We hear of brutal heads of state who "rule with an iron fist", but are there brutal rulers who try to make it more fun for their repressed subjects? Someone like that could be said to "rule with an ironic fist". They could wear those big plastic Incredible Hulk fists that have sound effects built into them, and they could execute people in silly ways like a literal death by chocolate. Or every edict could be in the form of some sarcastic joke. Or maybe their hand could have the word "love" tattooed on it, one letter per finger, so that if they clenched their fist, it would clearly say "LOVE" on it while it looked threatening.
I'll bet if a stand-up comedian got to rule some brutal dictatorship, they'd rule with an ironic fist.
