Political laughs

Based on the article of Roy Peter Clark a writer for the journalism website Poynter.org, who has written two books himself, has written an editorial paper on CNN.com about the use of comedians in the political world. He argues that the old political critiques were the authors George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, and Anthony Burgess, whose books used satire and over-exaggeration to show the folly of the government and their societies. Through their books people were able to see the way the world would work if the government was given total control, or if the world was devoid of problems. But now the authors’ seem to have been replaced with the comedians Stephen Colbert and John Stuart, who’s political-comedic satire has gained so much popularity that they are attracting real creditable politicians to their shows. Colbert even appeared before congress to speak (in character) about immigration. So the question is made: do these political comedians have a real political force backing them up? The answer is an obvious yes. Weather or not they have a legitimate ability to run for a real political position like congress or president, the fact remains that they have a giant fan base made of followers who are listening to what they say. Above all else, they are honest. Personally I’d rather have a president who would be honest in admitting that his policies, strategies, ideas, or words were weak and contradictory than one who would try to cover it up, or deny the problems he creates. At least then the public would know exactly what is going on in the country. Politics now have everyone wondering what’s really going on, when the economy crashes, and we’re spending trillions of dollars to fix it, when we’re attacked, and invade the “wrong” country, and when we want to keep illegal immigrants out of our borders, and hire them for cheep labor. But as proven by “the daily show’s” popularity, Roy Peter Clark is right in saying that these comedians do us a service by pointing at the criminals, wrongdoers, and mudslingers, and having us all laugh at them.