Editorial: The one about a priest, a rapper and a comedian

By The Herald Editorial Board

A priest, a rapper and a comedian walk into a political minefield.

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before.

You have, of course, because this is a continuation of the discourse that’s become commonplace in an increasingly divided America where someone says something, offense is quickly taken, consequences follow — or don’t — and each side becomes more convinced of its opponents’ failings and its own moral superiority without much consideration.

But why pass up the opportunity to retell a joke.

So, the priest says he’s just been forced to resign from his job as chaplain of the House of Representatives.

Democrats, of course, but also some Republicans were angered to learn last week that popular U.S. House chaplain, the Rev. Pat Conroy — a native of Everett and a graduate of Snohomish High School — had been asked for his resignation by Speaker Paul Ryan. Ryan told fellow Republicans that there had been complaints about the Jesuit priest’s pastoral care. Along with giving the opening prayer when the house is in session, the chaplain also counsels members of Congress.

But others defended Conroy and praised the counsel he provides. And Conroy himself said he had been admonished previously by Ryan’s office and Ryan himself for being “too political” in prayers, specifically a Nov. 6 prayer — during the rush to pass the Republican’s package of tax cuts — that reminded lawmakers to consider the needs of “the least among us,” and “those who work but still struggle to make ends meet.”

“That’s nothing,” says the rapper, Kanye West, who came under criticism last week from many of his fellow performers, following tweets in support of President Trump.

Some attacked the rapper, questioning his mental stability. Others were more biting: Snoop Dog captioned a photo of West in a MAGA hat with, “That’s mighty white of you Kanye.” Chance the Rapper, while later clarifying that he wouldn’t defend “anyone who has made a career out of hatred, racism and discrimination,” an apparent reference to Trump, allowed that West was free to make his own political choices: “Black people don’t have to be Democrats.”

West’s reply to his peers: “The mob can’t make me not love (Trump).”

“I’ve got you all beat,” says the comedian, who was hired to tell jokes at a scholarship fundraiser, roasted the Trump administration, then was criticized by the dinner’s host.

Michelle Wolf, of Comedy Central’s “Daily Show,” was the headliner for the White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday night. Politicians and members of the media were shocked, shocked that Wolf aimed barbs at Trump officials, including White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders: “She burns facts, and then she uses the ash to create a perfect smoky eye.”

Some took that joke and others as personal attacks aimed at Sanders’ and others’ appearance. And it renewed calls for the correspondents association to drop the annual dinner, a fundraiser for journalism scholarships each year since 1921 that has come to have much in common with the Dean Martin celebrity roasts of the 1970s attended by Don Rickles, Foster Brooks and other boozy comedians and entertainers.

The White House Correspondents Association felt chastised enough to express regret that Wolf’s bit didn’t live up to the spirit of the dinner’s intent “not to divide people.” Coming from the group that hired her, it was more of a heckle than President Trump calling Wolf, “filthy.”

The punch line?

Other than the fact that President Trump has said worse in speeches and tweets, Conroy, West and Wolf have been chastised for doing exactly what is expected of them.

Conroy lead prayers that like many prayers by religious leaders are as much sermon as they are a plea to God. Prayers before Congress should challenge its members, especially to remember “the least among us.”

West, too, serves a reminder that African Americans hold a range of political opinions and that musicians and other artists have a responsibility to challenge convention.

Wolf, as a comedian and satirist, has a responsibility, as much as a religious leader or an artist, not to comfort her audience but to take her best shot at making them laugh and think.

None is above criticism, but each deserves the opportunity to speak.

And their audiences can make the choice to listen or ignore the message. But too often, outrage and indignation over such comments has become the instant response, more in reflex than consideration, and risk drowning out a prayer, a song or joke we may most need to hear.