Late-Night Comics Still in Thrall to Obama

Team Obama is serving up softballs to Letterman, Leno, and Stewart. Will they ever step up to the plate and swing?

March 8, 2009 - by Jazz Shaw
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As a fan of comedy in general and satire in particular, I’ve always enjoyed the late night television circuit. I’m especially fond of David Letterman, Stephen Colbert, and Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show. One of the chief complaints I’ve been hearing from conservative friends over the last several years, though, is that these shows are nothing more than thinly disguised bastions of left-wing brainwashing where pseudo-intellectual elites bash the Grand Old Party and indoctrinate the nation’s socialist youth against sound conservative thinking.

Examples abound, including a running series on Letterman titled, “Great Moments in Presidential Speeches.” Clips of inspiring appearances by the likes of Eisenhower, J.F.K, and Reagan were juxtaposed against the last president caught in some of his moments of “Bushisms.” Such treatments were widely viewed by the president’s supporters as mean-spirited and shallow, but they provided a popular source of guilty pleasure for many viewers.

My argument against these charges and in defense of the entertainers has been simple and seemingly sound. Comedians who butter their bread with political commentary generally direct their fire at the figures currently in power. There is little fodder to be found in the party huddled in the minority. Thus, with Republicans holding the White House for the last eight years and Congress for a fair portion of that time, it was obvious who the easy targets would be.

As an example, I point to Lewis Black, a weekly comic analyst of current events appearing on The Daily Show. He’s been a relentless critic of the Bush administration and its policies, an opponent of the Iraq war, and a huge fan of the Dick Cheney as Darth Vader meme. For these atrocities, Mr. Black is regularly labeled as a hopeless liberal windbag, offering nothing of substance to the national discourse. In response, I point his detractors to his 1999 release, The White Album. In it, he devotes nearly a third of the entire production to blistering attacks on William Jefferson Clinton. Black examines both the politics and personal peccadilloes of the former president, finishing with a declaration that Big Bill should serve as sufficient reason for no person from Arkansas being allowed to run for the Oval Office for the next 100 years.

When a new occupant moved in to the West Wing, Lewis turned his wrath on the Republicans, so I assumed that the ascension of President Obama would herald a similar sea change in comic gold mining. During the transition, however, I saw nothing of the sort. Of course, the “office” of president-elect doesn’t carry much in the way of duties or authority beyond the naming of cabinet members. Also, Barack Obama was just entering his honeymoon period, so it may have been understandable. Even after the inauguration, though, I couldn’t escape the feeling that these comics were still afraid to utter anything which might be viewed as negative regarding the new leader of the free world.

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Jazz Shaw is a heretical, Northeastern former RINO and regular columnist at The Moderate Voice. He can be reached at jazzshaw@gmail.com.

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48 Comments

1. Delia:

That Stephen Colbert bit was a hoot! Thank you for the laughs. I think we could all use a few more smiles as of late. The Jon Stewart thing was a real surprise! “Iraqi Geek Squad”….? Bwahahahahahahaha

Looky, Mr. Shaw! I’m ding “Jazz hands” in your honor! ;)

Mar 10, 2009 - 2:31 am 2. David Thomson:

“Had they simply spent so long attacking the Republicans that the idea of criticizing a Democratic president was beyond the scope of imagination?”

The number one reason behind this reluctance is Barack Obama’s skin color. These mostly white comedians are thoroughly guilt tripped. They are terrified with being charged with racism. This phenomenon also explains Obama’s high poll numbers. I find it humous how many people pretend that the president is somehow not responsible for the mess in his own administration.

Mar 10, 2009 - 3:39 am 3. Craig:

So one skit on Stewart and a tiny skit on Colbert and we now have ‘the ice broken’? The vitriol was RELENTLESS when Bush was in office.

You really are living in la-la land.

Mar 10, 2009 - 4:46 am 4. vivo:

I don’t think you can write too many jokes about Obama, but I bet there are a million jokes related to his blackness, but nobody dares . . .

Bush jokes were easy because he was a natural mistake-prone person. Letterman could make a full 2-hr documentary of his goofy situations.

Mar 10, 2009 - 5:10 am 5. SoberHorseThief:

The Stewart clip points out that Obama is being pilloried only for continuing the policies of a Republican president (Colbert’s one crack being the exception). I don’t expect any real comedic pushback, not because this administration is not comical — it’s hilarious — or even that the jokesters don’t think there’s foolishness abounding, but because they don’t want to give aid and comfort to the “enemy” — us.

