Many say the right wing has an inferior sense of humor, and I guess it's only logical that the political right are not up for a laugh. After all, their politicians are the first to slash arts from the budget.
To demonstrate the right's incapacity for comedy I started the hashtag #SignsYoureRightWing. My intention was not just to elicit fantastic comedic responses from the left, but more importantly, to see how the right would respond. I wanted to know just how long it would take for them to start a counter-hashtag, and if they did, would it be funny and would it trend?
I set the pace and got the ball rolling by writing a few good ones and sharing others.
#SignsYoureRightWing snowballed rather quickly. It was trending in 14 minutes.
Hundreds became thousands. And when we look at how the left comments on the right, it's clever and rooted in history. Here are a couple of the top tweets.
The right showed up in defense, kicking things off by replacing decades of scientific research with "common sense."
The attempted hijack of the tag did not go well. It merely showcased ignorance.
The youth of the right got involved.
#SignsYoureLeftWing You support gays coming out of the closet but think Christians should keep their thoughts to themselves.
— Nick Boettler (@NBoettler) August 3, 2015
Countless dismissed an incredible creature as just a "random lion."
You value the lives of the unborn more than some random lion. #SignsYoureRightWing
— ✿☆✺◦°˚\(*❛‿❛)/˚°◦✺☆✿ (@JalenCantEven) August 3, 2015
Less than an hour in, the #SignsYoureLeftWing tag appeared, although it was from people joking about if it was going to show up.
The first actual attempt at #SignsYoureLeftWing was a tweet, you guessed it, defending guns.
The right followed up with a barrage of tweets criticizing the simple fact that the left cares. Ah, caring about animals and people. How dare we?!
You go batcrap crazy about a flag in another state, and a lion in another country. #SignsYoureLeftWing
— David Garth (@DavidJohnGarth) August 3, 2015
Loss of freedom? I guess same-sex marriage and marijuana legalization don't count for this guy.
By 7 p.m. on the day I launched #SignsYoureRightWing, it had over 50,000 tweets.
It has since had 10,000 more tweets and counting.
On the other hand, the counter-tag #SignsYoureLeftWing had 1,100 tweets on the first day. It never came close to trending and is limping along with just 2,800 tweets. If the #SignsYoureLeftWing hashtag were a film, it would make Pixels look like a blockbuster. Nice try!
Dear Right Wing,
Maybe if you weren't always slashing the arts, fearing immigrants and figuring out which jacuzzi will go best in your panic room, you'd have a better sense of humor and the courage to articulate your views while listening to those of others. You mock the left's fervor for comedy while failing to see that we use it to create a dialogue. Oh and telling someone they care and have feelings is a compliment.
Thanks,
Tommy Campbell