Seriously. A little merriment would be good for America’s political right, and that would be good for America.

Republican presidential candidates speak of a world besieged by evil, where America is on steep decline in military power, economic might, and global influence. It is existentially threatened by the most sophisticated terrorist organization in history. And the nation’s children? They are about to sink in an ocean of debt and mediocrity. Michael Brendan Dougherty poetically calls the GOP’s current mood “midnight in America.”

Against this bleak, black landscape, what could laughter possibly do?

“Humor addresses the same issues as fear, not to dismiss them, but to strengthen our ability to confront them and then laugh them away from the door,” says author and humorist Gina Barreca. “Humor is, of course, the one thing that fear cannot abide.”