GHOUL NATION: Pop culture's decade-long descent into cruelty and bloodlust

Once upon a time, displaying the bloodied head of a U.S. president could get you canceled. And it did.This was before cancel culture was a thing, a time when Americans had a shared sense of decency and found obviously heinous acts ... heinous.Earlier this year, 'Saturday Night Live’s' Weekend Update teased a Trump assassination joke that roiled the crowd. No need for context or explanations. The culture at large acknowledged certain unwritten rules of behavior that should be followed. Now, those rules are fading if not gone entirely. And we can track that descent, seen across the political landscape, from a pop culture prism.Head caseComic Kathy Griffin thought she was being clever by holding a pretend President Donald Trump head up high, ISIS-style, for a 2017 photo shoot she shared on social media.The reaction was swift, furious, and uncompromising. Griffin had gone too far.Few, if any, ran to her defense. She apologized and watched her D-list career shrink to the size of a thumb drive. Those were simpler times, when doing the right thing meant putting political tribalism aside when needed.Love Trump? Loathe Trump? It wasn’t important. This was beyond the pale.Something similar happened in 2015 involving another GOP leader. Word leaked that Will Ferrell was mulling a big-screen "comedy" about a dementia-addled President Reagan doddering around the Oval Office. The reaction was swift and furious and not just from the former president’s grown children.Ferrell backpedaled, claiming he had never officially signed onto the project.Even Madonna, who forged her brand from outrageous behavior, did a hasty retreat in 2017 when she shared her dream about blowing up the White House (with a certain leader inside, presumably) during a Women’s March event.The pop superstar apologized for a good reason. Her thoughts were unbecoming of a celebrity of her stature.That was then. The cruel kidsToday, political culture is infinitely worse. Cold. Cruel. Violent, even.Political pundits like Hasan Piker can cheer on the deaths of landlords, say America deserved 9/11, and praise Hamas over Israel after the Oct. 7 atrocities. Not only is he not shunned by polite society, but Democratic politicians scramble to appear beside him.Major publications fawn all over him too. Big-city mayors can cozy up to terrorists and voters look the other way.Ghoulish. It’s not happening in a vacuum. Pop cultural institutions are similarly ghoulish, celebrating violence while their audiences clap like seals.Last year, DNC spokesman Jimmy Kimmel found something deeply funny about Tesla dealerships coming under vandalism attacks. The company’s owner, Elon Musk, had sided with President Trump during the 2024 election cycle and helped trim government fat from the workforce.For that, he must be punished."People have been vandalizing Tesla vehicles, new Tesla vehicles. Please, don't vandalize, don’t ever vandalize Tesla vehicles."The host said it with a sarcastic glint.RELATED: Democrats created a Hasan Piker problem. Now they want everyone to forget it. Blaze MediaCheering chaosLater that year, Kimmel leaned into some seriously Fake News, alleging that Charlie Kirk’s killer was part of MAGA Nation. The only credible suspect at the time was a young man who loathed Kirk’s politics, a far cry from a typical Trump supporter.Kimmel and his writers knew that. We all did. The hosts said it, anyway, earning a week’s suspension from his ABC bully pulpit and becoming a free speech martyr to the press and the left (but we repeat ourselves).Earlier this year, “Saturday Night Live’s” Weekend Update teased a Trump assassination joke that roiled the crowd. Faux co-anchor Michael Che noted that the president had recently taken in a Broadway-style show.“I think that’s cool that the president is going to the theater. I mean — what’s the worst that could happen?” The show’s hard-left audience cheered.Late-night shows were occasionally caught by surprise at how vicious their audiences had become. They learned it from watching them, of course.Baying for bloodConsider when Jon Stewart of “The Daily Show” fame told his audience about Luigi Mangione’s arrest on charges he murdered a health care CEO by shooting him from behind.The crowd booed in response, as if they wanted the killer to remain free (to kill other CEOs, perhaps?).“Look, I’m sorry, guys,” a stunned Stewart said in response, like Dr. Frankenstein looking in horror at his creation.Kimmel found it hilarious that some of his young, female staffers were Luigi fangirls in not-so-obvious disguise. He should have been ashamed of the revelation and kept it quiet.Not Kimmel.Just days ago, multiple late-night hosts mocked President Trump for hiding in a catering truck after the Secret Service learned of a possible threat on his life.These threats are increasingly common in Trump’s second term. One would-be assassin came within inches of murdering the commander in chief at a Butler, Pennsylvania, rally two years ago.For late-night clowns, the latest assassination threat was merely a chance to torment Trump, not acknowledge the dangerous world we live in. Even the low-rated Jimmy Fallon, who isn’t as cruel as his competitors, mocked the moment.Hollywood collectively warned us about Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign. He would be cruel, they cried, unlike any prior president.And, yes, President Trump has thrown some pretty sharp elbows over nearly six years in office. Hollywood, sadly, has proven to be far worse, echoing a societal race to the bottom.