Mar 10, 2009 - 5:16 am 6. TirdyTurd:

Stewart is intellectually dishonest in his comedy. He rails on Republicans for some perceived slight to his liberal ivory tower ideology, yet gives a pass to Obama for committing the same offense.

I predict the Daily Show will disappear as it will be less culturally relevant to its core audience of DailyKos members. What’s the point of a comedy show if you pull all you punches?

Mar 10, 2009 - 6:05 am 7. Sk8 Punk:

This has been killing me. Obama has provided more fodder for comedy than Bush starting with his 58 state campaign plan. Anyone who takes themselves as seriously as President Obama, but who is as historically and economically illiterate as he is deserves to be mocked on a regular basis. See my “Enter Nirbama” blog or Clinton 2.D’oh entries on Obama’s inherent mockability. http://rebelsk8.blogspot.com/2009/02/nirbama.html

Mar 10, 2009 - 6:10 am 8. Jim Durbin:

Here’s one for Jon Stewart.

Ground was broken on one of the first stimulus projects in Illinois. It’s a statue commemorating the leadership of our sixteenth president. The statue, which is slated to cost $200 million, will be a 10 foot tall solid gold replica of Barack Obama, giving a speech where he mentions Abraham Lincoln.

Would probably work better as a Leno joke.

Mar 10, 2009 - 6:18 am 9. AThinkingPerson:

President Teleprompter IS a joke. His cabinet choices (aka tax evaders) are jokes. His handling of PM Brown was a joke. His take on the economy is a joke. The reason the late night comics can’t make jokes about President Teleprompter is that they are part of the reason he was elected. Dare they admit their mistake to the general population? Would they then become the butt of their own jokes? Letterman ceased to be funny years ago so we can’t ask him to start now.

Mar 10, 2009 - 6:50 am 10. Ms. Attitude:

I’m having a hard time laughing at anything this new Obama administration does, no matter how funny it is….I’ve never been able to laugh while I’m being screwed.

Mar 10, 2009 - 7:30 am 11. Ron J:

I stopped watching Leno & Letterman and SNL etc long into the political season. Let me know if one of them utters a joke about Obama, I might reconsider. So far, nothing…

Mar 10, 2009 - 7:32 am 12. Laura:

# 4 VIVO: I don’t think you can write too many jokes about Obama, but I bet there are a million jokes related to his blackness, but nobody dares . .

Say what?? The guy is a walking joke. Everything he says is fodder for these comedians, and it has nothing to do with his race.

Mar 10, 2009 - 7:50 am 13. Ms. Attitude:

Memo from the Obama administration:

“We have not succeeded in solving any problems. The solutions we have found only serve to raise a whole new setof problems. We are as confused as ever, but we believe we are confused on a higher level and about more important things.”

Mar 10, 2009 - 9:07 am 14. Jazz:

Ms. Attitude:

“I’ve never been able to laugh while I’m being screwed.”

Have you ever tried dating circus clowns?

:-)

Mar 10, 2009 - 9:56 am 15. CJinMadison:

I, too, gave up on late-night comedy long ago. In fact, I have just given up on Hollywood all together. (it seems I can’t stomach much other than the Die Hard and Rocky/Rambo flix.)

But, let’s all keep pounding this topic. Keep at it, day and night.

I simply have to believe that the powers of capitalism will eventually deconstruct these current media institutions (late-night, movies, newspapers, Hollywood). If we good, conservative, USA-supporting people will finally put our money where our mouths are, we can choke off their support, until they just whither away.

Here’s to the Dawn of the New Hollywood.

Mar 10, 2009 - 10:02 am 16. AThinkingPerson:

#15 CJinMadison…..AMEN!! Money is the only language Hollywood speaks.

Mar 10, 2009 - 10:11 am 17. Bilwick1:

Why would you expect members of the Hive to ridicule the Hive’s chief standard-bearer and commander-in-chief?

Mar 10, 2009 - 10:17 am 18. Joe Bison:

One or two tidbits about Obama wow wee. What
have they not said about Bush. The problem
is that they are now surrounded by a bunch of
left wing political clowns like themselves.

