Last year, President Obama attempted a self-deprecating joke on The Tonight Show, when he compared his notoriously bad bowling skills to the Special Olympics.  The disability community demanded an apology and the President delivered one to Tim Shriver, Chairman of the Special Olympics Committee.  A few weeks ago, Rahm Emanuel had to repeat the apology when he referred to a group of liberal activists as “f-ing retarded.” Sarah Palin called for Emanuel to be fired and again became a target for shows like The Colbert Report, and Bill Maher. 

Whether you believe Sarah Palin’s outrage is sincere or think she is capitalizing on a media opportunity, the fact remains our political leaders are speaking like playground bullies.  Why wouldn’t they when it’s perfectly acceptable on prime time television?  I find it incredibly disturbing for pop culture to launch what seems like an all out assault on the mentally challenged when what they really want to do is hurt Sarah Palin.  Recently, Family Guy aired an episode where a character with Down syndrome suggests she is the daughter of Sarah Palin.  Palin blasted the show’s creator Seth MacFarlane and received no apology.   (more…)

Since the election of Barack Obama, aggressive political parody has been hard to come by outside of Comedy Central. But, as noted here on Big Hollywood, ABC and Mike Judge are taking on political correctness and progressive activists with The Goode Family.

When Bush and Cheney left office, they became old news. Mocking them now is like making Eisenhower jokes, but that doesn’t stop the occasional hack like Wanda Sykes trotting out tired material. And Obama seems off limits lest anyone wants to look like a buzz kill during the ever-lengthening, forced-fed honeymoon. In fact, the only show that really dared effectively to venture into political mockery consistently this season was South Park.

Mike Judge

And spare me any mention of The Daily Show or The Colbert Report. Both shows kiss the Democratic ass (the donkey, I mean) all week until they realize how biased they’ve become. Then they scramble around to make fun of some minor Dem Congressman for 30 seconds and applaud their own objectivity. Meanwhile, Stewart rages at every conservative cause he can find with the furor (not the wit) of Murrow until he’s called on it. Then he scrambles back into his hole screaming, “I’m only a comic!”

Fortunately, The Goode Family levels the satirical skills of Judge (creator of Beavis and Butthead and King of the Hill) at the taboo supporters of global warming, racial hypersensitivity, animal rights and any other cause over-hyped by self-righteous busybodies. (more…)

This week’s Washington Times column:

On Tuesday night I was bestowed the honor of being ridiculed on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart. The segment in which I was featured had Mr. Stewart mocking those of us who dare criticize the new president. In the era of Obama, mainstream American political humor is now officially on the defensive.

Stewart lumped me with Sean Hannity, Mark Levin and Rep. Michele Bachmann, Minnesota Republican — a cross section of people you might expect to be critical of an administration implementing very liberal policies in a very short time.

The “joke” was that these right-wing zealots weren’t giving the new president enough time, that the previous president did worse things, and that I, in particular, was ridiculous for blaming the president for “St. Patrick’s Day” becoming “Potato Day” at my kids’ public school. (Yes, the name change took place. No, I did not blame President Obama — specifically.) (more…)