The spirit of political pranksterism is alive and well in the Great State of Texas, as Republicans pulled off a couple of doozies on the hapless Democrats at their state convention in Fort Worth this week. First (via Andrea Zelinsky of the Houston Chronicle):

Republicans ran a fake obituary in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Saturday as at least 7,000 people spent time in Cow Town for the final day of Texas Democratic Party Convention.

The ad highlighted the party was healthy for more than a decade before beginning to wane in the 1980s and has failed to win a statewide election since 1994. Hopes for recovery were repeatedly dashed because of the party’s “inability to connect with voters and deliver a coherent message,” the fake obit read.

“The Texas Democratic Party enjoyed: whining, fighting for such causes as late-term abortions, job-destroying regulations and higher taxes for Texas families,” according to the ad. “The Party will be remembered, although not fondly, by those Texans who continue to uphold the values that make Texas the greatest state of the nation.”

The obit came one day after Republicans parked a hearse across the street from the convention center with a sign reading, “RIP 1846 - 2018.”

You might think that the Dems would get a clue that they were being trolled. But when you are full of angry self-righteousness, all perspective and any trace of a sense of humor disappear. (If you don’t believe me, tune in to any of the late night Trump-hating comedians and watch the unalloyed hatred that now replaces humor).

That’s why the Dems at the convention fell for one of the great political  pranks of all time:

On Friday, conservative Houston-area Rep. Briscoe Cain pranked Democrats at their own convention. He, a political consultant and other activists others handed out yard signs reading, “This home is a gun-free safe space," according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

"It's amazing how many people took one and thanked us. They said they would put it in front of their house. I think it's funny," the Houston-area Republican told the newspaper, adding: "Nobody should put this in front of their house."

I wonder how many of the Dems understand the natural limits of virtue signaling?

I am so old that I remember the antics of Dick Tuck, who died only a month ago at age 94. Back in the era when Democrats had a sense of humor, he pulled off some stunts so funny that even his favorite target, Richard Nixon, appreciated the humor. The New York Times’s obituary called him the “king gremlin of political shenanigans.”

“Nixon was an admirer of mine,” Mr. Tuck said in a telephone interview for this obituary in 2013 from his home in Tucson. With unconcealed glee, he recalled many pranks and quoted Nixon on the tapes as saying: “Tuck did that and got away with it” and “Shows you what a master Dick Tuck was.”

I am reasonably certain that few, if any, Democrats will have the grace to respond this way to Briscoe Cain's hilairous antics.

The king gremlin is dead; long live the new king gremlin, Briscoe Cain!