Bad Comedist Week

Brothers, Sisters, and Transgendered Comedists Everywhere,

This was a tough week for us. We lost Art Buchwald and the White House Correspondents' Association lost their collective testicles.

Art Buchwald was a very funny man. Someone who could use his humor to be silly, poignant, and sharp all in the same paragraph. One of the few humorists to be appropriately recognized, he won the Pulitzer for his Washington Post column and was elected a fellow of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, true to his words,

"If you attack the establishment long enough and hard enough, they will make you a member of it."

His columns and his books are well known contributions to the Comedist catalogue, but lesser known is his indirect contribution to our youth movement. One of Buchwald's best friends was Theodore Geisel, also known as Dr. Seuss. One day, Buchwald challenged the good Dr. to try to write a book using no more than fifty different words. The result? Green Eggs and Ham.

Sometimes, you have think he was right when he said,

"You can't make up anything anymore. The world itself is a satire. All you're
doing is recording it."

After last year's White House Correspondent's Dinner where Stephen Colbert did his great schtick, everyone wondered, who could they get to follow him? The answer? Rich Little. I must tip the comedist cap to Wonkette whose headline to the point was "Bob Hope Sadly Too Dead to Host WHCA Dinner." Now, don't get me wrong, the seventy year old Rich Little could be funny...during the Johnson administration. He's a talented man and has done some funny bits in the past, so in order to completely cover their bases, the good folks from the WHCA made sure to give clear instructions. From the Las Vegas Review Journal,

Little said organizers of the event made it clear they don't want a repeat of last year's controversial appearance by Stephen Colbert, whose searing satire of President Bush and the White House press corps fell flat and apparently touched too many nerves.

"They got a lot of letters," Little said Tuesday. "I won't even mention the word 'Iraq.'"

Little, who hasn't been to the White House since he was a favorite of the Reagan administration, said he'll stick with his usual schtick -- the impersonations of the past six presidents.

"They don't want anyone knocking the president. He's really over the coals right now, and he's worried about his legacy," added Little, a longtime Las Vegas resident.

Yup, Art Buchwald died and took political satire with him. The White House press corps is worried about things being too tough on the Prez and want to take care to protect his legacy. That's exactly what a free press is for, after all, to be the intellectual equivalent of the Republican Guard, the elite protection unit to make sure no zinger gets close to the President.
Make no mistake, there is indeed a war on comedy.

Live, Laugh, and Love

Irreverend Steve