The problem is that these guys are not discarded
by a use by date and a fresh product brought in.
However the new relevant product would not have
the proper opinions. So you will get one shot
at Obama and 5 at the Republicans whether active
in politics or not. Now that is what they call
balance.

Mar 10, 2009 - 10:26 am 19. Rotwang:

America hates Conservatives and enjoys mocking them. Even the cast of “Hee-Haw” knew that and went with it.

You folks may just have to quit watching TV for awhile, and mine the vast recorded archives of knee-slapping Conservative humor from years past — e.g., barnyard poop jokes and “America’s Funniest Home Videos.”

Mar 10, 2009 - 10:56 am 20. deguello:

Is anyone shocked that this gaggle of vastly overpaid, semi talented clowns,show deference to one of their own?

Mar 10, 2009 - 11:06 am 21. deguello:

19 ROTWANG:This is,of course, why the relentlessly anti-liberal “Team America” was such a success, or why liberal propaganda media, like CNN CNBC are being killed by Fox. dream on ,Redwong ,dream on.

Mar 10, 2009 - 11:11 am 22. Jazz:

Just FYI, last night Stewart did a pretty biting piece on Obama giving DVDs to Brown and on Hillary’s red button gaffe with the Russians. All hope may not be lost.

Mar 10, 2009 - 11:12 am 23. Marie:

I’m shocked, just shocked that you would suggest making fun of the current President and his administration. What would you joke about? Saying “uhh, uh, um, uh”? Bonking his head on the helicopter? 57 states? The porkulus bill? The teleprompter pacifier? The goofed reset button? The bargin bin gifts to the British PM? When you think about it, it’d be like shooting fish in a barrel – it’s just not sporting.

Mar 10, 2009 - 11:18 am 24. Steve P.:

deguello: “This is,of course, why the relentlessly anti-liberal “Team America” was such a success, or why liberal propaganda media, like CNN CNBC are being killed by Fox. dream on ,Redwong ,dream on.”

Ridiculous. Any time there is an instance of anything remotely critical of liberals in a film, conservatives obsessively latch onto it as a conservative masterpiece. It’s not as if Team America didn’t also parody conservatives, it’s just that you didnt realize it because you live your entire life inside such an air-tight echo chamber of BS that you are incapable of seeing through it.

Now “An American Carol” was a true example of a conservative film. And if “An American Carol” is the best you guys have to offer, I’d suggest you leave comedy to the professionals.

Mar 10, 2009 - 11:39 am 25. Milesdei:

Black and poor and marginalized by racism? Not your fault if you have to deal drugs. Black and poor and marginalized by racism? Not your fault if you have five kids by six different fathers. Black and poor and marginalized by racism? Not your fault that you’re poorly educated. Black and rich and leader of the free world? Not your fault for anything that goes wrong. (Cue close-up of Bush/Emmanuel Goldstein: two minutes’ hate in three…two…one…)

Mar 10, 2009 - 11:41 am 26. steeple:

Steve P 24 Let me give all due credit to PJ O’Rourke, who got the gist of the differences between parties several years ago when he wrote this introduction to “Parliament of Whores”. Defines the differences well for me, so hopefully all of the liberal yucks are worth it. Here it goes:

“I have only one firm belief about the American political system, and that is this: God is a Republican and Santa Claus is a Democrat.

God is an elderly or, at any rate, middle-aged male, a stern fellow, patriarchal rather than paternal and a great believer in rules and regulations. He holds men strictly accountable for their actions. He has little apparent concern for the material well-being of the disadvantaged. He is politically connected, socially powerful and holds the mortgage on literally everything in the world. God is difficult. God is unsentimental. It is very hard to get into God’s heavenly country club.

Santa Claus is another matter. He’s cute. He’s non-threatening. He’s always cheerful. And he loves animals. He may know who’s been naughty and who’s been nice, but he never does anything about it. He gives everyone everything they want without thought of a quid pro quo. He works hard for charities, and he’s famously generous to the poor. Santa Claus is preferable to God in every way but one: There is no such thing as Santa Claus.”

