The list was comically, painfully long and the audience applauded and laughed at the real-life, obvious absence of leadership the sketch had captured in President Obama.  It is key to remember this is the work of comedy writers who could not find something funny about candidate or President Obama for nearly two years.  They did all they could to mock anyone and everyone around the man as to avoid skewering the “One” bearing gifts of “hope and change.”  But we’re coming up on a year in elected office and the liberals have grown restless.  

While their motives were most likely to gently nudge their hero to act on his promises, SNL’s writers still came to the conclusion that they couldn’t afford to lose what comedic street credibility they have left.  Doing what they’ve done since the late 70s, SNL finally acknowledged what the electorate recognized in our Commander in Chief months ago. Enter CNN.

Monday, October 6th Wolf Blitzer took to the airwaves:

“It seems no politician is safe from Saturday Night Live. While many people think SNL has mostly spared President Obama, what they’re doing now is not necessarily all that kind. They essentially cast the leader of the free world as a do-nothing president, at least so far. Even though SNL deals in comedy, what they said about the President rings true for a lot of you, apparently. So, did the show accurately capture a mood, or did it go off track for comedic effect? Let’s bring in CNN’s Kareen Wynter. She’s checking the facts for us. All right, Kareen, what are you finding out?”

Yes, CNN fact-checked the comedy of Saturday Night Live. 

Just this past Saturday, yet another opening SNL sketch slapped President Obama for receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.  Armisen’s Obama conceded he’s accomplished absolutely nothing to deserve the award.   The sketch again received big laughs and applause – and more scrutiny from news media.   This time, the analysis came from the news division of SNL’s parent network, NBC.  Sunday’s NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt found the anchor asking his correspondent if the White House was “concerned” about the “comedy gloves coming off.” 

The comedy world sat up and took notice of the press scrutiny immediately.  The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart launched into a blistering, 12-minute assault on CNN’s fact-checking session this week.  “While you were doing your research did you also find that sharks live in water and don’t deliver candy grams…,” demanded Stewart, referring to a classic SNL sketch called Land Shark.

While Stewart’s admonishment of CNN was hilarious, it was also telling.  In just over 20 minutes of actual programming, the host and writers devoted two-thirds of their comedy to assailing CNN.  Why?  Stewart and company have just been introduced to the chilling effect of a White House and news media offensive traditionally reserved for the “wing-nuts” on Fox News and talk radio.

 It’s a beautiful symphony when your comedy, the White House, and the news media are on the same stage swinging at conservatives in concert.  Last week, however, the comedians strayed from the sheet music in a major way.  The public was demanding their honesty if they were to still enjoy a credible laugh with their favorite shows.   In delivering for their audience, our friends in comedy got a taste of the treatment “tea partiers” and conservative talk radio regularly receives.    Welcome to the enemies list, funny men.

This will certainly be only the beginning.  The fact that CNN and NBC News find comedians poking fun at the president as “news” acknowledges what honest media watchers have known all along.  The press, the President, and comedy formed an unspoken “circle of trust” with one another when it came to the Obama administration.  Banning together, they helped elect an inexperienced radical as President.  They also acknowledge their power “misdirected” individually can destroy all they worked together to create. 

The press is still willing to battle on behalf of this White House, but the comedians are off the reservation – choosing honesty over ideology.    The comedian’s punishment?  Fact checking and discrediting attacks from their former pals.   In no time, surely good members of Congress will call for a Comedy Fairness Doctrine.  Perhaps all broadcasts of comedy material should be reviewed by the White House before delivery?  Maybe an appointed, diverse community board of writers should be created in New York and L.A?  If the comedy seems particularly biting to the President or the Democrat Congress, President Obama’s appointed board members may add and subtract punch lines to maintain a sense of humorous equilibrium.

Sure it sounds absurd.  It did to talk radio hosts once, too.  Not so funny now, is it?

As a fan, I didn’t want Letterman to move into Carson’s chair.   Not because Letterman couldn’t handle it.  It just seemed too refined for someone as eccentric and edgy as Letterman.  Turned out NBC saw it that way too when they awarded “Tonight” to Leno.  It pained Letterman.  But it helped to foster that continued edgy, underdog status that led fans like me to follow him to CBS.

Letterman’s historically large deal with CBS was fascinating.  He was granted an enormous contract and complete ownership of his own show.  A show that could be built from the ground up with no expectations or standards set by a previous host like Carson at NBC.  More importantly, Letterman answered to no one.  He became his own boss – a dream scenario for an entertainer who always answered to someone else.

For fans at home it was like watching the underdog finally win one.  He won by remaining true to his “Late Night” formula.  Silly characters, Stupid Pet and Human Tricks, Top Ten Lists all made the trip to the new show.   Though Letterman only enjoyed one year atop the ratings heap versus Leno - it mattered not to me and people my age.  Ask a high school or college kid at the time who was the “cool” host, or the “funny” host – Letterman won in a landslide.

