Author: Laura Bowen
Just the other day, I was invited to the Facebook group, “1, 000,000 strong for Stephen T. Colbert.” Colbert recently put his name on the ballot for the primary in South Carolina. When I looked at the group, I was astonished to see that it was just short of one million members, and had been created only a few days before. The group boasted that they had accomplished in five days, in members, what Barack Obama’s group achieved in nine months.
Many see this unorthodox approach to politics as a reflection of the growing political indifference of America’s youth. The young American public seems to view politicians as a source of entertainment rather than authority, but in reality, hasn’t this always been the case?
This trend towards a total comedic overtake of the government has been growing since the country was founded. American history has had, and probably always will have, a hilarious aspect to it. Political cartoons have always reflected the public’s ability to laugh at their politician’s decisions. But due to technological developments, the media has become so much more intrinsic in our lives. Over the decades, film quality and prevalence has made the scrutiny of every politician’s move possible and actual. The comedy news channels that feed us news draw laughs from these endless reels.
Besides just television satire, the increasing prevalence of political paraphernalia—posters, calendars, and bumper stickers—has made escaping humorous political criticisms quite literally impossible.
Furthermore, has the presidency, the current source of a wealth of puns, ever really been taken seriously? Would there be such a change if Colbert were elected? Jokes about President Bush are so infinite in number, and so many of his actions are ridiculously comedic, that couldn’t he be seen as a comedian of sorts? Look back also, at similarly whacky presidents like Jackson (who dueled anyone who looked at him the wrong way), Taft (who allegedly got stuck in a Whitehouse bathtub, and was incidentally the fattest president) and Ford (an American Joe type who, ironically, was probably the only American to forgive Nixon for Watergate). Whether or not they intend to be humorous, these types of politicians continue to get elected by the American people. Coincidence? Unlikely.
I believe then, that the choices the American people make are based on trouble facing reality. We consistently choose politicians who can entertain us—who have natural comedic skills (and most likely little or no real political skills) or who are so insane that their ridiculous decisions are too unbelievable to take seriously. We have created a past and a present that makes us laugh, out of genuine hilarity or out of disbelief, and this witty diversion gives us a sense of security that would be uncomfortable to lose.
Our forefathers elected presidents who turned American history into a laughably outrageous string of events. While media attention has put the spotlight on our mockery of politics, we are only continuing the American tradition of electing entertaining presidents. With that in mind, the fact that one million voters support Stephen Colbert doesn’t seem like such a joke after all.
Laura Bowen is an undeclared first-year. She can be reached at lbowen@oxy.edu.
This article has been archived, for more requests please contact us via the support system.
