The problem, for white comics as well as black ones, is that they actually like Obama, and they say so. Even Lewis Black, the quivering maestro of political outrage, strains to put an edge on his obvious admiration for the President. "He's the first leader in my lifetime who's actually full of hope," Black says in his act. "His nipples are bursting with hope! He's lactating hope!" Talking after a recent set at New York's Gotham Comedy Club, Black admits that Obama is difficult to make fun of but insists he's had no trouble finding political material. "For me, it was never Bush. It was the social issues. Just because Bush left office, that doesn't mean stupidity has fled the country."
For Black, stupidity equals social conservatism. Zoglin went on to suggest that Letterman’s edgy Bush- and Palin-bashing is part of his formula for beating apparently squishy Conan O’Brien in the ratings:
Indeed, the Obama era has helped clarify an often overlooked dichotomy in late-night TV comedy: the divide between the political satirists (Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Letterman much of the time) and the topical jokesters (Leno, Conan O'Brien and Jimmy Fallon). O'Brien's middle-of-the-road, Carsonesque wisecracks in particular ("President Obama's approval ratings have slumped to an all-time low, which explains Obama's new Secret Service code name: NBC") are looking comparatively tame now that he's opposite the increasingly politicized Letterman--whose contempt for Bush-era politics comes through in his interviews as much as his gag lines. (It may not be a coincidence that Letterman is beating O'Brien in the ratings.) Letterman may have wimped out in apologizing for his Palin joke, but it's hard to imagine O'Brien even cracking a Palin joke worth apologizing for.
The Bush presidency, it turns out, may have had a more lasting impact than comedians appreciate. As it opened up a bitter divide in the country, it forced stand-up comedians to take notice -- and take sides. Even with a President who's no longer a ready-made joke, for comedians, there's no going back.
Zoglin just can't imagine a time when comedians will find a satirical vein with this president, "with his obvious smarts, low-key style, and (most important) ability to catch the prevailing tone of irony and laugh at himself."