As a college student in the rural Midwest, I applied to become an intern with my broadcasting hero.  I would later discover hundreds of kids a semester applied for one of fifteen spots as interns on the show.  Although I presumed I stood little chance, the internship coordinator informed me that Letterman’s show favored Midwesterners.  Letterman was a Midwest kid himself, and the show was of the mindset that Midwest kids were generally polite, conscientious, and hard working.  It was the most exciting, promising, thrilling moment a young college kid with a broadcasting dream could have.

It took only a few months of my internship to learn a thing about the business of comedy, at least as it relates to Letterman.   It was not an epicenter of fun and creativity.  Rather, it was an atmosphere of employees who worked for a man many of them never saw and seldom, if ever talked to.  Many of his employees seemed to resent his cold distance.  He was most certainly guarded and unapproachable.  This was not the irreverent showman I came to adore. The wide-eyed enthusiasm I arrived with in New York was quickly dashed. 

To be clear, I never witnessed anything inappropriate as it relates to Mr. Letterman.   I was not mistreated nor was there any juicy gossip overheard during my stay.  The knowledge I came home with regarding Letterman was purely observational. Honest students of “Late Show” and comedy in general have certainly come to the same conclusion.  Letterman, we must sadly confess, is seldom funny anymore.

It’s hard to know just when his entertainment value began to decline.  It most likely began the day he became his own boss, ironically.  Letterman’s personal work ethic he admired in Midwesterners like me seemed to be wanting.  He slowly phased out any sketch comedy that featured him.  It was a staple of his old shows.  The Alka-Seltzer-covered suit he sported before jumping in a tank of water and the Velcro suit that left him stuck to a wall of fabric were no longer.  His roving interviews and interaction on the streets of New York became less and less.  It was as though the thing that made Letterman so likable – his ability to be silly and laugh at himself – disappeared.  He was too important for that now.

Letterman’s personal politics have become so strident and hostile in just the last two years, any conservative feels unwelcome to watch.  He would regularly pontificate about the war in Iraq.  “George Bush is a dumb guy” jokes were told with such frequency it became rote.  When candidate John McCain had the “audacity” to cancel a scheduled appearance in 2008, Letterman blasted McCain with both barrels until Election Day.  A tasteless shot aimed at Sarah Palin’s daughter seemed to be the joke that broke the audiences’ back.  Letterman, after much public outrage, eventually apologized for the remark.  Then, the recent hour-long sit down with Barack Obama.  It seemed to be the host’s final admission.  Dave’s a pundit, not a comic. He’s not interested in entertaining the masses any longer.  Just the partisans. 

Letterman’s admission of sex with members of his staff and stories of sex in the office dominated his show in the last week.  News of his personal life, his humiliated and injured wife, his six year old son, and his beleaguered employees made a once entertaining show of comedy and variety nothing more than a television tabloid.  Ratings, while high, weren’t due to the quality of show being produced by the legendary host.  America is tuning in to see a famous man’s life crash and burn around him. 

David Letterman has, in fact taught this intern something.  He is a cautionary tale of the ultimate success story.  Success can be achieved through hard work, tenacity, and staying true to your style.  Success can also breed complacency.  Success can breed arrogance and narcissism that places your personal needs, wants, beliefs, and desires ahead of all others.  Success can ultimately be your undoing.

I wish I could have interned for that edgy, Midwestern underdog at NBC.

July 15th, 2009 – a day that shall live in comedic infamy.  The Obama administration’s first direct hit from reliably friendly allies. Former Saturday Night Live star, now stand up comic Dana Carvey was the guest on the new Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien.  When O’Brien asked Carvey his opinion of Obama, Carvey trotted out some fresh material. “I’m worried. The economy just had a heart attack, but Barack just wants to work on the knee,” Carvey riffed. ”Should we do CPR? No, we’re gonna fix this knee. We can do CPR when it’s efficient and cost effective, but right now we’re going to work on the meniscus. “Carvey concluded the bit suggesting George W. Bush would have used an economic “crash cart.” “Tax cuts for everybody – CLEAR!” The audience roared.  Were they laughing at Carvey’s “dumb guy” Bush impression, or was it the excitement of more money in their pockets as an economic remedy? No matter the audience response.   Carvey saw fit to address economic policy in his comedy. That’s telling.

At the same hour, on the same day – The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart opened fire. ”Last night, Obama threw out the first pitch at the All Star game. He even played short-stop for a time,” Stewart said. “There’s nothing he can’t do…except create jobs.” Ouch. The audience laughed tepidly. It was as though they couldn’t believe what they’d heard, and Stewart moved past the line quickly.

