Opuscula Dear Donald, Where is your Sense of humor?

Dear POTUS-elect Trump:
LIGHTEN UP!

A sure sign that a politician, even a novice such as Mr. Trump, has “made it” is that comedians mock the politico.

Alec Baldwin, who happens to be a died-in-the-wool Clintonite, pokes fun at Trump and Trump lets it rankle him.

The POTUS-elect needs to
    (a) Get a thicker skin
    (b) Get some decent writers to fight back in kind

Soon to be ex-president Obama suffered the barbs of the few non-liberal comedians and cartoonists for eight years without showing half the umbrage POTUS-elect Trump is showing over Baldwin’s characterization on Saturday Night Live, a/k/a SNL.

ISRAEL BRIEFLY HAD a similar-to-SNL tv program in the mid-1970s called Nekui Rosh - roughly translated as Brain Wash that poked fun -– and Israeli “fun” could make SNL “fun” seem harmless — at the country’s politicians.

Like SNL, Nekui Rosh was a “must see.”

Then Menachem Begin finally was elected Prime Minister (head of government). Begin was PM from 20 June 1977 to 5 August 1981 and from 5 August 1981 to 10 October 1983.

During his tenure he accomplished a number things the opposition party — in power for 40-plus years — never managed to accomplish. Perhaps the most noteworthy and lasting thing Begin achieved was what has proven to be a lasting peace with Egypt — a peace that, sadly, cost Anwar Sadat’s life.

FOR ALL THAT Begin did one thing that — at least for me — tarnished his otherwise brilliant political career: he cancelled Nekui Rosh because it poked fun at him. The program — which I watched faithfully even with limited Hebrew — poked fun at everyone — left, right, and even those who didn’t know where they stood.

Meanwhile, in the U.S. of A. a tv program called Laugh-in (1967-1973) was poking fun at just about every politician, regardless of party.

During Richard Nixon’s term as president he frequently was the target of Laugh-in’s humor.

But UNLIKE POTUS-elect Trump and SNL, Nixon didn’t fight with the show; he joined it! One of the show’s trademark lines was “Sock it to me,” most often spoken by Judy Carne.

For Nixon’s appearance he got to utter the line; a line used today to promote reruns of the program. Nixon was not known for his sense of humor, but Laugh-in promos in late 2016 use Nixon looking into the camera telling everyone to “Sock it to me.”

I don’t know if POTUS, etc has a sense of humor or not, but he would do well to “meet the enemy on the enemy’s terms.” Trump HAS been on SNL before, as have a number of other political notables. Fight fire with fire — or in this case, comedy with comedy.

SNL, akin to Laugh-in and Nekui Rosh is an equal opportunity offender; as long as it pokes fun at everyone, it’s worth watching.

Come on, Donald, lighten up. Besides, you want to increase employment; as long as SNL can poke fun at you, Baldwin will have a job.