You guys actually found the SNL Keith Olbermann skit amusing?? Olbermann is certainly ripe for parody, but I thought Affleck and SNL failed miserably.

People who take themselves seriously (a very US American trait) are always easy both to ridicule and to parody.

That's why the rest of the world have so much fun at American's expense. As a nation, you are simply a bunch of dickwads.

Obama has dignity, a lot of it. As much as FDR had. And to a large extent Ike had it. No other US president or politician is or was in that category, regardless of party.

And maybe that's why Canadians as a whole are so much more appreciated by the rest of the world, in real terms.

'Corner Gas' is a prime example of Canadian's almost British ability to laugh at themselves. The Americans leave that to others.

When Stewart and Colbert were asked this same question months ago, they both broke into laughter and said in unison "His father was a goat farmer!"

Obama will provide plenty of fodder for quite a while, electorate willing.

My mother asked me what the Republicans would do if they lost power, and I pointed out that they have governed for eight years as if they were the minority party. Their rhetoric is built upon being the frightened and fierce minority protecting "us" against the creeping tide of "them." Even this year, they have tried to blame "Congress" for problems, when they were Congress.

Satire creates a rhetorical "us" that is wiser than the abusive "them" as well, but there are two shades of satire. There is the Horatian (from Horace) satire, which laughs at the exaggerations and foibles of the target to "laugh them into morality," and the Juvenalian (from Juvenal, of course) satire, which "lashes" the sins and crimes of the wicked. For the past eight years, we have had a Juvenalian satire, because we have had not foibles, but outright venality, corruption, and evil. Does satire die if the rulers are reasonable? No.

First, satire directed at the rulers can take on the Horatian bent. Look back at "Laugh In" and its treatment of L.B.J. While they were bitter about Vietnam, they mocked excesses of Johnson. On the other hand, The Smothers Brothers mocked, savagely, the false reasoning without necessarily attaching it to a figure.

Secondly, though, during Clinton's years The Daily Show was at a high point. Sure, it made fun of Clinton, but with Bob Barr and Newt Gingrich, there was no shortage of ludicrous viciousness to target. Additionally, there will always be Rush and Hannity and all the rest of those using personal insult as if it were satire. The more embattled Obama's agenda gets by corporation-written bills and the like, the more fertile the satirical ground will be.

No, satire won't even take a breather if Obama wins. Unless the right wing radio hosts stop, for some reason, earning their paychecks by making things up, by inflating fear, by calling all their opponents Communists, atheists, and criminals (and E. Dole seems to indicate that nothing will them dissuade), there will be no fear on that score.

I found Affleck's Olbermann more spot-on than Fey's Palin in terms of looks and mannerisms. I'm surprised that Fey's one-note sketch is considered gold, while Affleck's more imaginative Olbermann sketch goes largely ignored. Everyone in the media is ripe for comedy because, with familiarity, we become aware of their idiosyncrasies and inconsistencies (everyone has them). The "end of satire" would emply we can only laugh at our "enemies." If so, we are pretty pathetic and small-minded.

feel sorry for the comedians if Obama becomes president. They will have to be very caefull not to say anything that might hurt the feelings of AA (Afrikan Amerikans), because that is not nice.

Feelings are important and we need to feel good about ourselves, others and animals.

Be kind, alwasy.

Of course Bush and his minions were a target-rich environment for laughs. But any look at history will tell you that even times were at their darkest (depression) or at their most earnest (WWII, the 60s) satire and laughs were alive and well... BUT... only in the hands of the most insightful, talented comedians of the time.

All this will do is weed out the lazy, bloated comics who could count on wiggling their shoulders and chuckling the signature Dubya "Heh heh heh" for a cheap laugh, but have nothing else in their bag. Which may very well include SNL, which has been coasting for over a decade.

These are the worst kind of articles, serious contemplation about the death of satire. There will always be SOMETHING to laugh at, to spoof, to snark upon, to satire. It'll just be different. Every so often, there's an article like this. A few years ago, after new Seinfelds left the airways and Friends and Everybody loves Raymond winded down, there was a multitude of articles like this... Is the sitcom dead? Are things just not as funny anymore? Ridiculous. Those shows also ended on high notes. Similar to now, it's a high point in televised comedy satire. W easily lends himself to spoofing, and we're in the midst of a heated and unusual and long-running campaign, and campaigns are always fodder for satire. There's just a lot out there for comedy writers to gorge themselves on. And even though W is soon to be gone, and the campaigning is done, there will always be something to take on, if they are willing to work for it. It's just a matter of taking a fresh look at old formats. It's about new perspectives and new ways of tackling new subject matter. Your favorite satirical target may be gone, but not only will we have new ones in the future, any writers worth their salt will figure out ways to spoof the chracters we're finding ourselves with now. Obama's got a lot to take on, the Daily Show is finding it. SNL is starting to find it. As long as there's an establishment of any kind, there'll be something to take on.