During the same show, Stewart went on to skewer the healthcare reform fight in Washington. Initially mocking Republicans for sounding the alarm on Obama’s ultimate desire for a “single payer” system, the joke took an unexpected turn. ”…that’s just a Republican scare tactic. The Democrats are not proposing a government takeover of health insurance. And they’re certainly not trying to “Trojan horse” us into some European or Canadian-style single payer system,” said Stewart.  With that, Stewart played some grainy campaign video from 2008 in which Obama told a cheering crowd, “I happen to be a proponent of single-payer health care.”  The next shot is a dumbfounded Stewart back at the desk as he coldly confessed, “Wow. That Communist sounded a lot like our President.” 

Since this watershed event in comedy, the Daily Show has taken on a new tone. A day after President Obama declared Cambridge cops “acted stupidly” in the arrest of his friend “Skip” Gates, Stewart took it head on.  “Now, I wasn’t at the press conference last night, and I don’t have all the facts. But I think it’s fair to say that Obama handled that question…oh, what’s the word I’m looking for?  Stupidly?”  

In another segment of the same show, Stewart playfully cheered as Nancy Pelosi and President Obama suggested increased taxes on the wealthiest Americans to pay for health care reform. He pretended to be surprised when he was “informed” in his earpiece that he, in fact was wealthy. ”Oh, so they’re coming for me…ok,” Stewart said sheepishly. Remember, Stewarts’s a New York-based millionaire.  Theirs is the highest taxation in the country, and President Obama and New York want more from him. Is Stewart sensitive to that?  Again, economics and federal budgets as punch lines? You’ve got your answer.

Last week’s Daily Show also featured a montage of the President refuting criticisms of his health care plan. After the string of presidential rebuttals Stewart concluded, “You know a sales pitch is in trouble when it starts with “Look, you’ve got to trust me. We’re not going to kill your grandparents.”

The impression shouldn’t be left that comedy’s liberal leanings are absent. The bias for this president is still deeply entrenched in comedy writers. But writers and performers are also wealthy, privately insured, and often well educated. They have lost much of their own wealth in the markets while beginning to realize the finest doctors and insurers who serve them are growing nervous. Comedians have families and friends in medicine, finance, and industry. Reality is setting in.

The truth of the nation’s growing pessimism and skepticism in Washington is at historic highs and on display every day. Comedians’ choice is clear.  Continue to cheer and cover for a president in whom they emotionally invested so much. Or realize the investment just didn’t pay off as they’d hoped and get back to the honesty in their craft. 

Never have there been so few jokes directed at a President who deserves so many. 

Jon Stewart was just voted “America’s most trusted” by the online readers at Time Magazine after Walter Cronkite passed away. He led the likes of Couric, Williams, and Gibson – all network news anchors who “play it straight.” Meanwhile, Gallup polling reports Obama’s job approval among likely voters age 18 to 29 and 30 to 49 has dropped 6 percent in the last month.

Obama is losing Jon Stewart.  The question is: Can Obama get him back?

July 31st, 2006 – Hollywood, California:

At a time of escalating tensions in the world, the entertainment industry cannot idly stand by and allow Mel Gibson to get away with such tragically inflammatory statements. People in the entertainment community, whether Jew or gentile, need to demonstrate that they understand how much is at stake in this by professionally shunning Mel Gibson and refusing to work with him, even if it means a sacrifice to their bottom line. There are times in history when standing up against bigotry and racism is more important than money.

That is a portion of a Huffington Post entry authored by a prominent Hollywood talent agent. It was written exactly two years ago this week after the arrest of actor Mel Gibson. During the stop, an angry and intoxicated Gibson made physical threats and was reported to say, “The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world,” and asked the arresting officer, “Are you a Jew?”

The national news erupted. Hollywood did, in fact, quickly turn their backs on their colleague. Gibson himself began a weeks-long, public mea-culpa. He issued a statement describing his words as “despicable.” His publicist said he was checking into a multi-step program to get his mind right and his alcoholism under control. Gibson’s career as a leading star has stalled since the incident, and in many corners of Hollywood he is still persona non grata. 

(ATTENTION READERS: BLATANT SARCASM AHEAD)

Now, for a moment, let’s try to understand where Mel Gibson was coming from that night. He’s angry about being pulled over. He reportedly had a troubled history with his father, Hudson Gibson who has been quoted to say the Holocaust was “mostly fiction.” Gibson’s most famous, and intense motion picture work with “The Passion” must certainly haunt the corners of his mind. These extenuating circumstances, coupled with the fame and recognizable face of Mel Gibson leads any honest thinker to conclude Gibson is a victim here.

Certainly the arresting officer detected alcohol and yes, Gibson was speeding. But the words Gibson used and the threatening language he directed at the officer should be understood and forgiven, shouldn’t it?  Then President Bush probably should have addressed Gibson’s comments and his arrest in a national press conference. Bush should have called Gibson a friend of his in Christian brotherhood.

