WAY TO MISS YOUR OWN STORY:

Comedy has become a liberal genre: Takes big role in presidential political race (Lisa Wangsness, October 20, 2008, Boston Globe)

Last week John McCain tried to make peace with David Letterman, who has been in a snit with McCain since the GOP presidential nominee canceled an appearance on his show weeks ago. But the jokes didn't exactly flow; in what felt more like a rant than a ribbing, Letterman grilled McCain in disapproving tones about everything from his attacks on Barack Obama to his choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate.

Palin, meanwhile, good-naturedly joined the "Saturday Night Live" cast this weekend to poke fun at herself. [...]

Both appearances drew gargantuan ratings, the highest in 14 years for "SNL" and almost three years for Letterman. But they also underlined the extent to which comedy has become a liberal genre in America, at a time when comedy has taken on an unprecedentedly important role in presidential politics.

Note that the conservative politician, Ms Palin, goes in for good-natured ribbing while the liberal comedians in the piece are angry haranguers? The latter don't do comedy any more.

Posted by Orrin Judd at October 20, 2008 6:58 PM