The comedian is Ross Bennett. Do you think he’s telling the truth, that Obama supporters are so intolerant they give the entertainer grief over any hit The One takes? I think so. I think people understand the power of mockery, the power it has to undermine a public figure. They’ve understood it since the mid-70s when Chevy Chase turned the otherwise athletic Gerald Ford into a klutz. Did this narrative hurt Ford’s chances against Jimmy Carter? It certainly didn’t help.
No one, however, understands this power better than the entertainers, which is why most of them are reluctant to go after Obama in any way that might leave a mark. Look no further than “Saturday Night Live” and their intentionally awful Obama impersonator. They’ve obviously chosen to sacrifice laughs for fear of laying a glove on their guy. When it comes to Palin, Bush, or any Republican, however, the gloves come completely off. The whole idea is to do damage, is to diminish and dehumanize their political enemies into a punchline.
The media, of course, is a willing participant in this plan. Under the guise of “let’s close with a humorous moment,” they use these skits to further their own anti-Republican agenda. How often did the MSM replay Tina Fey savaging Palin? Over and over and over again — until it started to take. The MSM (and site’s like Mediaite and Politico who viralize these videos online) are far from dumb, they know exactly what they’re doing — and by using SNL and others like them, they can amplify this material and make it part of the narrative, all while washing their hands of the character assassination. This would be perfectly fine if the playing field was anything close to level. But it’s not. So go to hell if you’re about to ask me to take a joke.
The comedic class knows exactly what they’re doing, which is why they’re not about to create anything that might hit too close to Obama’s many personal and governing flaws (teleprompter, anyone?). They know a devastating piece of humor might go viral in the alternative media and create the kind of narrative that could hurt their guy.
Furthermore, you also never see viralized on Mediaite or anywhere in the MSM the kind of right-of-center political satire Greg Gutfeld does so well on a nightly basis at “Red Eye.” So the MSM is picking and choosing “what” qualifies as “satire” and it’s always their guys Maher, Stewart, Colbert, and SNL.
