Granted, practically everyone has told a non-funny or off-color joke. And there is no method of absolute divination on McCain’s soul in respect to his brand of attempted humor. But humor is not just a trivial issue that never ought be seriously sounded.

A person’s sense of humor can say a lot about the self. And often enough some of the self’s attitudes can be gleaned from one’s sense of humor. Therefore humor can be more than a laughing matter—-so best not to take this part of humanity too flippantly-—especially if there is to be shown a pattern of disrespect for what should be considered shallow slights.

When you laugh at the Prairie Home Companion Show you can likely find a different sense of belly laughter than a somewhat snide kind of joke. Some humor is just a bit too contrived—-but still noteworthy—-even if we do not need to dwell on it overwhelmingly with the utmost of gravitas.