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You know that American politics is turning into a sad joke when a supposedly serious presidential campaign tries to demonize laughter.

Yet, bizarrely, Donald Trump's humorless gaggle of strategists decided that their first point of attack on Kamala Harris would be: her laugh. No, seriously! Donald himself launched the offensive -- "I call her Laffin' Kamala," he snorted. "You ever watch her laugh?" he implored listeners, declaring, "She's crazy. She's nuts."

Uh ... no. Like normal people, she laughs -- often, naturally and joyously. So do I. Maybe you do, too. But, one GOP outfit sniffed that this is "inappropriate" for a woman running for president. And a Republican senatorial doofus from Louisiana even barked that Harris should act more like Margaret Thatcher, Britain's former right-wing prime minister, pointing out that she "didn't giggle." The sour old senator then mansplained that Harris' laughter made people think she's "a ding-dong" -- even though the dinging seems to be coming from his own head.

Interestingly, though, Trump's orchestrated snark attack on Harris' laughter is working. For Harris! By repeatedly pointing out that she has unscripted moments of laughter, Republicans actually make people feel positive toward her. I can attest from my own time politicking in a supposedly conservative state that laughter unites people -- I quickly learned that humor is a key that can unlock the mind.

Moreover, the GOP's churlish demonization of laughter only highlights the fact that, in contrast to Kamala, Trump is a grump! Note that we never see him laugh. He smirks, gloats and often puts on a smarmy grin -- but he never has a joyous belly laugh or shows any genuine sense of fun. Sad for him ... but sadder for us if we let his dour demeanor define our America.

J.D. VANCE: SILICON VALLEY'S FAKE HILLBILLY

Who is J.D. Vance, you might ask?

Well, which J.D.? He keeps flipping his bio, politics and persona, trying to advance his fortunes. A decade ago, he was posing as a Kentucky hillbilly spokesman -- only, he's not from Kentucky and expresses disdain for actual hillbillies.

Still, he did go from a hardscrabble childhood to an Ivy League law school, later boasting that he's a self-made success, with no rich daddy pulling strings for him. Well, unless you count his sugar daddy. From those Ivy League days forward, "just plain J.D." has been a protege of a Silicon Valley multibillionaire right-winger, Peter Thiel, who put Vance in cushy, high-tech jobs, then arranged $120 million in funding to make him a rich vulture capitalist.

Suddenly, the "hillbilly" was a "hillwilliam" -- a full-fledged, rich man's Republican. But he was not yet a right-wing nut, even denouncing Donald Trump in 2016 as "America's Hitler." Then, J.D. decided he should be a U.S. senator, and Daddy Thiel promptly put up $10 million to buy the seat. But, oops -- Trump owned the Ohio GOP, so Vance grew a MAGA-macho beard and squirmed down to Mar-a-Lago to beg The Donald's forgiveness for that Hitler faux pas, obsequiously pledging to be a Forever Trumper.

So now, Vance is Trump's VP nominee ... but with a wandering eye, looking to establish himself as the anti-democracy, Christian nationalist champion of the authoritarian Project 2025. Kookier yet, Vance embraces a new McCarthyism cult supporting a violent purge of progressives from our society, saying that such Americans are "unhumans" who must be treated as prey.

This is Jim Hightower saying ... Absurd? Yes! But there he stands, the new public face of extremist, right-wing nuttiness that surpasses even Trump's monarchial fantasies.

To find out more about Jim Hightower and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators webpage at www.creators.com.

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