Perhaps Bush could have said, “Now, I don’t know, not having been there and not seeing all the facts, what role religion played in that. But I think it’s fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry; number two, that the police acted stupidly and, number three, what I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there’s a long history in this country of Christians being underrepresented in Hollywood and law offices disproportionately. That’s just a fact.” 

Certainly to some, that kind of language from President Bush might have sounded judgmental of the arresting officer and perhaps mildly anti-Semitic itself. Nevertheless, such leadership from the President would have opened up a needed national debate on anti-Semitism in our country. It would have been a “teachable moment” for all persons of faith. Perhaps the officer, President Bush and Mel Gibson could have all met at the White House for a non-alcoholic beer. (Bush doesn’t drink, and Mel Gibson should probably avoid it.) But alas, President Bush failed to lead.

Thankfully, we now have an enlightened president in Barack Obama who’s not afraid to wade into local law enforcement issues. Unafraid to tackle cases of perceived bigotry by personal friends on a national stage, President Obama might ruffle some feathers. He may mischaracterize, impugn, and malign individual police officers without a shred of evidence – but our nation is better off for it. Our Teacher-In-Chief is the perfect blend of his old preacher Jeremiah “we had 9/11 coming” Wright and Dr. Phil. He can stoke the fires of racism without batting an eye while coolly extinguishing the discourse over a beer. 

(ATTENTION READER: THIS CONCLUDES BLATANT SARCASM)

It’s easy to forget that this episode involving President Obama, his friend “Skip” the Harvard professor, and the Cambridge cop all sprang from a prime-time press conference. The press conference was supposed to address Obama’s wildly unpopular plan to overhaul our nation’s health care system. The event did nothing to persuade the country to his side in the debate. In fact, he made it worse by portraying doctors and insurance companies as nothing more than profit mongers. So in the closing moments of the prime time event, in what can only be described as a moment of pure Hollywood distraction – the President of the United States waded in to an obscure municipal police case and turned it into a fictional national debate. 

It may interest you to know the name of the aforementioned talent agent who called for a Hollywood boycott of Mel Gibson two years ago. It’s Ari Emanuel – brother of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. Apparently the way blatant bigotry is dealt with in the Emanuel family varies case by case. Ari calls for a public rebuke of bigotry while Rahm and his boss call for ”understanding” and a “cool headed” embrace. 

No doubt, the brothers Emanuel know the art of show business. Rahm once famously said, “Never let a serious crisis go to waste.” And when your “crisis” is in crisis? Create another crisis and the crisis your old crisis faces is forgotten. Now that’s pure showbiz!

Not so fast, my friends. Since we’re all engaged in wild speculation, allow the reading of one more set of tea leaves, if you please.
 
You can roll your eyes and tease Palin’s supposed lightweight intellectual status. You can bury your head in shame when Charlie Gibson peers down his nose through his reading glasses and stumps her with international policy questions. You may say she had no business on the national stage from the get-go last fall when John McCain announced her as his vice presidential pick. But what you cannot ignore, nor take from her is what she is about to seize on in a big way.The dirty little secret is the 2010 and 2012 Republican candidates in both houses of Congress need Palin now more than ever. They need her just as John McCain needed her. Conservative voters both independent and Republican don’t trust the crew in Washington. Historically it is true they never have when asked. But this is not your typical “throw the bums out” mentality fomenting at tea party protests of late. This is a time when long term blue dog Democrat and Republican moderate office holders are nervously wondering, “Just how real IS the anger?” Bailouts, takeovers, stimulus spending, aggressive energy taxes, and nationalized health care have this electorate frightened and angry. The public is paying attention to their every vote, and those that are on the side of the American taxpayer will be rewarded in coming elections.
 
Then there are those politicians who got it right most of the time, but voted to bail out car companies because, “American car companies going bankrupt would signal the end of our economy.” Or a personal favorite, “Well, sure, I voted to bail out Wall Street and the banks, but, can you imagine the kind of trouble we’d be in today if I hadn’t?” One shudders to think. (Tongue firmly buried in cheek, or course.)
 
Americans aren’t buying what Washington’s selling anymore, and politicians know it. Especially wary of this fact are the damaged Republicans who bought into the economic Chicken Little routine last fall. So just how does a Republican candidate whip up a base of support when voters are angry or suspicious of their voting history? Enter the most powerful motivator and fundraiser in all of Republican politics today. 
 
Name a Republican today who could draw a larger crowd, and encourage more checks to be cut to a political candidate than Alaska’s governor. Ex-presidents don’t count, by the way. But even if you included George Bush – I think she’d give him a race for the dollar. That said – go ahead, try it. Cheney? Romney? Pawlenty? Jindal? Rove? Steele? Rice? Powell? McCain? Huckabee? Ron Paul? Nope. None of them touch the pull of Palin. Remember, it’s not about whom you like personally. It’s who can raise the most money and draw the biggest crowd that matters most in this game.
 
