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Sometimes we laugh to keep from crying. Thanks to Twitter, we’ll be wiping away our tears with tweets, even as a potential nuclear war looms.
Yesterday, Donald Trump threatened North Korea with “fire and fury like the world has never seen” should the country continue expanding its nuclear arsenal. His rhetoric caused a stir on social media. By now we’re used to Trump’s bloviation, but this time, his tweets and brief, improvised statement got many thinking, “Well, that escalated quickly.”
IMAGES: How North Korea news played on front pages around the world
Instead of scouring craigslist for used bunkers or rioting in the streets, the people of media Twitter turned to humor–dark, dark humor–to cope. It’s the survival of the wittiest.
Internet culture meets folklore:
"How did the Nukey War start, Oldfather?"
"Well …" [I stoke the fire] "It was Hashtag International Cat Day…"
— Daniel Kibblesmith (@kibblesmith) August 8, 2017
Embodying the #YOLO mentality:
— darcie (@333333333433333) August 8, 2017
Doubling down on left-wing factionalism:
If there was only something Jill Stein could've done to stop Trump from becoming president…. https://t.co/9FVNK0EuXv
— Jeet Heer (@HeerJeet) August 9, 2017
Joke or no joke:
https://twitter.com/NoahCRothman/status/895005502115131392
I love modern life pic.twitter.com/vCUO1lKBSy
— Jeremy Gordon (@jeremypgordon) August 8, 2017
Paging Steven Seagal:
https://twitter.com/MikeIsaac/status/895052359147020288
Avocad-NO!
https://twitter.com/kennethn/status/895036508163276801
https://twitter.com/Home_Halfway/status/895152952209530880
Too close to home:
https://twitter.com/Shakestweetz/status/895108560224387073
Dad jokes:
Me: I really hope Trump doesn't nuke North Korea.
Friend: The night is still young.
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) August 9, 2017
Rebuilding roads…and the country:
https://twitter.com/HashtagGriswold/status/895023290804297734
The good news:
https://twitter.com/BenariLee/status/895091166575824896
It’s not all fun and games:
North Korea has 60 nuclear warheads ready for ICBM miniaturization and ICBMs that can reach NYC. END YOUR VACATION and STOP TWEETING, Trump. pic.twitter.com/wjsgf96jjX
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) August 8, 2017
It's always embarrassing, but in the context of North Korea the twitter tough guy performances seem particularly absurd and inappropriate.
— Adam Serwer 🍝 (@AdamSerwer) August 9, 2017
https://twitter.com/AskAKorean/status/895082582475407361
And finally, a dose of optimism from Chelsea Manning, who definitely trusts the government:
Nausicaa Renner and Meg Dalton are the authors of this article. Renner is editor of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism's vertical at Columbia Journalism Review. She tweets at @nausjcaa. Dalton is a Delacorte fellow. Follow her on Twitter @megdalts.destroy all nuclear weapons 😎🌈👬👫👭🌎🌍🌏 #WeGotThis
— Chelsea E. Manning (@xychelsea) August 9, 2017
