It never ceases to amaze me how people don’t understand that Mort Sahl remains an equal opportunity political satirist. Let him lampoon a Democratic President and even fans of his will question his negativity. How dare he bash a sitting occupant of the White House (especially one who severely deserves it)! I notice this reaction from Sahl’s Twitter and Facebook remarks. “Move the clock forward four years so you can miss Barack Obama,” he recently tweeted. Or, “Will Obama improve? He hasn’t got the Constitution for it.”

And liberals just don’t have the stomach for it. In comedy world, it seems you’re only allowed to insult the other side. That’s not satire. It’s boot licking. Sahl reminds people that if the boot fits, wear it with his compliments.

He’s going amazingly strong long after first rousing audiences with his unique brand of wit at the Hungry i and the Purple Onion clubs in San Francisco in the 1950s, sometimes substituting for Lenny Bruce while the controversial comic served stints in jail. Unlike Bruce, Sahl never used profanity to get his point across. His points were well made as America’s most popular satirist in TV and movies. He appeared on the cover of Time magazine flanked by Kennedy and Nixon during the 1960 Presidential campaign. He wrote jokes for Kennedy and later took him on as President.

“You can be sure whoever is elected President, I will attack him,” he often said during campaign season. Today’s comics, who should last so long, could take many lessons from Sahl. Continue reading →