You don’t have to like the unseemly truth of what Reagan called “the second oldest profession.” You don’t have to like Palin’s magnetism. Heaven knows many of the names just mentioned don’t. This one-term pony from the sticks is stealing their thunder. Plain and simple, this woman is not only a license to print money; she is the belle of the ball – the envy of the Republican political establishment. Palin has achieved a level of authentic, average-Joe appeal unmatched by any Republican on the national stage since Reagan and that is sexy as hell to a party who needs money and excitement now more than ever.
 
No, they’ll not say it publicly. In fact, they’ll dismiss her influence altogether if asked. But I’ll bet my house that the weekend voice mailbox of Governor Palin was full of begging, pleading Republican Senate, House, and gubernatorial candidates humbly requesting this “erratic, irrelevant, lightweight” to come stand at their side during their upcoming picnic/potluck/town hall/ cocktail fundraiser.
 
Perhaps the political chattering class is correct. Maybe Sarah Palin isn’t electable anymore. It’s highly doubtful that even came close to the top of her list when weighing the option of resigning last week. Sarah Palin knows she holds something more powerful than elected office right now. She has a consistent, unwavering commitment to celebrating American exceptionalism, freedom, and less government in the lives of every American. She now has the ability to hold each and every politician who calls on her for help to rise to her standard and maintain the integrity of the conservative movement. Put plainly, she will now determine the standard, direction, and message of conservatism going forward if they want her help. And there can be no doubt they crave her help.  
 
She holds popularity, trust, interest, and an excitement with a sizable national constituency who listen to her more than any public official today. She can write a best-selling book, turn out big donors, and virtually steal the spot light from anyone who shares the stage. Not bad for an “erratic, lightweight, quitter with no political future.”

Sarah Palin will be around and relevant long after those quietly begging her to save their political lives today. When she leaves office in a couple of weeks, she assumes the role of the Republican’s titular kingmaker. Call it “Palin’s Green Party.” Green – the color of envy and the color of money and oh, how she’s going to create both.

After 30 years in the TV broadcast booth, John Madden announced his retirement from professionally commenting on a game he once professionally coached.  Even a casual or non-fan can review Madden’s resume and appreciate his accomplishments and lifetime commitment to the game of football.  He was a high school and college stand-out player.   Though his professional career as a player was cut short due to injury, Madden spent nearly 20 years as a college and professional coach before spending the next three decades on all four major television networks.  If you’re doing the math, that’s over 50 years of football for the 73 year old.  He won a Super Bowl and never had a losing season as a head coach.  Not to mention the endorsement deals and the multi-million dollar football video game franchise bearing his name.

Yet if one knew nothing about the man but what could be found on sports blogs or heard on sports talk radio last week, it was as if his impressive credentials didn’t exist.  John Madden was often portrayed a doddering goofball with nothing of substance to offer his viewers.  His on-air commentary was simply “a statement of the obvious,” they said.  “He’s overweight and disheveled.”  He’s an “oddball” because he rides a chartered bus instead of flying.   They were annoyed by his “kindergarten-ish drawing on the screen.”  Sniped one commentator, “Unless a new person needs basic information on how the game is played, he is un-needed.  Shut up and let Al Michaels do his job.”

The story of Susan Boyle grabbed headlines and stirred passions last week as well.  Boyle was a contestant on a British version of “American Idol” called “Britain’s Got Talent.”  Her appearance became a viral internet sensation with over 20 million views on You Tube.  The video features Boyle belting out her rendition of the song “I Dreamed a Dream.”  Her performance dazzled the slack-jawed panel of judges and moved the live audience to tears.   American morning television quickly took notice, and raced to secure the first exclusive with the overnight sensation.     

Many who’d never heard Susan Boyle perform though, wouldn’t give her a moment’s listen, much less a glance.  Ms. Boyle’s physical appearance and her admission she’d never been kissed was met with snickers and mumbling by an audience with all the sensitivity of medieval dentist.   The British newspaper The Daily Mail reported, “At least two members of the show’s judging panel have said they judged Boyle on her looks when she first appeared on stage before them. Based on the somewhat disheveled state of her baggy dress and wild hair – they admitted they didn’t expect much.”  

Last week was also the national deadline for American taxpayers to square what they owed Uncle Sam.  This year’s deadline featured evening news coverage of a decidedly different event than the traditional “long lines at the post office” live shot.  Growing outrage from average Americans over recent hurried, reckless, unapologetic, and historic spending by members of Congress and two Presidents sent hundreds of thousands across the country to the streets to protest. Non-partisan, and largely apolitical, the volunteer coordinated “Tax Day Tea Parties”  gave a voice and venue to frustrated Americans of all walks of life who share a common belief in the Constitution, free-market principals, and less government spending.  At the same time it was a public declaration of their love of God and country.  A celebration of the guaranteed freedoms and individual liberties they derive from both.

