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Every joke, Orwell as reminds us, is a tiny revolution. “A thing is funny when… it upsets the established order,” the great essayist wrote. “Whatever destroys dignity, and brings down the mighty from their seats, preferably with a bump, is funny.” This is partly why bards, even jesters, enjoyed a certain level of protection in many ancient cultures. Even the mightiest ruler couldn’t bear to be mocked.
Just ask Chinese why they can’t post pictures of Winnie-the-Pooh online.
In fact, in ancient Persia, one famous jester ridiculed the entire court, even the Shah, with apparent impugnity. In Chinese courts — the jester being a near-universal phenomenon — jesters had to be slightly more circumspect: he could not offer his remonstrances in earnest, but in the form of jokes, songs and dance. Nonetheless, jesters were allowed and even encouraged to advise and correct the monarch. Indeed, often a jester was the only person who could counsel a stubborn king, and act as a check on the whimsical power of absolute monarchy.
The absolute monarchs of the Covid state, though, had no sense of humour at all. A jester mocked them at their peril, as one American man discovered.
Waylon Bailey thought it was some sort of cruel prank when about a dozen SWAT team members pulled up to his Alexandria, La., home with their weapons drawn. He hadn’t called sheriff’s deputies, and he couldn’t think of anything they’d want with him.
What they wanted was to prove that the Branch Covidians are ur-fascists with absolutely no sense of humour.
But after they arrested him and took him into custody, Bailey learned he was facing a felony terrorism charge.
The Washington Post
Because he posted a joke to social media.
Waylon Bailey’s March 2020 Facebook post used over-the-top language, emoji, and a hashtag referencing the Brad Pitt movie World War Z in facetiously warning that the local sheriff’s office had been ordered to shoot the “infected.” Despite the obvious indications that it was a joke, sheriff’s deputies decided to arrest Waylon, without a warrant, under an anti-terrorism law and sent a SWAT team with guns drawn to his garage.
“SHARE SHARE SHARE ! ! ! ! JUST IN: RAPIDES PARISH SHERIFFS OFFICE HAVE ISSUED THE ORDER, IF DEPUTIES COME INTO CONTACT WITH ‘THE INFECTED’ SHOOT ON SIGHT….Lord have mercy on us all. #Covid9teen #weneedyoubradpitt”
Waylon was taken to jail and booked, though the absurd charge was dropped when a prosecutor reviewed the case.
Thankfully, Waylon Bailey is of that true American spirit that won’t take tyranny lying down — even better, some legal NGOs still remember that Americans have constitutional rights.
When Waylon brought a civil-rights lawsuit, the deputy responsible for the arrest was granted qualified immunity by the district court. To add insult to injury, the court also said that Waylon didn’t have any free speech rights to make a joke in the first place.
The Institute for Justice
With the help of the Institute for Justice, a nonprofit, public-interest law firm, Bailey pursued his case. And prevailed.
In a pivotal defense of free speech and online expression, the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals has rendered a verdict upholding Waylon Bailey’s right to jest about COVID-19 and zombies on social media. The Louisiana resident, previously arrested under the cloud of an anti-terrorism law for his humorous Facebook post, now sees the tide of justice turn in his favor […]
This verdict by the 5th Circuit signifies not just a personal vindication for Bailey but also a broader reiteration of the essence of free speech. Judge Dana M. Douglas, representing the unanimous panel, eloquently emphasized that the First Amendment unfailingly shelters humor, encompassing “jokes, parodies, satire,” irrespective of their perceived taste.
The Institute for Justice, championing Bailey’s cause, has expressed hope that this resolution might act as a beacon for law enforcement officials.
The Epoch Times
If only we had such rights. But, then again, New Zealanders supposedly do — ask Lee Williams, Brian Tamaki, or Billy TK, just how far their supposed right to “seek, receive, and impart information and opinions of any kind in any form” actually protects them.
Meanwhile, the Covidians might want to remember why we had court jesters.
Chinese records give us an idea of just how effective a jester could be in tempering even an emperor’s unrestrained excesses: occasions, when a jester’s mocking words of warning were either ignored or punished, are heavily outnumbered by those when he was heeded and even rewarded.
