Is U.S. Politics a Joke?

Comedians Jon Stewart (The Daily Show) and Steven Colbert (The Colbert Report) TV shows on the Comedy Channel are the most reliable and trusted news sources according to Americans. The two comedians recently held a huge rally in Washington DC called “Restoring Sanity”. The rally was a huge success and attracted by some estimates up to 200,000 people. Their speeches contained a mix of satire and serious rhetoric. A lot of those that attended the rally held comical signs such as “Does this sign make my as* look fat?”. And Colbert and Stewart are hardly the only ones poking fun at politicians, other shows like Saturday Night Live make a living out of political satire. But is this mockery of the U.S. political system helping or hurting?

I am the first person to admit that laughter is the best medicine to release stress and to live healthier lives. And there is no question that these TV programs do not discriminate and equally mock both Democrats and Republicans alike (Pundits on both sides of political spectrum will disagree with that previous statement). Thus, it is easy to surmise that these TV programs can attract both Republicans and Democrats alike. So one can assume these TV programs actually unite Independents, Republicans, and Democrats to a common denominator – comedy at the expense of clueless politicians. Some may argue that these TV shows do more to divide than they do to unite, but this open for debate. In my opinion, Stewart and Colbert do more to unite Americans than to polarize. In fact; their TV programs provide an outlet for Independents who are often forgotten on other major cable TV stations such as Fox or MSNBC.

All of this being said, like politicians and media news programs, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and Saturday Night Live also fail to do anything to resolve the problems we face. In other words, comedy is great, but these programs also fail to provide logical solutions to our national problems. Media outlets criticize adversaries, politicians criticize adversaries, and comedy shows criticize everyone. Hence, everyone is criticizing each other, but no one is offering legitimate solutions to domestic or global issues.

Every media outlet, TV station, and politician has every right to express their first amendment rights. However, it would be nice to have a few responsible personalities with the intellect to propose “reasonable” solutions to global problems. Yes, the U.S. political system is a mess and it therefore; deserves to be the brunt of jokes. However, it is hard to understand why the only reasonable solution to carbon emissions is to turn our economy upside down; the only reasonable solution to healthcare insurance it to turn the current system upside down; and the only reasonable solution to the New York City Mosque were to burn the Koran. Yes, we have become a nation of problem creators other than a nation of problem solvers. Hopefully, a few rational minds will prevail in the future, but for now we have to rely on few jokesters for our political news.