All it took was a political train wreck of gargantuan proportions for liberal comedians to turn on President Barack Obama.
For five years most comedians treated Obama with care, avoiding punitive comedy memes, focusing on the GOP whenever possible and, in some instances, actively propping him up even when he fell. The Comedy Palace Guards stood their ground, in good times and in bad.
Not anymore.
Even sturdy Obama defenders like Bill Maher and Saturday Night Live can no longer hold back, and the result is the president’s “signature” health care legislation becoming a super-sized punch line.
On Friday, Maher cracked that basketball legend and noted ladies man Wilt Chamberlain “had sex with more people” than the number who successfully signed up at HealthCare.gov, the ObamaCare’s clunky web portal.
Last night, Saturday Night Live ran a mock commercial for an anti-depressant ideal for presidents going through a particularly rough second term.
“It feels like even your friends have turned against you,” the narrator says while the camera flashes to video of President Bill Clinton admonishing Obama for promising Americans could keep their old health care plans under ObamaCare. “It treats a whole range of symptoms, like Benghazi, the NSA scandal, the IRS scandal, the AP scandal, the Petraeus scandal … and of course, ObamaCare web site problems. Warning: Paxil is not covered by ObamaCare. We promised that it would be, but it’s not. For that we apologize.”
Just name checking many of the scandals SNL didn’t feel merited attention when they initially broke is a turning point … perhaps.
The mainstream press has proven resilient in its defense of Obama, swallowing new lies whole while pressing the administration on existing ones.
Will Maher and co. fall back in line soon enough? if the pain Americans feel over ObamaCare is just beginning, it’s hard to see a return to the glory days of Palace Guard protection.