Opuscula When comedy Fails to be funny

I LIKE COMEDIES, CARTOONS, JOKES … almost anything that prompts a laugh or at least a smile.

What I DON’T like are comedies, etc. with a political ax to grind, when the writers only attack one side.

THERE ARE A FEW comedies, etc. that poke fun at everyone and everything. There are no “sacred cows.” I might not agree with a particular show/cartoon/whatever, but I’m willing to put up with the jab knowing the everything and everyone is fair game for the writers.

Laugh-In and the UK’s That Was The Week That Was were good examples of what tv comedy could be.

Not so Saturday Night Live.

SNL has gone from amusing to having as its raison d’être “Trashing Trump.”

Poking fun at all politicians is fine. Poking fun at selected politicians in a party publication likewise is OK. But SNL — to the best of my limited knowledge is not a product of the Democrat party nor broadcast television; SNL is not of DNCtv — really, even if it now seems that way.

I don’t object to writers poking fun at the president PROVIDING the president is not the only target. Washington is full of fodder to keep the writers writing for decades to come. Likewise state government — Jerry Brown and California ALWAYS are good for a laugh — providing you don’t live in California. Brown is not eligible to run in the November 2017 elections so Bear State residents will have a new governor “no matter what.” (If Californians thought the GOP primaries were bad with a starting field of — what, 16? — hopefuls, there are so many running for governor in California that it boggles the mind.)

There once was a program on Israeli tv — back when there only was one tv station — called Nekui Rosh, usually translated as “Brain Wash.” The writers pilloried politicians on all sides of the political spectrum — in Israel at the time there were something like 36 different political parties, each with its own, narrowly focused agenda. In one of the two the worst political moves Meacham Begin ever made, he proved to be thin skinned and forced Nekui Rosh off the air. (The other “worst move” was failing to insist that Anwar Sadat take Gaza as part of the Egypt-Israel peace agreement; Sadat refused to accept Gaza and absorb it into Egypt.)

There is a web site, Go Comic s, that includes editorial cartoons. Among the cartoonists who create the editorial cartoons are many who are firmly in the liberal/leftist camp; who would attack a conservative effort even if it benefited the left. Mr. Obama can do no wrong, President Trump can do no right. To be fair, there are a few who favor the conservative/right, and even fewer who deflate egotistical balloons of politicians of all stripes.

I count a number of leftist/liberals among my acquaintances. I long ago learned that when talking with them, they are like horses (or mules) with blinders — they can see only one direction. Suggest something different than what they believe and like two of the famous three monkeys, the cover their eyes and ears. It is their way or the highway.

As far as SNL goes, I am “hitting the highway” in search of more balanced attempts at humor.

Of course, Trump tweets DO provide great source material for writers and cartoonists. Unfortunately, his tweet phrases often over ride the message the president is trying to convey.