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I must disagree with several of my fellow Freepers regarding Tina Fey. I like her. I think that Tina Fey is a very talented and gifted comedy writer - but she, like many other gifted comedians, allows her liberalism to turn her into a total airhead when it comes to politics and morality (i.e. religion).

I never watched the show “30 Rock” until I started streaming Netflix. I never watched it before because I couldn’t stand Alec Baldwin. However, I decided to try one episode just to see why it was still on the air.

Surprisingly, I found it to be very clever and funny. Fey’s writing often skewers the hypocrisy and moral inconsistencies of liberalism. She even uses Tracy Morgan’s character to demonstrate the ludicrous dogma of racial politics. For, example, Fey has Tracy carrying around a literal card that says “Race Card” on it. He hands it to people that he disagrees with but can’t win the argument. He gives them the race card to shut them up.

Fey’s problem is that when she attempts to satire “conservatism”, it always falls flat because it’s always a cartoon version of conservatism. It is a view of conservatism that is so stereotyped and outlandish that it just does not work because it’s a completely false picture of conservatism.

Rush Limbaugh has always said that good satire must contain some truth in order to be funny. SNL, Leno, Letterman, and Fey are hilarious when they accurately portray the idiocy of the left - and, it’s funny because it’s true! However, when they try to do the same thing with conservatives - they have to use the cartoon conservative as their target (i.e. all Republicans are rich, protecting the rich, are corporate fat-cats, etc.). The only ones laughing are the left-wingers.

I’m not defending Fey’s stupid impersonation of Sarah - it had a bit of humor the very first time, but it soon wore off because she attempted to present Sarah as this one-dimensional caricature.

But, to say that Tina Fey has no talent is just not true. She is extremely gifted - I just wish she could see ALL the truth ALL the time. Her talent is blunted by her ideology.

"Rush Limbaugh has always said that good satire must contain some truth in order to be funny."

I agree, and made a similar point in post #56. SNL used to be able to do funny caricatures of conservatives, but they also took on liberals like Bill Clinton. (The skit of Clinton [Phil Hartman] visiting McDonalds and mooching everyone's food while talking policy and working the room was a classic.)

Dana Carvey did a good Bush Sr, and Hartman did a good Reagan. One classic Hartman/Reagan skit was actually a spoof on the liberal caricature of Reagan as a dunce - it depicted Reagan, behind closed doors with top staff - as an incredibly brilliant master of policy detail, using a pull-down world map to direct the movement of arms shipments, joking in Japanese with someone on the phone, and so forth. Then, when he's called out of the meeting for a photo-op with a Girl Scout, he assumes the persona of the amiable, grandfatherly dunce. Back in the meeting, he is again razor-sharp.

There are so many things about Obama and Michelle they could satirize, but they either can't or won't, or don't even see it (e.g., Michelle's garish clothes, Obama's teleprompter, etc.)

Here's my idea for a brief SNL skit about Obama:

(Camera shows a semi-closeup of Obama's face.)

Obama: I'd like to thank you all for being here as we break bread on this Christmas morning. This holiday reminds us of the great truths found in all religions: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Sikhism, Mormonism, Unitarianism, Native American Religion, Druidism, Wicca, Santeria, Rastafarianism, Voodoo, Satanism, and Scientology. All religions equally teach the universal values of peace and justice. And so it is fitting that as we gather on this day, we pause to consider that all people are in fact one, and that the creator has instilled in each and every one of us a capacity for truth and justice, compassion and service. As a young boy in Kenya, I learned that no matter the color of their skin or the style of their clothes or the nature of their religion, all men, women and children breathed the same air and walked the same earth, and that this earth is big enough for all of us, and all of us have our personal path and personal mission in life. As president, I believe that my mission is to serve the American people, to put an end to the bitter divisiveness of politics, and to make life better for each and every one of us. Accordingly, today I am announcing a new policy initiative to ease the tax burden on small business and spur the economy towards new job creation. I am proposing a $32 billion program to jump-start the economy by . . .

(As Obama speaks, the camera gradually pulls back, showing Obama standing at a podium with the Presidential Seal, flanked by teleprompters. As the camera pulls back further, we see his audience is his wife and two daughters, sitting at the breakfast table, looking bored and impatient to eat their corn flakes.)

Announcer: Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!