THE DROUGHT OF UNFUNINESS THAT BEGAN WHEN HE LEFT YALE HAS FINALLY ENDED:

An Interview With Garry Trudeau: The Doonesbury creator on his stamina, the difficulty of satirizing Obama, and the most bizarre attack on his strip ever. (David Plotz, Oct. 25, 2010, Slate)

Slate: Who's the hardest politician to satirize, and why?

Trudeau: Believe it or not, Obama's very tough for business. The contradictory characterizations of him as fascist or socialist only serve to confirm the truth—he's a raging moderate. And satirists don't do well with moderates, especially thoughtful ones. In addition, Obama rarely makes gaffes and has no salient physical or temperamental features. And sinking popularity isn't a critique. Even SNL's main rap on him is his unflappability, hardly a vice in a world leader.

That's self-parody lifted to the level of sublimity.

Posted by Orrin Judd at October 25, 2010 4:38 PM