Earlier, I was watching a brand new episode of Mock the Week, a satirical news gameshow here in the UK. It features two teams of three comedians, with another comedian (Dara O'Brian) hosting. It's not always the best format for expert, hard-hitting satire, but it's hillarious and it does inform UK audiences (particularly younger people) about some political events.
In the opening round, "headliners", featured the seven comedians discussing Barack Obama's European tour, our PM Brown's meeting with Obama and events in the US election. The jokes were hillarious, off-wall and often a bit un-PC, as usual. Here's Russell Howard's take on Obama, for example;
There's something of the Messiah of Obama though, do you know what I mean? You sort of look at him and imagine him walking into a room and it's just [imitates an angelic chorus]. Just flowers appearing and people leaping out of wheelchairs and women going "I'm pregant through his eyes!". You imagine Gordon Brown walking into a room and all you can see is a dog vomiting.
It doesn't as good written down, and maybe it's too "British humour"-y for Americans to get, but it was nice to hear praise (of sorts) for Obama. Frankie Boyle (a brilliant, though always crude, Scottish comedian) was pushing much more risky material in his typical way and the other panelists were delivering decent lines too. Although the tone did eventually lower a lot, when all of the panelists eventually began cracking wise about McCain's time as a POW and his inability to lift his arms.
Anyway, while it was nice to hear satarists in my own nation giving their takes on the US election, I'm probably losing you guys now. So I'll get to the point faster. Andy Parsons, another of the panelists, came up with what I think was the best line of the show. Not only was it hillarious, I couldn't believe that I hadn't already anyone else make it before:
Who is he [Obama] actually going to be up against? He's gonna be up against Senator John McCain, right, a man who came second to George W. Bush for the Republican nomination in the year 2000.
Initially, this bit sounded like an oddly factual, unnatural departure from the screwier humour of the other comedians. But Parsons continued, delivering this zinger.
What the hell have the Republicans been playing at? The best person they can find is somebody who wasn't quite as George W. Bush was eight bloody years ago!"
Why isn't every single Democrat making this point? That's what I now can't figure out. The arguments that McCain would be the same as and as bad as Bush are well founded and beginning to gain traction, but it couldn't hurt to remind voters that according to the Republicans themselves, even the old "maverick" McCain was worse than Bush. In any case, it's just yet another thing underscoring how screwed the GOP is this year.
Update: Thanks, everyone. And Mr Magu, good suggestion. I've changed the title now, I was having trouble thinking of a good name anyway. You should keep using it as your sig, though. Spread the word!