RIP - Satire

Subject: Obit: RIP - Satire
From: SPB-Cooperator
Date: 10 Nov 08 - 01:54 PM

With the election of a new president in USA, and George W Bush only being in office for another couple of months another era of satire is coming to an end....

The quote or misquote Tom Lehrer, since Richard Nixon left office, there was nothing left for satirists to write about......

There is just a few weeks left to write the last satirical song in honour of "dubya"

Subject: RE: RIP - Satire
From: Gervase
Date: 10 Nov 08 - 05:19 PM

I thought satire died when Kissinger was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Subject: RE: RIP - Satire
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 10 Nov 08 - 05:49 PM

Could be right - though it seems to me there are always occasions for satire in any society. Dumb governments aren't the only appropriate targets.

In any case satire isn't the only game in town. Here is what Michael Moore had to say about this, in the wake of the election:

"We may, just possibly, also see a time of refreshing openness, enlightenment and creativity. The arts and the artists will not be seen as the enemy. Perhaps art will be explored in order to discover the greater truths.

"When FDR was ushered in with his landslide in 1932, what followed was Frank Capra and Preston Sturgis, Woody Guthrie and John Steinbeck, Dorothea Lange and Orson Welles.

"All week long I have been inundated with media asking me, "gee, Mike, what will you do now that Bush is gone?" Are they kidding? What will it be like to work and create in an environment that nurtures and supports film and the arts, science and invention, and the freedom to be whatever you want to be? Watch a thousand flowers bloom! We've entered a new era, and if I could sum up our collective first thought of this new era, it is this: Anything Is Possible."

Subject: RE: RIP - Satire
From: Greg F.
Date: 10 Nov 08 - 06:10 PM

I think that Lehrer's quote was that satire became obsolete when Kissinger was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Which was why Lehrer said he stopped writing & performing.

Subject: RE: RIP - Satire
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 10 Nov 08 - 07:10 PM

You're right. Simply having a President who knows how to say "nuclear" will decrease the supply of satirical fodder in Washington by 50%. President Obama will make the satirists work for their livings instead of handing them their best lines on silver platters.

Subject: RE: RIP - Satire
From: Rapparee
Date: 10 Nov 08 - 09:15 PM

Oh, fer goodness' sakes! You all KNOW that there's still Congress!

Subject: RE: RIP - Satire
From: Doug Chadwick
Date: 11 Nov 08 - 01:40 AM

Wait until this time next year. When the new dream becomes old hat, there will be plenty of targets to snipe at.

Satirists have got to make a living, after all.


DC

Subject: RE: RIP - Satire
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 11 Nov 08 - 06:02 AM

Political satire is only one variety. Even if all politicians were saints and competent saints at that, there would still be a need for the more interesting forms of satire, notably social satire.

Subject: RE: RIP - Satire
From: Rapparee
Date: 11 Nov 08 - 07:15 AM

That's why God gave us Paris Hilton, isn't it?

Subject: RE: RIP - Satire
From: Emma B
Date: 11 Nov 08 - 07:37 AM

An article in todays Guardian also poses the question....

'Just how do you joke about Obama?
For eight years, comedians and satirists have had it easy with George Bush. Now they need to find ways of mocking his successor'


.....if comedy's job is to subvert accepted wisdom, shouldn't stand-ups be bursting the Barack bubble? Well, not necessarily – comedians are human too, and deserve this moment, like everyone else, to recharge their optimism. (Most of them will be broadly supportive of Obama's politics – at least until his inevitable compromises kick in.) But that doesn't stop us speculating what the nature of the jokes will be when Obama's sheen wears off.

As if to add to comedians' frustration, Obama himself has proved no mean joker. "Contrary to the rumours you have heard, I was not born in a manger," he quipped while on the campaign trail. "I was born on Krypton and sent here by my father, Jor-el, to save the planet Earth."
Here, the joke is on Obama's supposed messiah status – and I suspect that, when the dust settles, this might be comedy's line of attack. Obama's grandiose acceptance speech last week could only have been made by a man with high self-regard.

Some comics are already in on the act, poking fun at his perceived rectitude and sense of entitlement.
"The presidential debate," reported talk-show host Jay Leno mid-campaign, "was a town-hall format, which is John McCain's favourite way to speak to crowds. As opposed to Obama's favourite way, a sermon on the mount."
The tougher the going gets as president, the more a messianic air would grate. (Remember Blair, the vicar of St Albion? With whom, praise the Lord, Obama seems otherwise to have little in common.)

And soon, of course, there will be actions to joke about, not just airy-fairy promises. Normal service will duly be resumed. In the meantime, let Obama – and the rest of us - enjoy the amnesty.'

Brian Logan comedy critic and arts writer for the Guardian

Subject: RE: RIP - Satire
From: catspaw49
Date: 11 Nov 08 - 07:46 AM

Don't we all remember the Kennedy years and those albums? At least for the time they were really funny. Obama was VERY funny at the roast and McCain did well too. But I think the guy has a great sense of humor and its really a pleasure to have a President who can laugh freely instead of smirking smugly.

Spaw

Subject: RE: RIP - Satire
From: Wolfgang
Date: 11 Nov 08 - 01:48 PM

I see them coming:

Barack Obama complains to Michelle that he has headaches lately. She retorts: "Maybe you should consider taking off the halo at least when you are at home."

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: RIP - Satire
From: Gurney
Date: 12 Nov 08 - 01:19 AM

You can't keep satirists down.


Mostly because the people they satirise don't understand satire done with a straight face.
Unfortunately, neither do the Politically Correct, so it isn't a totally effective weapon against them.

Subject: RE: RIP - Satire
From: pdq
Date: 12 Nov 08 - 01:06 PM

This is not the first time people have said that political satire was dead.

Mort Sahl poked fun at all poiticians from the Korean War on, but Lyndon Johnson did not get the joke. It is quite possible that Sahn was warned of consequences for insulting the tyranical Johnson. Whatever the case, Sahl retired his act and did executive work in the entertainment field for years.

He did not come back to comedy until the Nixon was president.

Subject: RE: RIP - Satire
From: Gurney
Date: 13 Nov 08 - 03:18 AM

These presidents take themselves so seriously!

Subject: RE: RIP - Satire
From: Midchuck
Date: 13 Nov 08 - 07:10 AM

I sort of worry that when Obama turns out to be a human man, with flaws, a lot of you good liberals who are so crazy about him will yell that you've been betrayed, and turn on him like sharks in a feeding frenzy.

Which is not to say that I don't consider him vast improvement over Dubya, based on what I know so far. But he's bound to screw up sooner or later. After all, he'll have Congress to help him.

Peter

Subject: RE: RIP - Satire
From: SPB-Cooperator
Date: 14 Nov 08 - 07:15 PM

Are there any contenders for the last satirical song of the Bush Administration?

Subject: RE: RIP - Satire
From: frogprince
Date: 14 Nov 08 - 10:34 PM

With apologies to Woodie:

So long, we got rid o' doubleyou
So long, we got rid o' doubleyou
So long, we got rid o' doubleyou
We put up with him for too damn long
But he's finally movin' along.