Assume a visitor from another country with no working knowledge of the United States government or its history was watching news coverage of the tea party protests last week.  Were that the case, that individual would have to conclude these American protesters were simply voicing their anger at paying taxes – period.  Other coverage suggested protesters were just sour grapes on display because their candidate didn’t win the last election.  Racists, right-wingers, radicals – take your pick.  Various media coverage of the tea party protests suggested all of those things and more.

Last week created a bright, white line between elitism and individual exceptionalism.  On display were individuals who cared not one wit about what their critics presumed to know about their skill set or their intentions.

John Madden was asked shortly after his debut on Monday Night Football if he ever went back and reviewed his performances.  Madden responded, “Nothing that we do is scripted. You’re supposed to be yourself.  So what do you do if you don’t like it? What’s the opposite of being natural, not being yourself?”

Susan Boyle was recently asked by CNN if she would consider a makeover to polish her look.  She replied, “I wouldn’t want to change myself too much because that would really make things a bit false.  I want to receive people as the real me, a real person.”

The New York Times reported Texas Governor Rick Perry is “stirring furor” and “conjures the specters of the Civil War, slavery and racial segregation.”  His loud- and- clear reaffirmation of state’s rights struck a chord with not just those in Texas, but across the country much to the chagrin of newsrooms and editorial boards.  “My hope is that America, and Washington in particular, pay attention,” Governor Perry said. “We’ve got a great Union. There’s absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, who knows what may come of that?”

Elites will never understand what truly inspires a people and leads to individual happiness, prosperity and success.  They believe success comes only in the form of slick speech, beautiful bodies, Ivy League degrees, and collectivist central planners lording over their personal welfare.  

It is interesting to note that one of the most popular funeral songs requested today is Frank Sinatra’s “My Way.”  The lyrics resonate because they celebrate the individual.  They declare a sense of pride and self satisfaction in personal accomplishment despite missteps, criticism, and flaws along the way. 

Last week John Madden, Susan Boyle, and tea party protesters across the country “took the blows,” just like Sinatra did in his song.   But let the record show – they did it their way.

Modesty, however, cannot dismiss a growing body of evidence that suggests comedians possess greater power than ever before when shaping the national debate.   Notably in the last decade, television comedy has amassed an influence in politics to such and extent; nary a high profile politician can ignore its impact and resist the pull to participate.   Numerous studies have been conducted through the years analyzing the staggering impact of comedy in the opinions and perceptions of its audience.  The power is particularly significant with the country’s attention-short youth. 

Since 1977, “Saturday Night Live,” and in more recent years, “The Daily Show with John Stewart” have been a destination for those that like to laugh at pop-culture and politicians.  Often the majority audience is not deeply invested in subject matters skewered and lampooned, especially subjects of policy and legislative debate in Washington D.C.  Most comedy show audiences probably believe they possess a substantive understanding of the issues of the day.  The audiences are largely raucous, passionate, and young.  Youthful exuberance is intoxicating for comedians.  It feeds the performer in the moment, and leaves the home viewer with the impression the show’s message resonates with the masses.

In truth, the live audience sycophants would cheer like trained seals no matter the content.  Being on TV or around those that make TV is just – “cool.”  Informed content is not required.  Check informed opinion at the studio door.  Allegiance to what is “hip” is all that is necessary.

Ever wonder how many in a live studio audience actually watch an evening newscast in lieu of episodes of “Family Guy” and “American Idol?”  Many of them see the USA Today banner headlines, top-of-the-fold at their local gas station as they fill their tank and grab an energy drink for the road.  Still others hear the latest news of the day on their favorite FM radio station’s sixty-second newscast sandwiched in between a hot phone debate on Octo-mom or Chris Brown and Rhiana.  The truth, of course, is it’s a fast paced, multimedia, information culture where there is very little honest information to be found. Keith Olbermann, The Huffington Post, and Daily Kos don’t count, incidentally.

It is that lack of honest information and intolerance for substance that empowers variety and comedy shows to shape national opinion.

Presidential candidates, serious policy thinkers, Wall Street investors, and military giants are all reduced to sketch comedy and six minute interviews to share their message at large.  Once left entirely to men like Murrow and Cronkite, John Stewart and Lorne Michaels are now the gatekeepers and disseminators of information and opinion to a large swath of our nation’s population.  Information and opinion filtered through their unabashed bias.

Lauded and blamed for the destruction of Sarah Palin’s vice presidential aspirations in 2008, SNL’s Tina Fey impression had an undeniable impact on the way millions of Americans judged the Alaska governor.   Comedic lines meant to underscore Fey and company’s narrative of the Governor as an intellectual lightweight rapidly became truth to many voters.  “I can see Russia from my house,” was a fictional comedic line delivered by Fey.  Fey made no secret in interviews about her private disdain for Palin, and her passionate support of Barack Obama.  Sarah Palin’s occasional missteps were artfully employed by a comedian to deliver a big sucker punch in a close election.  The dead-ringer impression became a bigger story than the candidate herself.   While she never actually claimed a view of Russia from her house, millions of SNL viewers still credit the famous line to Palin anyway.

