Comments on: The Death Of Satire http://informedspeculation.com/2008/07/14/the-death-of-satire/ Refunds Cheerfully Given To All Who Disagree Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:53:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Bob from Ohio http://informedspeculation.com/2008/07/14/the-death-of-satire/comment-page-1/#comment-521426 Bob from Ohio Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:15:18 +0000 http://decision08.net/2008/07/14/the-death-of-satire/#comment-521426 <blockquote> Q: What do Osama bin Laden and Barack Obama have in common? A: They both have friends who bombed the Pentagon. See…it’s not that hard. (And for those of you missing the point–it’s satire!) </blockquote> Funny joke. Not satire though. The literal, though slightly unfair, truth.

Q: What do Osama bin Laden and Barack Obama have in common?

A: They both have friends who bombed the Pentagon.

See…it’s not that hard.

(And for those of you missing the point–it’s satire!)

Funny joke.

Not satire though. The literal, though slightly unfair, truth.

]]> By: Chris J. Breisch http://informedspeculation.com/2008/07/14/the-death-of-satire/comment-page-1/#comment-521387 Chris J. Breisch Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:15:02 +0000 http://decision08.net/2008/07/14/the-death-of-satire/#comment-521387 Chris Dodd, hmmm...an easy one: Hey Mr. Dodd, can you help me out with a loan? to paraphrase an old one that Letterman used on Bush. Today was a great day for Senator Dodd. He got a great loan deal from Countrywide, then approved some legislation bailing out the company for its business practices. Whew. What a relief. If only he were the Democratic Presidential nominee. Then, next year, he could have an even better day, pardoning himself and Angelo. However, I do agree that both Obama and McCain need to lighten up. I agree with Aaron on him being overly sensitive. The cover already appears on fightthesmears.com (an overly sensitive website--you really want to show me you're committed to fighting smears, open the site up to fighting McCain smears too), and the official statement from his campaign: "But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree." Obama's "rules" on how he and his family are to be treated are starting to really make my hands twitch. My first comment on this thread seems very apropos. Chris Dodd, hmmm…an easy one:

Hey Mr. Dodd, can you help me out with a loan?

to paraphrase an old one that Letterman used on Bush.

Today was a great day for Senator Dodd. He got a great loan deal from Countrywide, then approved some legislation bailing out the company for its business practices. Whew. What a relief. If only he were the Democratic Presidential nominee. Then, next year, he could have an even better day, pardoning himself and Angelo.

However, I do agree that both Obama and McCain need to lighten up. I agree with Aaron on him being overly sensitive. The cover already appears on fightthesmears.com (an overly sensitive website–you really want to show me you’re committed to fighting smears, open the site up to fighting McCain smears too), and the official statement from his campaign: “But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree.” Obama’s “rules” on how he and his family are to be treated are starting to really make my hands twitch. My first comment on this thread seems very apropos.

]]> By: too many steves http://informedspeculation.com/2008/07/14/the-death-of-satire/comment-page-1/#comment-521299 too many steves Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:04:31 +0000 http://decision08.net/2008/07/14/the-death-of-satire/#comment-521299 Judging solely by his reaction, Obama was offended (so was McCain, I think) and so he most clearly missed the point and didn't understand that it was satire. Overly sensitive, probably not, overly serious, you bet. You might make the argument - which I won't - that The New Yorker is in the bag for Obama and trying to help, but in any case, the publishing of that cartoon does help him by making future charges of the sort that are included in the cartoon automatically laughable. So I agree with the admonition to "lighten up" and Obama would do well to take that advice. Judging solely by his reaction, Obama was offended (so was McCain, I think) and so he most clearly missed the point and didn’t understand that it was satire. Overly sensitive, probably not, overly serious, you bet. You might make the argument – which I won’t – that The New Yorker is in the bag for Obama and trying to help, but in any case, the publishing of that cartoon does help him by making future charges of the sort that are included in the cartoon automatically laughable.

So I agree with the admonition to “lighten up” and Obama would do well to take that advice.

]]> By: Peter http://informedspeculation.com/2008/07/14/the-death-of-satire/comment-page-1/#comment-521193 Peter Wed, 16 Jul 2008 02:20:29 +0000 http://decision08.net/2008/07/14/the-death-of-satire/#comment-521193 sorry, Osama worshipping sorry, Osama worshipping

]]> By: Peter http://informedspeculation.com/2008/07/14/the-death-of-satire/comment-page-1/#comment-521192 Peter Wed, 16 Jul 2008 02:19:53 +0000 http://decision08.net/2008/07/14/the-death-of-satire/#comment-521192 Oh, please. Obama isn't overly sensitive -- his reaction was nonplussed ("I've seen worse"). I could see why some people would be offended by a caricature of him as an Obama worshipping, flag burning, Muslim spouse of a black militant. I imagine some people would be offended if George Bush was on the front cover of a national magazine in 2000 as a coke snorting, draft dodging, heavy drinking business failure. Hold on, he was ... oh, never mind. Personally I think everyone should lighten up, but I don't think that the reaction of some (including McCain) to an over-the-top cover indicates squeamishness. The fact is: Obama is a pretty serious guy. He doesn't have Bush's camaraderie, Clinton's twinling eyes, or the self-effacing sense of humor that Reagan had. It would be as if Chris Dodd got the nomination -- try to think of a Chris Dodd joke. Bet you can't. Even Borowitz can't come up with much in the way of Obama humor: http://borowitzreport.com/ Oh, please. Obama isn’t overly sensitive — his reaction was nonplussed (“I’ve seen worse”). I could see why some people would be offended by a caricature of him as an Obama worshipping, flag burning, Muslim spouse of a black militant. I imagine some people would be offended if George Bush was on the front cover of a national magazine in 2000 as a coke snorting, draft dodging, heavy drinking business failure. Hold on, he was … oh, never mind. Personally I think everyone should lighten up, but I don’t think that the reaction of some (including McCain) to an over-the-top cover indicates squeamishness.

