I have been acquainted with Carl Paladino for 30 years. We are not friends, but we have mutual acquaintances, and have crossed swords publicly over a few (purely local) issues.

I was disturbed yesterday when a respected friend of mine, an Egyptian-American living in New York, sent me a link to an article detailing Carl’s latest comments in Artvoice about the Obamas. He was shocked by Carl’s comments, and wanted to know if I knew this man. Regrettably, I had to say yes, disturbed that Carl was once again representing Buffalo on the national stage.

For those who missed his latest screed, Carl’s comments in Artvoice detailed his “wishes” for 2017. These “wishes” include President Obama dying from a sexually transmitted disease he would contract from a certain type of livestock, as well as the hope that Mrs. Obama reverts to being a “male” and starts living in a cave in Africa with a gorilla. He then proceeds to “wish” for the decapitation of one of President Obama’s advisors, castigates our local leadership as the “dumbest” in America, and justifies the validity of his views because he has signed “the front of paychecks” as an employer (the relevance escapes me).

To say that these comments are juvenile does a disservice to juveniles. Strangely, the first thing jumped out at me when I read these comments was the sheer lack of wit. We all have made sly comments about public or political figures on occasion, and they almost always contain a solid core of humor. We cope with events that we can’t control (see: election of Donald Trump) by deploying humor to help deflect our true feelings of helplessness with a situation. It allows us to collectively chuckle, shrug and move on with our lives. It’s a healthy exercise.

But Carl’s attempt at humor (since he claims it was that) had no actual humor; it was astonishingly vicious and bitter. It had no slyness or intelligence. It lacked any empathy or expression of our common humanity, qualities that all good humor contain.

His comments also betrayed a new boldness that has emerged during the nascent Age of Trump. Since Trump has barged onto the public scene, things that only our racist uncle would say at Thanksgiving have become increasingly acceptable. A year ago, statements like these would never have been made. Six months ago, these awful statements would have appeared only as camouflaged “dog whistles.” However, after the election of Trump, it appears that the few of us that hold truly vile, racist viewpoints are emboldened to state their ideology clearly.

In response to the backlash his bizarre comments have elicited, he has released a barely literate statement that doubled-down on these comments. He knows that in the Age of Trump there is an audience out there for this type of vicious dialogue. And in typical Trumpian fashion, he denied any racist connotations in his comments. Apparently, these comments were all done in jest, and America just can’t take a joke.

In my case, he is correct. I can’t take it. In fact, I refuse to take it. I hope that those of you that read this also refuse to take it. As a Jew reflecting during the Chanukah season, I can think of six million reasons to remain vigilant in the face of people like Carl Paladino. Please join me in defense of our common humanity and brotherhood as we look towards the new year.

Aaron Siegel is a real estate investor based in Buffalo.