Recently, Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” has been mining the nation’s populist anger at Wall Street for his punch lines.  Host Jon Stewart had been using his nightly stage to portray CNBC’s “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer as a dishonest ringmaster of financial chaos, encouraging his viewers to make reckless investments based on knee-jerk, irresponsible analysis.  Never mind Cramer’s show contains a disclaimer essentially describing it as entrainment, not advice.

This fact did not deter Stewart from playing clips of Cramer’s show, (Cramer contends out of context) to imply his backing of now defunct financial institutions. Want to wager how many in that audience had ever heard of Jim Cramer, his show, or a toxic asset prior to show tape?

A week-long media blitz ensued as Stewart and Cramer shot back and forth through multiple media outlets and their own shows.  Cramer finally agreed to appear on Stewart’s show to address the debate head-on.  Richard Cohen of the Washington Post summarized the power Stewart seemed to posses during the televised meeting.  “…Cramer almost instantly sank into a classic case of Stockholm syndrome, agreeing much of the time with his captor. He came with sleeves rolled up but with the droopy eyes of a chastised puppy.”

Of course there are a number of thoughtful debates concerning our nation’s perilous financial state, but Stewart took the low road.  By singling out Cramer, Stewart dishonestly created a villain; an emotional punching bag for him and the largely ignorant mob in-studio.  Stewart’s audience cheered like Romans in the Coliseum as Stewart seemed to lay Wall Street’s ruin at the feet of Cramer alone.

It is not simply, though that some of today’s comedians take unfair liberties in what they say and write.  Not only is that not new, but who says comedy has to be fair to be funny?  Noticeably it is what today’s comedians are not saying and writing that have many who roared at Fey’s Palin impression only politely chuckling at this season’s disconnected comedy.

For those who pay close attention to the news of late it is clear there is an enormous, almost daily crop of low-hanging fruit just ripe for sketch comedy’s harvest.  It is not uncommon to watch or read the news of the day and think “this should be on ‘Saturday Night Live’ this weekend.”   It seems like a missed opportunity if not painfully dishonest to watch comedy programming and note their inability or unwillingness to score obvious laughs with the country’s most obvious subject – the President of the United States.

Pick your high-profile candidate or president of the last 30 years and Saturday Night Live created a lasting and often crippling parody of their character and leadership flaws.  Chevy Chase’s Ford was a bumbling klutz and Dan Aykroyd’s Carter, a smooth and smiling empty suit.  Dana Carvey’s elder Bush was stilted with scripted throwaway lines.  Phil Hartman’s Regan was gentile on the outside but a calculating power-broker on the inside.  Every year, every election they kept them coming.

Bill Clinton was a McDonald’s-starved sex fiend.   George W. Bush was a cocky moron led by the cold, sinister Dick Cheney.  Remember Ross Perot and his charts, Admiral Stockdale’s loony rants, and Al Gore’s petulant, haughty sighs?  Michael Dukakis had bushy eyebrows and a losing attitude.  Hillary Clinton was a woman desperate for power at all costs and Joe Biden is a slick-talking, loud, brash, phony everyman with a Cheshire Cat grin.  All classic SNL created characters still sold on collector DVDs to this day.

Yet today, the 44th President of the United States has managed to come away from nearly three years of high-profile coverage untouched and unscathed by the show made legend for mocking the most powerful players in the country’s capital.  There is a palpable, labored delivery as the cast and writers of “Saturday Night Live” search to find something funny about Barack Obama.

It is obvious the Obama administration is a target-rich environment for big laughs, but the television comedy industry is purposely firing blanks.  We have entered an unusually dishonest era of comedy.

As it became clear Barack Obama was going to give the once-presumed unbeatable Hillary Clinton a run for her money in the 2007 Democratic primary, SNL was quick to take note.  The obvious bias the show’s creative team would display going forward was immediate to even a casual fan.

Week after week, Obama’s primary fight with Clinton was the focus of the signature opening sketch.  As Obama gained traction the characterization of Clinton became increasingly more desperate and needy.  Even the press was mocked by the show as being partial to Obama through impressions of Gwen Ifill and Tim Russert.  Once each party’s front-runners were nominated, Republican John McCain was quickly cast as wandering and passionless.  Of course people are still abuzz about the aforementioned Palin portrayal by Tina Fey.  Consistently though, Obama’s SNL alter ego would walk away from every satirical situation unscathed.

Students and fans of television comedy are seeing for the first time in modern history productions devoid of laughs at the expense of the most powerful office in the world.  Not only have SNL’s attempts at capturing the essence of Obama fallen flat, the inability of the show’s writers to find any laugh-worthy faults in this administration borders on disturbing.

