Swaggy P goes one joke over the line

Nick Young, the fabulous Swaggy P, likely has played and joked his way off the Warriors’ roster for next season, but maybe he can be a catalyst for positive change in America.

Young was leaving a Los Angeles nightclub recently when a TMZ camera crew hailed him and asked him a question about marijuana.

“I want people to (legalize) cocaine,” Young said. “Everybody needs to do cocaine!”

When Young noticed criticism of his remarks, he responded via social media, “Chill. You know I was just joking.”

More and more, people are having trouble recognizing jokes. For some of us, finding the humor in Young’s cocaine comments was a “Where’s Waldo” challenge.

The failure to understand humor is a serious concern not only in sports but also in the larger world. The president, for example, has experienced several instances of his jokes falling on tin ears. Like when he said that Democrats who didn’t stand and applaud his comments during his State of the Union message were “treasonous.”

Trump’s staff later explained that he was “clearly joking.”

One problem is that the liberal humor elite is increasingly shrill in its insistence that jokes be funny, or at least mildly amusing. This flies in the face of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling (“U.S. vs. Shecky”) that First Amendment protections extend to people who tell jokes that fly over the heads (zing!) of people with low IQs.

Some possible solutions: ⏩ Appoint a U.S. Comedian General (No, not Michelle Wolf. That was a joke; Wolf is not a candidate. The appointment will go to Stephen Miller.) and charge him with educating America on the subtle differences between jokes and dangerous, unhinged statements.

⏩ When you tell a joke, have some people nearby — like your nightclub buddies or the vice president — to serve as a laugh track.

⏩ Declare a Humor Awareness Month. Anyone speaking or writing a joke would be required to precede the joke by saying or writing, “Hey, here’s a joke.”

⏩ Hey, here’s a joke: To awaken the joke-reception center of your brain, tune up with Swaggy P.