The title is not the whole story so if you read that and reacted badly one way or the other, settle down for a second. Let me help you through this.

Pete Davidson is a comic who has had a bit of a bumpy road on Saturday Night Live the past couple of years. His best work is BEING a standup comic and not being on a sketch show like Saturday Night Live. However, the only time he really gets to showcase his standup is for a couple of minutes on the otherwise unwatchable Weekend Update segment of the show.

If you recall back to last year after the election in November, Pete got into some hot water after taking a crack at than congressional candidate, Dan Crenshaw, about being a hitman in a porn movie. He followed that up with saying he “I know he lost an eye in the war or whatever.” The blowback was swift and Crenshaw made an appearance the next week with Davidson on Update to accept an apology and poke some fun at the comic.

Dan Crenshaw even reached out to Davidson in December as I wrote about right here CLASS: Dan Crenshaw Reaches Out To Pete Davidson after Ariana Grande dumped him.

The joke was in bad taste, but, it was a joke. He did the right thing by apologizing and taking some shots from Dan Crenshaw sitting right next to him the next week.

Stand up comics are supposed to push the envelope and that is what Davidson did again last night on SNL.

This is what he said according to The Hill…

Pete Davidson said on “Saturday Night Live” that supporting the Catholic Church is the “same thing” as being an R. Kelly fan.

“Before I continue, this guy is a monster and he should go to jail forever,” Davidson said during on SNL’s “Weekend Update” segment.

“But if you support the Catholic Church isn’t that like the same thing as being an R. Kelly fan?” he continued.

“I don’t really see the difference, except for one’s music is significantly better,” Davidson added.

Davidson went on to argue that it’s possible to appreciate the art or institution without condoning the behavior of the artist or priests.

As a Catholic, I have been disgusted by the behavior of some in the church and of those who have covered it up. Yet the Catholic Church and CHRISTians from all walks of life have done so much for the betterment of this world, than negative. Although this chapter in the history of the church is pretty grotesque.

The word grotesque can also be used for what R. Kelly is alleged to have done.

However, as much as these shots hurt, in a free society, we need to be able to take them when spoken.

When Ben Shapiro goes to speak in Ann Arbor Michigan this week, there will be people aiming to shut down his speech being they at their roots are fascists. They fear a discussion, so their solution is to shut down the conversation before or during the event.

Don’t be like them.

Davidson was booed by some in the audience for his comparison and that is fair game. Any comic who has stood before an audience has gotten their share of boos or groans at bad or inappropriate jokes. That comes with the territory. In fact, I’m sure some comics in small clubs right now are probably taking shots at Pete for his failed relationship with Grande, his soon to be failed relationship with Kate Beckinsale or one of his other faux pas.

Comes with the territory.

Laugh at the joke, don’t laugh at it or come up with a better one but don’t kill the jokester being you don’t like the joke. Free Speech begins with being able to poke fun at things we might get blowback for. That sets us apart from Russia, Cuba, China and a whole host of other countries that ban freedom of expression.

They ban bad comedy.

Let’s never become like them, being that is nothing to laugh at.

Check out my other post on The Rich Flee New York And Gov. Cuomo Sends The Tax Man After Them. and my podcast Bourbon On The Rocks   plus like Bourbon On The Rocks on Facebook and follow me on the twitters at IRISHDUKE2