Clearly attempting to write around this president, we have seen opening sketches of House Republicans debating their latest “obstructionist” strategy.  Dan Aykroyd made a guest appearance as House Minority Leader John Boehner.  It would be interesting to conduct a focus group in the live studio audience after the show. Their awkward, politely required half-laughs seemed to indicate there were not many who understood what they were watching.   When sizable demographics of the population can’t name the Vice President, it seems safe to assume most Americans won’t know House minority leadership.

We’ve seen ridiculous scenes of Senate Republicans being thrown out of the Oval Office window by an Incredible Hulk version of President Obama.  Again, show of hands in the audience.  How many knew Oklahoma Senator Tom Colburn and Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison?   Certainly there have been half-hearted attempts to tweak Democrats like Tim Geithner, Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, Joe Biden and even Rahm Emmanuel.  But in each scene, each sketch, each show, each week – President Obama is portrayed only in various degrees of calm and cool, almost victimized by a sea of buffoonery surrounding him.

In actuality, the Obama administration is a satirical gold mine; a comedy of errors just over two months in the making.  There are scores of actual events and instances gone completely ignored by our creative friends in New York’s hallowed halls of comedic television that have been inexplicably, but now predictably ignored.

First Lady Michelle Obama recently confessed to ABC’s Robin Roberts that their weekly Wednesday night cocktail parties in the White House get so wild that furniture has been broken.  In the interview, she further admitted to repeatedly warning her guests to tone it down.   A high school drama club could write this sketch.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown recently gifted President Obama a wooden penholder.  The wood used for the gift was taken from the timbers of the anti-slave ship HMS Gannett, whose sister ship supplied the wood used to make the Oval Office Resolute desk. The Prime Minister also gave the President a first edition biography of Churchill by Martin Gilbert. These are gifts that can only be described as priceless.  What did President Obama give to the Prime Minister in return?  A box set of “classic American movies” on DVD.

The DVDs, by the way are not formatted for viewing in Great Britain.   This story writes its own comedy.

Underscoring the power of comedy shows, President Obama decided to visit one just last week to tout his economic recovery plan.  “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” hosted the President for most of the hour-long broadcast.  This was the first time a sitting president visited the set of such a show.  During the taping, President Obama made an astounding gaffe that has since been all but forgotten if never mentioned in the case of the New York Times.

When asked about his poor bowling skills President Obama remarked, “It’s like — it was like Special Olympics or something.”  Couple this embarrassment with Vice President Joe Biden’s request for a paraplegic at a campaign rally to “stand-up” and be recognized ­ and you’ve got the new Martin and Lewis!

It can only be concluded that ratings and obvious comedic material are being pushed aside in favor of protectionist partisanship.

How about the newest head of the Internal Revenue Service, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner not paying his own taxes?  Nothing there?  SNL didn’t think so.  Multiple Obama cabinet appointees stepping down for unpaid taxes?  Not funny either.  Nine thousand earmarks in the President’s newly signed budget?  He promised a line-by-line scrutiny of wasteful spending only to tell us the day of the signing earmarks were useful?  Guess not.

When Jon Stewart excoriated CNBC’s Jim Cramer for “playing games” with financial reporting, the criticism rang hollow.  Cramer is no more a serious financial show than Stewart’s a serious showcase for journalism.  Stewart is correct in a broader sense.  Many in America can agree on the lack of serious, honest reporting on everything from finance and politics to faith and family within the newspapers and networks we used to rely upon.   Sadly, shows like Stewart’s and Saturday Night Live are where a growing number of people are turning for opinions and perspective.  This grants a tremendous pulpit of influence to these programs.  They may not acknowledge it publicly, but privately they are most certainly aware. The uninformed audience is just happy to be along for the show.

Here’s one for the pop-culture set.  A quote from the comic book, make that box-office hit Spider-Man: “With great power there comes great responsibility.”  Comedians and writers have great power today, but no sense of responsibility.   Responsibility is not funny, nor does comedy require it.

Comedians are clowns and modern day court-jesters, not journalists.  They write punch lines not bylines.  They frame the debate and craft the joke as they see their world ­ a world based exclusively in New York City and Los Angeles, by the way.  It doesn’t have to be “fair and balanced” because there is no such thing as ethics in comedy.  Indeed, comedy doesn’t have to be fair, or accurate, or responsible.   Individuals must be the judges of those things on their own.  But if comedians and writers expect us to collectively laugh at their work they must be honest with their audience once again.  That applies to this president and what is funny about him, too.

The truth about the Obama administration is that there is a lot to laugh about right now.  Perhaps there is a fear of implied racism or a lingering respect for the historic nature of the last election, or simple blind devotion to a man today’s comedy writers have invested in both financially and emotionally.  But for millions of Americans who did not vote for Barack Obama, and still millions more who see the daily folly of an administration full of missteps is to ignore truth.  Comedy without that grain of truth just isn’t funny.