The fact is: Obama is a pretty serious guy. He doesn’t have Bush’s camaraderie, Clinton’s twinling eyes, or the self-effacing sense of humor that Reagan had. It would be as if Chris Dodd got the nomination — try to think of a Chris Dodd joke. Bet you can’t. Even Borowitz can’t come up with much in the way of Obama humor:

http://borowitzreport.com/

]]> By: Aaron http://informedspeculation.com/2008/07/14/the-death-of-satire/comment-page-1/#comment-521160 Aaron Tue, 15 Jul 2008 23:40:15 +0000 http://decision08.net/2008/07/14/the-death-of-satire/#comment-521160 I concur, Chris. It's not that there's no hook with Obama; it's that he and his supporters are so overly-sensitive to any criticism that it becomes a "smear" or "swiftboating" in the eyes of his media surrogates. http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/jpodhoretz/16021 I concur, Chris. It’s not that there’s no hook with Obama; it’s that he and his supporters are so overly-sensitive to any criticism that it becomes a “smear” or “swiftboating” in the eyes of his media surrogates.

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/jpodhoretz/16021

]]> By: Mark http://informedspeculation.com/2008/07/14/the-death-of-satire/comment-page-1/#comment-521156 Mark Tue, 15 Jul 2008 23:12:00 +0000 http://decision08.net/2008/07/14/the-death-of-satire/#comment-521156 No, the flag-burning thing is the exact right touch - brings it completely over the top and lets all but the most obtuse in on the joke. My own counterpart, in <a href="http://decision08.net/2005/02/07/jfk-the-sequel-part-two-prologue-and-opening-credits/" rel="nofollow">my little attempt at satire on this site</a>, a piece I loved, apparently all by my lonesome, was Karl Rove snorting coke in the Oval Office through a rolled-up copy of the Constitution... No, the flag-burning thing is the exact right touch – brings it completely over the top and lets all but the most obtuse in on the joke. My own counterpart, in my little attempt at satire on this site, a piece I loved, apparently all by my lonesome, was Karl Rove snorting coke in the Oval Office through a rolled-up copy of the Constitution…

]]> By: Chris J. Breisch http://informedspeculation.com/2008/07/14/the-death-of-satire/comment-page-1/#comment-521066 Chris J. Breisch Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:06:00 +0000 http://decision08.net/2008/07/14/the-death-of-satire/#comment-521066 Oh, come on, peter. You don't really believe that, do you? No hook? His name? His church? His age? His experience? His "gaffes" (57 states, "happy to see those who we're honoring on memorial day", etc.) All of these would be fodder for an old white guy Republican candidate. I'll start. Q: What do Osama bin Laden and Barack Obama have in common? A: They both have friends who bombed the Pentagon. See...it's not that hard. (And for those of you missing the point--it's satire!) Oh, come on, peter. You don’t really believe that, do you? No hook? His name? His church? His age? His experience? His “gaffes” (57 states, “happy to see those who we’re honoring on memorial day”, etc.) All of these would be fodder for an old white guy Republican candidate.

I’ll start.

Q: What do Osama bin Laden and Barack Obama have in common?

A: They both have friends who bombed the Pentagon.

See…it’s not that hard.

(And for those of you missing the point–it’s satire!)

]]> By: peter http://informedspeculation.com/2008/07/14/the-death-of-satire/comment-page-1/#comment-521030 peter Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:55:25 +0000 http://decision08.net/2008/07/14/the-death-of-satire/#comment-521030 I agree with Mark. Lighten up. The New York Times has a front page article which speculates that the reason you haven't heard many Obama jokes is that there is no hook for comedians to latch on to. He's not robotic like Gore, womanizing like Clinton, or buffoonish like Bush. Perhaps that's why the New Yorker cover struck such a nerve. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/us/politics/15humor.html?_r=1&ref=politics&oref=slogin I agree with Mark. Lighten up.

The New York Times has a front page article which speculates that the reason you haven’t heard many Obama jokes is that there is no hook for comedians to latch on to. He’s not robotic like Gore, womanizing like Clinton, or buffoonish like Bush. Perhaps that’s why the New Yorker cover struck such a nerve.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/us/politics/15humor.html?_r=1&ref=politics&oref=slogin

]]> By: mikebdot http://informedspeculation.com/2008/07/14/the-death-of-satire/comment-page-1/#comment-521028 mikebdot Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:21:59 +0000 http://decision08.net/2008/07/14/the-death-of-satire/#comment-521028 The problem with the cartoon has more to do with the fact that it sucked. It had three things which didn't really go together. And, the flag-burning thing was completely out of place as Obama has not been accused of such. It lacked an extreme level to really make the point. Not to mention it lacked any evidence of the right-wing noise machine/mass media being involved with painting the picture. In short, it wasn't even mildly amusing. If it was a picture of jonah goldberg reading an issue of the national review with THAT cover, then it would have been funny. The problem with the cartoon has more to do with the fact that it sucked. It had three things which didn’t really go together. And, the flag-burning thing was completely out of place as Obama has not been accused of such. It lacked an extreme level to really make the point. Not to mention it lacked any evidence of the right-wing noise machine/mass media being involved with painting the picture.

In short, it wasn’t even mildly amusing. If it was a picture of jonah goldberg reading an issue of the national review with THAT cover, then it would have been funny.

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