visited North Carolina. He later apologized. The Secret Service still looked into it.

I don't recall there being high dudgeon around these parts when a rodeo clown you never heard of mocked Obama.

https://www.startpage.com/do/dsearch?query=rodeo+clown+obama&cat=web&pl=opensearch&language=english

I haven't trolled thru Griffen's twitter posts, but I don't think she dropped everything to go to Brendan Eich's defense. In fact, I suspect she might have been part of the howling twitter rage mob that removed him from the helm of the Mozilla Foundation.

But again, as a society we can not have two sets of rules, one for le deplorables and one for the optimātēs. And if one's current and future employment prospects are fair game, well, that's unfortunate but dem's da rules.

If Griffin hit the wall as a comedian, in her case, it was because the wall was never very far away. I saw some of her stand-up back in the '80s. She had some good bits, but not enough to make up for her fundamental problem. It'a truism that comedians in general are anti-social and get into comedy to try to overcome that. Griffin never really succeeded; her anti-social tendencies were always apparent to the audience, and it made everything she did seem forced.

The biggest problem with her stunt is that it was not funny, in the generally understood sense. And I don't think she intended it to be. She intended it to be an inside joke among her class (or the class that she wants to belong to). The trouble is, it's only "funny" in the narcissistic sense, in that narcissists regard cruelty and mocking towards people they don't like as humorous.

I don't recall there being high dudgeon around these parts when a rodeo clown you never heard of mocked Obama. ~ I R A Darth Aggie at June 8, 2017 6:45 AM

Well, that rodeo clown lost his job. And the Missouri State Fair announced will no longer hire rodeo clowns until they undergo sensitivity training.

Also, a copycat appeared.

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2017/06/07/drag-race-star-sharon-needles-recreates-kathy-griffins-shocking-donald-trump-beheading-photo/

Of course, this one looks so cheap that fake severed head doesn't look like the president at all.

"And the fact that we don’t hold our male politicians of [sic] the same standard as female comedians is shocking." ~ drag star, Sharon Needles

Shocking, really? That we don't hold politicians and comedians to the same standard?

Why would we, dearie? Those are two different jobs performing two different roles in society.

What an idiot.

I follow drag racing somewhat, and I've never heard of Sharon Needles. If, say, Danica Patrick did it, that would be someone that most people have heard of. But Danica is smarter than that.

Cousin Dave at June 8, 2017 1:53 PM ☑

Besides, aren't drag queens by definition goofballs who are too fascinated by what others would, they hope, describe as "shocking" or outre?

Best ever stripper name:

Amber Alert

Urethra Franklin

Yes, Crid, your "Best ever drag queen name" beats my runner up: Brandy Alexander.