My How Things Have Changed

May 4, 2009 - LA Times:

"If you're a comedian and you die and go to hell, Barack Obama is your president."

Obama has cast so many political humorists into a bad spot because he lacks the obvious defining qualities -- both mentally and physically -- that transformed previous Oval Office occupants into comedic catnip...

In fact, the CBS late-night host has used Obama to set up jabs at Bush...

Even "Saturday Night Live," which is renowned for its politically biting humor, has been mostly soft on Obama.

Jay Leno:

See, I got to admit, as a comedian, I'm gonna miss President Bush. Because Barack Obama is not easy to do jokes about. He doesn't give you a lot to go on.

About.com:

But when Barack Obama takes the oath of office on Jan. 20, the era of easy presidential punch lines may be coming to a close. As it has been widely noted in humor circles, Obama remains a tough target.

It turns out that if people had been listening to the right they would have known all along that the "humor" (if you can call it that) would be found in the ludicrous, outdated, and ineffective ideas he had, not in his appearance or speech patterns or occasional verbal faux pas (although he had plenty of those in all 57 states). Maybe they're finally getting it - that the thing to mock is the fact that his ideas are disproven failures and his execution has been one disaster after another:

Doing his now-routine riff of taking credit for preventing "a second Great Depression," the president claimed "we have done stuff that some folks don't even know about." Stewart countered that with: "What have you done that we don't know about? Are you planning a surprise party for us, filled with jobs and health care?"