Mar 10, 2009 - 11:57 am 27. Ms. Attitude:

26. Steeple….I love it! God v. Santa…I know who wins.

Mar 10, 2009 - 12:27 pm 28. The Vast Right Wing conspiracy:

When you take the advice of third rate comics on election day you end up with a bad joke in the White House

Mar 10, 2009 - 12:46 pm 29. Delia:

23. Marie:

“I’m shocked, just shocked that you would suggest making fun of the current President and his administration. What would you joke about? Saying “uhh, uh, um, uh”? Bonking his head on the helicopter? 57 states? The porkulus bill? The teleprompter pacifier? The goofed reset button? The bargin bin gifts to the British PM? When you think about it, it’d be like shooting fish in a barrel – it’s just not sporting.”
~

LOL! Don’t forget 0bama walking into a WH window thinking it was a door. *tee-hee*

Such ‘klass’ we have in the WH. I’m ready to ‘accidentally [of course]‘ give the ‘finger’ to the whole lot of ‘em. ;p

Mar 10, 2009 - 12:50 pm 30. Fallon:

We will not have equality of the races until cartoonists, comedians and late night talk show hosts feel comfortable enough in their own skin, to feel their “white guilt” is assuaged enough by the recent election to make fun of all politicians and celebrities, not based on the color of their skin but on the content of their character, their foibles, their gaffes, flaws, quirks and idiosynchracies.

It’s time to “man up” funny people and stop hiding behind your fear of being called racists. Until you do, you are proving that we are not yet living in a post-racial society.

Mar 10, 2009 - 1:07 pm 31. Bilwick1:

I move in largely artsy circles, and I think it’s safe to say that people in the arts (be they novelists, painters, street mimes), while convincing themselves that they’re free-spirits, are generally Staat-shtuppers and lockstep members of the Hive. In any political contest, they’ll invariably support and vote for the candidate who’s going to most consistently expand the power of the State. The late night comedians and comedy-writers no doubt see themselves as irreverent satirists, but at the end of the day they’re just the State’s Court Jesters. You just have to accept that when you tune into their shows. As an old Letterman fan, however, it’s pretty sad for me to see Letterman, who was once such an independent that many “liberals” looked askance at him–he was even “accused” of being a closet libertarian–turning into just another cranky, bitter old leftist and turning his show into just another unit in the Hive’s Agitprop Division.

Mar 10, 2009 - 1:26 pm 32. Avitar:

I am not sure that television talk show hosts should be counted as comidians. It has been a long time since television let anyone on who was consistantly funny. Johnny Carson kept a fairly large and gifted stable of writers going, maybe more than everyone combined today. Are they political comercials or comedians? I think that they are the former.

Mar 10, 2009 - 1:41 pm 33. Kim:

All of these very hip and sophisticated comics would make fun of Obama if only their very hip and sophisticated audiences tolerated blasphemy.

Mar 10, 2009 - 1:55 pm 34. WestWright:

These people you call comedians are nothing more than pitiful apparachiks for our elite masters. A pack of worthless hacks.

Mar 10, 2009 - 2:04 pm 35. JKB:

When and if they start using the material right in front of them, I’ll return to watching. Right now, it is just too painful to see the contortions they go through to avoid the elephant in the room.

Mar 10, 2009 - 2:41 pm 36. malclave:

“I’m especially fond of David Letterman, Stephen Colbert, and Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show.”

Never watched Colbert or Stewart (all I get is broadcast TV, cable and satellite don’t interest me enough to justify the cost).

I think the last time I watched Letterman was when he had Bill O’Reilly on. Letterman admitted that he’d never seen O’Reilly, but that he’d heard bad things about his show, which he obviously believed.

Letterman’s a moron and a liberal hack. Somebody told me that and so (according to Letterman) I have to assume it’s true.

Mar 10, 2009 - 4:03 pm 37. neindoch:

the word we’re looking for, to describe Left-leaning “comedy” writing, Left-leaning “ripped from today’s headlines” TV drama, Left-leaning movies, etc. is AGITPROP

Mar 10, 2009 - 4:03 pm 38. Marc Malone:

What’s the big deal, anyway? Conservatives don’t watch those shows. We get our comedy from watching the regular news on Fox and from talk radio. Just reporting the stupidity is comic enough.

$200k for swine odor control research? Hilarious. Promising that Geithner would have a plan released “tomorrow morning”, only to have no such thing happen? A tax cheat in charge of the IRS? A tax cheat running the Ways and Means committee? Nominations for cabinet posts having to pay back taxes, only to then drop out of consideration? Sudden inability to find anyone to take a cabinet post? Maybe they can’t afford to pay up their back taxes? More hilarity! Every time I see another crooked guy being nominated for a cabinet position and being exposed, I laugh and laugh!

