Whenever someone tells you "Such-and-such has become a punchline," they are telling you more about themselves than about the other person. They wish the other person was a punchline, and are trying to make it happen.
It is low and manipulative and I hope I never do it. I used to when I was young and sarcasm was a second language for me. I do wince and wonder if I still do.
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"Among flippant people the Joke is always assumed to have been made. No one actually makes it; but every serious subject is discussed in a manner which implies that they have already found a ridiculous side to it," -- Screwtape, Letter XI
I don't think I've ever heard anyone say that. Maybe I don't move in the right circles.
I should specify that it is something I have seen written a few times, not something I have heard people saying.
Even the people who are punchlines still need to be taken seriously. Elizabeth Warren, 'Fauxcahontas,' is still a Senator with a Senator's power; Donald Trump, who has been a punchline for every comic in America, still might be President again. It isn't safe to laugh at people, to stop taking them seriously, not even the ones who are obviously not serious people.
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