"So he rapes them" Chappelle jokes.

That's it. Rape is the punchline. The audience bursts into laughter.

I watched the rest of that show in uncomfortable silence. It's a shit world out there and goddamnit I need, I deserve a good laugh. Dave's dished out biting satire for a couple decades, and up to recently was a reliable source for tension relief.

Not anymore.

In his current special he pretty much waves his dick in the face of social progress. I'm the first to admit: 30 years ago, I had no problem with jokes at the expense of people who were differently marginalized than myself. But like Muhammad Ali said, "If a man looks at the world when he is 50 the same way he looked at it when he was 20 and it hasn’t changed, then be has wasted 30 years of his life."

Dave is smart enough to (try to) get out ahead of "cancel culture." He does this (mostly) by doubling down on his right to offend. He defends people credibly accused in the #MeToo movement. He proudly calls himself a "victim blamer." There's an extended bit at the expense of the LGBTQ community. His history with the trans community is atrocious.

Tension relief at the expense of people forced to exist in the margins isn't funny; it's cruelty. I learned that from Hannah Gadsby.

He jokes about R. Kellly's victims. He defends pedophilia. "Everybody knows there's no such thing as good 36-year old pussy" he jokes.

Excuse me? Any women over 36 care to offer dissent?

He does the Asian version of blackface. He jokes about gender equality. His solution to women: "You could shut the fuck up."

All of this to uproarious laughter from the audience. Which is actually scary. Jokes are a prelude to violence. This is why blackface isn't funny: people who laughed at blackface jokes were okay with lynching.

Chris Rock recently complained about not being able to be funny anymore because the culture shifted and now some shit just isn’t funny. "I can't live in this new world you're proposing" Chappelle says. No you can't Dave. Just go fade away. or (hear me out):

Figure out what actually offends now days and go after that hard.

Seriously, In the age of Roy Moore, Brett Kavanaugh, Steve King, children in cages, concentration camps on the border, Indigenous land and lives under assault, Dave could have used his gifts to insightfully impugn what’s really offensive. Instead of going after the powerful, he attacks the most vulnerable It’s not just lazy, it’s not entertaining.

"If you're at home watching this on Netflix, remember bitch: you clicked on my face."

Never again Dave. There's no one so talented that someone else who isn't an asshole can't step into your place.

ps. I know I will get shit publicly and privately for taking a black man to task. I do it for the same reason I take this country to task: love that doesn't hold you responsible for your actions is just infatuation.