I have a pretty loose sense of humor, and I don't believe that any topic should be taboo from jokes, even something as touchy as the Holocaust. However, authorship matters to some extent, so that Neo-nazis joking about the Holocaust is a little far over the line. This is not to make a Holocaust comparison - I'm using an extreme example - but this is another situation in which authorship matters, and the jokers are over the line:
Bush pointed out that the vice president's full name is Richard B. Cheney.
"B. stands for bulls eye," Bush said to laughter from the hundreds of reporters and officials from the administration and Congress. The press, Bush joked, blew the matter way out of proportion: "Good Lord, you'd thought he shot somebody or something."
Gee Karl, remember the time Dick shot that guy in the face and almost killed him? That was hilarious!!!! ... nah, that dude will be fine, and if he's not, no big deal. Dick's pretty cool, shooting a guy in the face.
I think it's very different from a dead baby joke because it's personal, and about the VP almost killing a man. It's one thing to crack a dead baby joke; it's another to crack one to a parent who has lost a baby. Let's try these adaptations instead.
Q: How do you make Dick Cheney float?
A: Take my foot off of his head
Q: What's the difference between a lamborgini and Cheney's dead corpse?
A: I don't have a lamborgini in my garage.
See what I'm getting at?
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