defuse
Explanation
This comic shows two bomb squad technicians in protective gear working to defuse a bomb. One explains the standard movie trope setup: "If you cut the red wire, instant death. If you cut the blue wire, the bomb will be defused." The other technician responds, "Got it. Great. And... which of those do we want again?"
The caption reads "Bomb squads shouldn't be allowed to read the news," implying that the technician has become so demoralized or nihilistic from following current events that they genuinely can't remember whether they're supposed to save everyone or not. The joke taps into the common dark humor sentiment that the state of the world is so bleak that even the people tasked with preventing disasters might have lost the will to do so. It's a concise commentary on news-induced despair taken to an absurd, darkly comic extreme.