When we current or ex–New Yorkers laugh at “offensive” jokes, we are usually reacting to the awfulness of it. We are not laughing at the target of the joke. (Again, this is a generality.) Trump’s quip about preferring veterans who didn’t get caught is a perfect example. It’s funny because the idea is so awful. In other words, the person telling the offensive joke and the person offended by the joke are on exactly the same side. An average New Yorker thinks the inappropriateness of the joke is what makes it funny, whereas the Californian sees it as an attack on the individual—in this case, a
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