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.

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.