The Joke's on Obama

On Wednesday I predicted the quick demise of The Daily Show and the Colbert Report once their favorite target, President George W. Bush, falls off the national radar screen, and now that Republicans have reduced themselves to a political footnote. I argued that the left-leaning shows would lose their relevance and their audience, and quickly run low on material, once humorless liberals were in power. I wondered whether Bush-bashing comedians and pundits can adapt to the Obama era, when Americans seem to want a Messiah more than they want a president, and whether the president's race would insulate him from the kind of scalding ridicule conservatives routinely suffer.

Maybe I'll be proven wrong.

Yesterday appeared this story, indicating that left-leaning comedians are eager to be rid of an easy target like Bush and ready to take on the much tougher challenge of tackling Obama, which gives me hope that the media honeymoon for Obama will last less than 8 years.

I stand by my prediction, but with a tad less confidence.

Here's the story:

US comedians sharpen claws for Obama presidency

They love him now, but America's razor-tongued, left-leaning comedians say president-elect Barack Obama will soon be the butt of jokes.

Satirical cartoonist Ted Rall said he couldn't wait to move on from Republican President George W. Bush. "Making fun of George Bush is so easy -- it's just kindergarten stuff," Rall complained at a post-election comedy discussion panel Wednesday. "Doing Obama is going to be so much more fun."

Political humor enjoys something of a golden age in the United States after a presidential campaign where TV shows like Saturday Night Live not only made fun of news, but made news.
Most comedians are strongly Democratic and their juiciest targets were Republicans, especially Sarah Palin, the Alaskan "ice hockey mom" chosen as vice president on John McCain's defeated ticket.

Now Obama, who takes office in January, is in the firing line.

"Obama is so stiff and uptight, he's just asking for it," said Rall, who proudly proclaims his liberal credentials. "I'm going to be fascinated."

Stand-up comedian Roseanne Barr said the coming Obama presidency -- already burdened by huge expectations and vast challenges -- would provide rich material and "raise the intelligence of the jokes."

The discussion, held in Manhattan at the opening of the New York Comedy Festival, soon gave a foretaste of the edginess likely in wisecracks about Obama, the country's first black president-elect.

When Barr innocently predicted "very pointed jokes, tip of the spear jokes," fellow comedian Robert George, who is black, asked in mock shock: "Did you say tip of the SPEAR jokes about a black man?"

For now, most comedians, including the panel on Wednesday, seem to be holding back from making fun of an election victory they all wanted.

Rather un-comic passions exploded during a row between the comedians and one of the panel's two lone conservative guests, Monica Crowley from the right-leaning Fox News channel.

"This is getting out of control," Crowley muttered during a shouting match about Iraq and McCain's negative campaign ads.

But satirical newspaper The Onion is already plunging ahead into the era of Obama humor.
The latest issue carries this story under the headline "Black Man Given Nation's Worst Job."
"African-American man Barack Obama, 47, was given the least-desirable job in the entire country Tuesday when he was elected president of the United States of America....
"As part of his duties, the black man will have to spend four to eight years cleaning up the messes other people left behind."

One thing that's sure, comedian Lizz Winstead told the discussion panel, is that the jokes will get close to the bone.

"Basically, it's going to be about how he handles power. Is he going to blow it? Will he become an egomaniac?" she asked.

To which Rall responded: "Of course he'll blow it -- they always do!"

A Quantum of Solace

Today's a day to search out silver linings, and for taking a quantum of solace (to appropriate the title of the new James Bond flick) where it can be found. And I've hit on at least one bright spot.

Barack Obama's victory almost certainly marks the beginning of the end for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, as well as The Colbert Report, since both shows primarily appeal to Bush-haters and neither will dare heap similar scorn on the new president, or on Congressional Democrats, with whom the "talent" and staff have such an affinity. The Bush-bashing networks of CNN and MSNBC (especially) face similar challenges adapting to the new political landscape, unless they can retain what audience loyalty they have by consistently genuflecting before the Messiah.

I predict, therefore, that both Comedy Central shows will be off the air within a year. That's little consolation, I know, if the ship of state strikes a reef with Obama at the helm. But at this point, I can live with the country's further decline easier than I can stand a few more years of The Daily Show schtick.

Without President Bush to kick around, and with Republicans reduced to footnote status in Congress, much of The Daily Show's source material immediately goes away, leaving a huge void. Republicans, while they clung to power, made ideal punching bags. But will the punches be pulled now that the people in power are of the same political persuasion as the folks writing the jokes? And how much edginess and appeal will such shows lose when they turn from cynics into sycophants?

Obama's honeymoon will last two or three years, and possibly longer, depending on how long the new president and his followers can blame the intransigence of certain problems on "the Bush years." It may be years before the Messiah's acolytes are willing to concede he's only human; and years more, perhaps, before he's seen as fallible enough to become the butt of jokes. Self-righteousness numbs the funny bone, which is why the left is notoriously loath to laugh at itself. Stewart won't be inclined to rain on Obama's parade, having done so much to smooth his path to power.

Can one really imagine Stewart, who takes such glee in mimicking the current dunderhead-in-chief, similarly mocking Obama, without running the risk of coming off as a modern-day Al Jolson? Will The Daily Show's audience hoot as loudly when the object of all their political fantasies is savaged or lampooned, assuming Stewart & Co. have to courage to do this? Will Michelle Obama receive the same scathing treatment that Republican first ladies have on Saturday Night Live and other shows?

I'm guessing a double standard will be in force, probably for years to come, while the left tries turning Barack Obama into the black JFK. Obama's race will to some extent Teflon-coat him against such mockery, since comedians and other critics must tread lightly, lest their jokes and critiques come off as racially-charged.

America will know it's overcome its race hang-ups not when it elects a black president, but when it rejects a black president -- when it holds Obama to the same standard of performance, and treats him as irreverently, as it has white presidents. But I suspect that this president's skin color will intimidate comedians and insulate him from criticism.

To some extent, at least initially, an Obama double standard could be beneficial, since I think some Americans take an unhealthy glee in chopping presidents down to size. Although I may differ with him on ideological grounds, I would take no satisfaction in seeing Obama, as the president, destroyed or humiliated. Republicans blew it and Democrats deserve a chance to see if they can do better. Republicans have had a grip on power for so long that many Americans have forgotten how bad the alternative can be. The repudiation of Obama's ideas will come in time, stemming from their unpopular or unfortunate consequences.

But if, on the other hand, we see a personality cult developing, in which one man's charisma blinds Americans to the flawed or dangerous nature of his policy decisions, and all objectivity is lost and criticism muted, for fear of knocking an icon off its pedestal, that too is unhealthy -- and potentially threatening to free discourse and democratic institutions. Obama deserves his shot at success, and greatness. But it will be interesting to see how his worshipful followers respond when it becomes clear that, like most mortals and all past presidents, he turns out to have feet of clay.