Barak Obama has been President for almost a year now and perhaps, the most significant and symbolic event marking his presidency took place last Saturday night.
With Fred Armisen playing President Obama in a talked-about parody on “Saturday Night Live,” the headlines should have read, “THE HONEYMOON IS OVER.”
For 34 years, the combination of “SNL” and politics can still strike sparks among political observers, especially Republicans and Conservatives. From Nixon’s Watergate to Palin’s VP nomination, any politician or celebrity not leaning leftward became a potential SNL target. This time a signal break with a liberal politician by the left took place with the effective pillorying of Obama. The future message is no longer subliminal.
Armisen’s opening quote is now echoing off the walls of almost all media talk shows as “the” topic to dissect:
“When you look at my record,” he said, “it’s very clear what I’ve done so far — and that is nothing.”
This is sure to become one of the most quoted phrases ever used in a political campaign.
Washington Post blogger Jonathan Capehart wrote, “When your ‘friends’ start talking about you like this — and friends with a huge megaphone and a feel for the national mood — the White House should listen.”
“Humor with some truth in it is always dangerous. Make no mistake, a drumbeat of belittlement can damage a president,” added CNN political contributor Ed Rollins in a column.
However, Obama should be concerned about one thing, observes Syracuse University pop culture professor Robert Thompson.
Thompson said that in general, “SNL” mocked previous presidents’ personal characteristics, such as Clinton’s outsized appetites or George W. Bush’s struggles with spoken English. With Obama – who lacks the same kind of easily caricatured traits, Thompson says – the show went after his record.
“In some ways, he’s vulnerable to more serious damage,” he said.
View Saturday Night Live video below:
I loved the snl because this was so TRUE!