It cost nothing, certainly no exertion of talent or intellect, to make fun of poor George, the uncool Texan of a million witless punchlines. It was the humour of the blissfully smug — cheap, obvious and self-righteous.
But the lazy, predictable and mostly cowardly front men of late-night comedy — bland Jay Leno, cranky David Letterman and smirky Jon Stewart — are not going to do a hit on the cool guy. Saturday Night Live, which is to satire what Fresca is to Napoleon brandy, will flash a toothless skit about Mr. Obama (just to maintain their creds, you understand), but it will prefer to bask in his light rather than bash it. Most of the so-called political comedians — Margaret Cho, Bill Maher, the great brigade of comment comedy — are windsocks of self-congratulatory progressiveness. They will never stray from what is “in,” and no one’s more in than Mr. Obama.
Reminder: “cool” is not a Christian virtue.
