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By Daniel Kurtzman
There is precious little to
laugh about these days. But in the
spirit of renewal and healing, America's humorists have returned to
the scene, hoping to do their part to help lift the country's spirits.
It has been a delicate
undertaking for late-night comedians, stand-up comics, and satirists, who have
been trying to bring a measure of levity to a difficult time without the humor
appearing unseemly.
For the late-night TV
hosts, the task has been particularly difficult. David Letterman,
the first
to return to the airwaves following the terrorist attacks, dropped his usual
comic monologue and instead offered an eloquent and
emotional tribute to New York's residents, policemen, firefighters,
and mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Letterman and the other
hosts have since been easing back into jokes about politics and current events, and
the humor has been playing surprisingly well with audiences —
a testament not
only to the cathartic value of a good joke, but to the bonding power of
laughter.
Just as the political
discourse has changed, so too has the focus of political comedy. Gone are
the disparaging one-liners about President Bush's intelligence and work ethic,
replaced instead by a new salvo of jokes
aimed at the likes of Osama bin Laden, the Taliban, and Jerry Falwell, as well as easy,
familiar targets like Bill Clinton and Gary Condit.
Some humor publications,
meanwhile, have even managed to derive some brilliant satire from the events
of recent weeks. The Onion, one of the
most widely read humor publications in the country, took a bold stab at humor
this week with a special report featuring such headlines as "U.S. Vows to
Defeat Whoever It Is We're at War With," "Hijackers Surprised To Find
Selves In Hell," and "President Urges Calm, Restraint Among
Nation's Ballad Singers." Modern
Humorist, National Lampoon, and
others have also come up with a few satirical
gems of their own.
Elsewhere
on the Net, humor has taken on a distinctly patriotic flavor. Dozens of Photoshopped
images and cartoons have been circulating denigrating Osama bin Laden and
boosting America's war on terrorism. Some, like the proposed new
design for the World Trade Center, are truly funny, while others are a bit
more vitriolic.
To
be sure, many people will find nothing at all to laugh about, possibly for quite
some time. That is understandable. But part of America's indomitable spirit has
always been its ability to laugh during difficult times — just as previous
generations turned to entertainers and comedians in the months following the attack on Pearl
Harbor and the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
Here
at About Political Humor, we'll proceed respectfully, feeling our way as we go.
If you're looking for a momentary diversion and perhaps even a few laughs about
the news of the day, this is a good place to come. But we won't for a minute
pretend that what we do here is important. Frankly, you're much better off
logging on to a real news site for the
latest analysis and commentary about the war on terrorism, or checking About.com's
first-rate team coverage.
And
if you haven't already done so, please visit LibertyUnites.org
and make a pledge if you can to help bring relief to those affected by this
terrible tragedy.
More
• War
on Terrorism: Full Coverage
•
Osama
bin Laden Cartoons & Patriotic Art
•
Osama
bin Laden Jokes
•
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