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It seems like every late night comedian doubles as a political commentator these days. Perhaps my memory is hazy but I didn't recall previous late night hosts h

It seems like every late night comedian doubles as a political commentator these days. Perhaps my memory is hazy but I didn't recall previous late night hosts having to resort to as many partisan jokes for laughs. IMO it's lazy humor that lacks originality and plays on people's hate. Its like making fun of the outcast at school because it's vogue. If we want harmony in this world, we can't go around calling everyone we disagree with a moron.

SimbaOnSteroids 9y ago
Edit: I made a comment inappropriate for HN.
- ovao 9y ago
  I don't think there's any particular shortage of news outlets covering the bad side(s) of the Trump administration.
  - SimbaOnSteroids 9y ago
    Not with the kiddy gloves off there isn't.
    - ovao 9y ago
      Maybe I don't understand what that means in this context. Why is making crude jokes more useful/effective/beneficial than reporting on issues and having mature discussions about those issues?
      - GeneralMayhem 9y ago
        To have a mature discussion with an emotionally challenged child is to give him way more validation than he deserves.
- blackflame7000 9y ago
  So bullying is ok as long as you are on the 'right' side? Also as an aside, you are aware that a moron would view a genius as a moron right? A moron wouldn't understand the genius and thus dismiss him as a moron. A moron would only find other morons to be geniuses.
  - Meditato 9y ago
    What, satire and jokes about corrupt power structures are "bullying"? So what would you call what Trump says from his Twitter account on a daily basis? Go away you partisan hack
    - dang 9y ago
      We've banned this account for repeatedly violating the HN guidelines.
      - blackflame7000 9y ago
        If possible could you tell me if i have been moderated? I lost 13 karma overnight and I am curious if my comments in the past 24 hours were in violation of forum policy. It feels as if ive been vindictively downvoted which as a relative newcomer is discouraging
        grzm 9y ago
        Looking at the comments you've posted recently, a couple of them have been flagged, and a couple others have been downvoted (based on seeing that they're various shades of gray). https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=blackflame7000 https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=blackflame7000 They're all under this same submission, which is quite politically charged, which increases the likelihood that comments will be downvoted or flagged by HN members. I doubt you were moderated in the sense that the mods ('dang and 'sctb) did anything. I suspect it's all user action. Members downvote for all kinds of reasons (and vindictiveness can unfortunately be one of them). If you're concerned about downvotes, I recommend steering clear of politics on HN. While HN can be a great place for constructive discussion, some topics can be very difficult to discuss constructively and civilly. I hope this isn't not too discouraging. When I'm downvoted, I step back and try to determine why, keeping in mind the context and forum. Could I have phrased things better? Was I on-topic? Did I add meaningfully to the discussion? Was I writing from a position of trying to understand and be understood? Was I giving others in the discussion the benefit of the most charitable reading of their comments? If I honestly feel I did everything I could, then I chalk it up to someone downvoting for reasons I couldn't do anything about other than not commenting at all, and let it be.
dragonwriter 9y ago
> Perhaps my memory is hazy but I didn't recall previous late night hosts having to resort to as many partisan jokes for laughs. Your memory is hazy; late night has gone to politics for comedy pretty heavily, especially when there is low hanging fruit, since Carson pioneered the genre. > IMO it's lazy humor that lacks originality and plays on people's hate. Humor that needs to be timely on a nightly basis is always going to be somewhat lazy, or at least opportunistic in picking the low-hanging fruit.
- notacoward 9y ago
  > since Carson pioneered the genre. s/Carson/Steve Allen/
DanBC 9y ago
That Was The Week That Was - 1962: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/That_Was_the_Week_That_Was https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/That_Was_the_Week_That_Was I agree that a lot of it is lazy comedy.
killjoywashere 9y ago
Sophisticated, yet vulgar, political satire goes back at least as far as the ancient Greek theater. (1) https://www.libertarianism.org/columns/ancient-greeces-legacy-liberty-comedy-politics https://www.libertarianism.org/columns/ancient-greeces-legac...
- blackflame7000 9y ago
  Calling someone a C* holder isn't sophisticated though. Its just a barrage of ad hominems designed to belittle, dismiss, and provoke the other side. I don't see the value colberts monologue brought other than to widen the gap of division in the country. I don't think a single republican heard that speech and suddenly felt remorse. Quite the opposite i suspect.
  - jhanschoo 9y ago
    I think there's a not insignificant part of the citizenry who don't read news or think about their relevance outside of satire. There is some value in that it informs these people that there is reason to suspect Russian agendas at play behind the current US Govt. You might not like this method of delivering it, but that doesn't mean that it is devoid of value.
  - killjoywashere 9y ago
    > Calling someone a C* holder isn't sophisticated though. Neither is wearing a huge red leather strap-on (1). http://www.cornellcollege.edu/classical_studies/lit/CLA364-1-2006/01groupone/Costume.htm http://www.cornellcollege.edu/classical_studies/lit/CLA364-1...
mhh__ 9y ago
Donald Trump is extremely unpopular https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/ https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/, with a congress passing unpopular legislation (e.g. the AHCA). So I think there is some statistical justification for the shear amount of "partisan jokes". NB: I do not think positively, in any way, of this administration: I'm probably (Maybe even provably) biased. I agree, some of the humour is pretty lazy and I think the well will dry up soon; then we'll be left with stuff like Jon Stewart used to make, John Oliver is now (Large policy based segments, with jokes) and presumably Colbert. I'm surprised that the US doesn't really have a show akin to spitting image (UK): It seems like a ripe time for a relativly personality free satire show (Unless I'm just blind and I've missed something).

