Comedy Blogs: Entertainment or Political Communication?

Throughout this class I have taken a liking to humor as a political communication tactic. For my last post I went searching for information about humor in political communication. I ran across a blog called Capitol Punishment: we put the mock in democracy. They not only make fun of the different candidates, but they also raise important issues that we have been talking about in class this year. I feel that humor in political communication is a very useful way of communicating because it raises questions and issues about the candidates in ways that others may feel uncomfortable talking about in a serious setting. It also makes some of the more complicated issues easier for everyone to understand.

One entry that I thought was particularly funny, was called Cook Off. It talked about how the media is not biased towards the "left or right, women or men, blacks or whites" as so many people have claimed. Instead, however, it is focusing on the primaries due to the fact that it makes for good TV ("election soap opera") as well as brings in good revenue via advertisements. The writer of the blog continues on by mocking the soap opera feel of the primaries by claiming that there should be a "First Lady Cook Off (Including Bill Clinton because pronouns like him and he can be gender neutral)." The Writer states "Whichever First Lady candidate whomps up the best home cooking wins a free four-year trip to the White House for her and her hubby. Period." This basically mocks the entire primary race because of the drama that has been going on between Obama and Clinton specifically, however the writer does not leave out McCain. She continues on by stating rules for the competition and finishes with the statement "Whichever of these lovely and talented gals manages to prepare the most scrumptious original recipe will know that her better half will be the leader of the free world and will have access to the CIA, the NSA, the Secret Service and the FBI. From the time they move into the White House, this new First Lady will be watched by the President’s unquestionably loyal monitoring network every living second of every 24-hour day. These First Ladies will be protected and observed and will have not a single private moment or clandestine conversation ever again."

Another entry that sparked my interest was called The Well-Hardened Democrat. It talks about how even though the Republican candidate John McCain is more experienced within politics, he is also "too old" for the job. The writer also claims that "He will make his share of mistakes in the campaign, and no doubt his temper will get him in trouble. The name and legacy of George Bush, Jr. will become a ubiquitous anchor for the retired naval officer. He believed in Bush and his policies and with few exceptions supported them." Thus stating that McCain will just be "another Bush" in office. The writer then continues on to mention the familiar debates and controversies between the Democratic candidates, but doesn't shy away from mentioning that the Republicans have said their fair share of vile things. He finishes his post by stating something similar to what was in the last post - how expensive the elections cost. "Elections that last four years are hazardous to everyone’s health and peace of mind, not to mention obscenely expensive."

Overall, I believe that one of the best things about this blog is the fact that people from all walks of life can read it and relate to the issues at hand. It isn't as complicated as CNN or MSNBC, so the common folk can understand what is going on in politics as well as get a good laugh out of it at the same time.