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.

(more…)

Fade In:

Exterior: An old building somewhere in downtown Austin, TX.

Cut To: Close up: A sign which reads “The Austin American-Statesman”

Cut to Interior: A small squalid desk covered with trash. At the desk sits a man from Maine who pretends to be a Texan named John Kelso. He is a frustrated small time liberal writer who wonders how he came to such a low end. Sitting here inside the belly of a dying dinosaur newspaper with the end of his career in sight he comes up with a plan. He will attack the number one media personality in America, Rush Limbaugh. He will challenge Rush to a fistfight. (more…)