SimbaOnSteroids 9y ago

Edit: I made a comment inappropriate for HN.

ovao 9y ago
I don't think there's any particular shortage of news outlets covering the bad side(s) of the Trump administration.
- SimbaOnSteroids 9y ago
  Not with the kiddy gloves off there isn't.
  - ovao 9y ago
    Maybe I don't understand what that means in this context. Why is making crude jokes more useful/effective/beneficial than reporting on issues and having mature discussions about those issues?
    - GeneralMayhem 9y ago
      To have a mature discussion with an emotionally challenged child is to give him way more validation than he deserves.
blackflame7000 9y ago
So bullying is ok as long as you are on the 'right' side? Also as an aside, you are aware that a moron would view a genius as a moron right? A moron wouldn't understand the genius and thus dismiss him as a moron. A moron would only find other morons to be geniuses.
- Meditato 9y ago
  What, satire and jokes about corrupt power structures are "bullying"? So what would you call what Trump says from his Twitter account on a daily basis? Go away you partisan hack
  - dang 9y ago
    We've banned this account for repeatedly violating the HN guidelines.
    - blackflame7000 9y ago
      If possible could you tell me if i have been moderated? I lost 13 karma overnight and I am curious if my comments in the past 24 hours were in violation of forum policy. It feels as if ive been vindictively downvoted which as a relative newcomer is discouraging
      - grzm 9y ago
        Looking at the comments you've posted recently, a couple of them have been flagged, and a couple others have been downvoted (based on seeing that they're various shades of gray). https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=blackflame7000 https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=blackflame7000 They're all under this same submission, which is quite politically charged, which increases the likelihood that comments will be downvoted or flagged by HN members. I doubt you were moderated in the sense that the mods ('dang and 'sctb) did anything. I suspect it's all user action. Members downvote for all kinds of reasons (and vindictiveness can unfortunately be one of them). If you're concerned about downvotes, I recommend steering clear of politics on HN. While HN can be a great place for constructive discussion, some topics can be very difficult to discuss constructively and civilly. I hope this isn't not too discouraging. When I'm downvoted, I step back and try to determine why, keeping in mind the context and forum. Could I have phrased things better? Was I on-topic? Did I add meaningfully to the discussion? Was I writing from a position of trying to understand and be understood? Was I giving others in the discussion the benefit of the most charitable reading of their comments? If I honestly feel I did everything I could, then I chalk it up to someone downvoting for reasons I couldn't do anything about other than not commenting at all, and let it be.

dragonwriter 9y ago

> Perhaps my memory is hazy but I didn't recall previous late night hosts having to resort to as many partisan jokes for laughs. Your memory is hazy; late night has gone to politics for comedy pretty heavily, especially when there is low hanging fruit, since Carson pioneered the genre. > IMO it's lazy humor that lacks originality and plays on people's hate. Humor that needs to be timely on a nightly basis is always going to be somewhat lazy, or at least opportunistic in picking the low-hanging fruit.

notacoward 9y ago
> since Carson pioneered the genre. s/Carson/Steve Allen/

DanBC 9y ago

That Was The Week That Was - 1962: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/That_Was_the_Week_That_Was https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/That_Was_the_Week_That_Was I agree that a lot of it is lazy comedy.

killjoywashere 9y ago

Sophisticated, yet vulgar, political satire goes back at least as far as the ancient Greek theater. (1) https://www.libertarianism.org/columns/ancient-greeces-legacy-liberty-comedy-politics https://www.libertarianism.org/columns/ancient-greeces-legac...

blackflame7000 9y ago
Calling someone a C* holder isn't sophisticated though. Its just a barrage of ad hominems designed to belittle, dismiss, and provoke the other side. I don't see the value colberts monologue brought other than to widen the gap of division in the country. I don't think a single republican heard that speech and suddenly felt remorse. Quite the opposite i suspect.
- jhanschoo 9y ago
  I think there's a not insignificant part of the citizenry who don't read news or think about their relevance outside of satire. There is some value in that it informs these people that there is reason to suspect Russian agendas at play behind the current US Govt. You might not like this method of delivering it, but that doesn't mean that it is devoid of value.
- killjoywashere 9y ago
  > Calling someone a C* holder isn't sophisticated though. Neither is wearing a huge red leather strap-on (1). http://www.cornellcollege.edu/classical_studies/lit/CLA364-1-2006/01groupone/Costume.htm http://www.cornellcollege.edu/classical_studies/lit/CLA364-1...

mhh__ 9y ago

Donald Trump is extremely unpopular https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/ https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/, with a congress passing unpopular legislation (e.g. the AHCA). So I think there is some statistical justification for the shear amount of "partisan jokes". NB: I do not think positively, in any way, of this administration: I'm probably (Maybe even provably) biased. I agree, some of the humour is pretty lazy and I think the well will dry up soon; then we'll be left with stuff like Jon Stewart used to make, John Oliver is now (Large policy based segments, with jokes) and presumably Colbert. I'm surprised that the US doesn't really have a show akin to spitting image (UK): It seems like a ripe time for a relativly personality free satire show (Unless I'm just blind and I've missed something).