Nevermind, It's Totally NOT OK To Laugh At Him

Yesterday I posted a blog featuring Jon Stewart, in which he pokes fun at Obama and has to remind the crowd that it's "OK to laugh at him." Apparently, not so much.

Joseph Palermo of the Huffington Post is not happy with Jon Stewart. In a rambling and inaccurate article, Palermo posits Stewart is partly responsible for the Iraq war, and warns him that his "regurgitating" right wing talking points is working against Obama. He urges Stewart to poke fun at Obama only in a way that "reveals the Republicans' mendacity and hypocrisy." So, you know, no pressure.

"Slamming the UN weapons inspectors as ineffectual twits dominated right-wing talk radio at the time and The Daily Show was in effect regurgitating the talking points of those who wanted to bring the country to war. Dissing the UN's efforts on Comedy Central inadvertently helped make the case for war. It is kind of like when Dick Cheney pointed to the New York Times to buttress his warmongering saying: 'Hey, even the liberals agree with us!' When Jon Stewart seeks 'balance' for his targets of satire he can end up reinforcing the false impressions that the Bush Republicans want people to have. It's unfortunate because political humor is a powerful force that can sway some of those 'low information' voters the pundits have been flogging lately."

Translation: "You're off message, jerk. The dumb people need our propaganda and you're ruining everything! Quit starting the Iraq War all the time!" It is a cold, brutal shock to me to see a liberal blogger presume people are too dumb to be trusted with jokes. I'd say he's not indicative of the rest of the left-o-sphere, but other than a number of commenters at DailyKos calling the segment unfair and terrible, the left blogs seem pretty quiet on the matter.

What makes this whole thing so interesting to the rest of us? The same thing that compelled Stewart to point out it is OK to laugh at Obama. The media, and Hollywood in particular, are closely allied with the Democrats. The talking points, positions and indeed figures of the left have achieved a sacred cow status. The saturation of entertainment and media by the left makes every instance of one of their own taking heat into a "man bites dog" moment.

The nervous laughter of the audience and the hissy fit of the Huffington Post blogger are indicative of the fact that Senator Obama is even more above reproach than a typical left-winger. The constant flare-ups of racial tensions throughout the Democratic primary so far are surely a contributing factor. "If I laugh at Barack, will I be called a racist?" the Daily Show audience wondered. The urge to be one of the cool people is in there as well. "If I laugh at Barack will girls stop sleeping with me?"

It's also part of the fact that a large number of young, liberal voters look to the "Daily Show" for their news instead of, well, the news. So when left-wing icon and netroots hero Stewart takes shots at the left's new Savior, well they just don't think that's very funny. Or cool.

So watch out, Jon. There's a crowd of bodies piling up under buses this year. Stray off-message again, and you could be next.