Please, please, keep this up, Mr. President! Please start publicly asking more Dems to serve, so that they can be exposed as corrupt. Please continue the self-immolation of the Dems!

Okay, so I am enjoying gallows humor… but it’s still funny!

Mar 10, 2009 - 4:57 pm 39. AThinkingPerson:

Why watch these morons? Vote with your remote! (It sure seems to be working with the print media!)

Mar 10, 2009 - 5:17 pm 40. WestGuard:

Lettermans “Presidential Moments” is as old, tired and stale as he is. *yawn*

Mar 10, 2009 - 5:24 pm 41. Delia:

Maybe the whole problem with the 0bama administration is that it’s more of a tragedy than a comedy.

Mar 10, 2009 - 5:30 pm 42. Oscar the Grump:

Caus, he be nice!

Mar 10, 2009 - 8:34 pm 43. Bill N:

I think there is a more fundamental reason why Letterman, et al, don’t poke fun at Obama: They simply don’t think such jokes are funny. Take this one, for example:

Straight man: “Who do you think is the most saintly saint?”
Comedian: “Oh, that’s easy: St. Joseph.”
Straight man: “Why?”
Comedian: “Look at it this way; this guy supposedly marries a virgin, but she turns out to be pregnant instead. She tells him, ‘God did it,’ and he *believes* her! That man is a saint!”

Do you think that an audience of Catholic nuns would find that funny? No, because mocking their core beliefs and making fun of their Messiah either frightens them if their faith is not absolute, or infuriates them if it is.

Same with Letterman and his audience of liberal nun-equivalents with *their* core beliefs and *their* messiah. It’s just not funny to them. Why did so many posters here stop listening to Letterman long ago? Because they found a constant stream of conservative mocking to be neither entertaining nor humorous. Letterman and his writers simply can’t think up an 0bama joke because it wouldn’t be funny. To them, that is.

Mar 10, 2009 - 9:25 pm 44. Cheeky Wombat:

29. Delia
I accidently give the finger everyday while I listen to NPR on my commute. Oh, and vile names accidently slip out of my lips at various times during the drive also.

Mar 10, 2009 - 10:08 pm 45. JackT:

He’s only been in office for 6 weeks. Doesn’t he get a honeymoon? You Republicans are so eager to rip Obama to pieces you can’t even wait until we find out what to make fun of. Give it some time. He’s hard to mimic. He’s so intelligent, cool and charismatic. It’s almost impossible to make fun of him. Now with Bush it was so easy, he’s a schmuck, and not too bright. Some of his mannerisms and facial expressions were hilarious. Clinton got a little easier to jab. While he is a very intelligent man, he had a problem with fast food, fast women, and sometimes that down home upbringing would show thru. But with Obama we’ll just have to wait til we have something to work with.

Mar 10, 2009 - 11:23 pm 46. Marc Malone:

(edit) $1.7M for odor research, not $200K. Hard to keep all the pork straight after awhile.

Mar 10, 2009 - 11:33 pm 47. Calvin:

Sure, now that their man (messiah) got elected, and now that some of the gaffes and dubious appointments/policies are too apparent to ignore, some comedians are willing to make jokes at the expense of Obama (or, more likely, his policies or appointments).

However, that isn’t the standard that was set for GW Bush (or Quayle or Reagan, etc.). No, for low-life’s such as a conservative Republican, petty, personal sucker-punches will predominate the humor. For every 1 joke regarding a Bush policy, we got 3 or 4 ridiculing the man.

To take one example (which, I concede, reaches fewer and fewer households every year), if you happened to watch the week-nightly Tonight Show monologue with Leno just prior to the Dem and Repub conventions in 2008 and then thereafter until the general election, Obama was completely off-limits. There were nights when there would be 5 Bush jokes, 6 or 7 McCain jokes and 7 or 8 Palin jokes….and maybe 1 innocuous Obama joke. Sure, there would sometimes be Biden jokes, although nothing on the scale of the Palin jokes.

Mar 11, 2009 - 10:54 am 48. grtflmark:

So – you’re “Allahpundit”, eh?

I always wanted to see what real bigoted racist looked like up close.

How’s the hate rallys?

Jun 16, 2009 - 6:39 pm