So now some of the chatter out there focuses a bit on “Saturday Night Live” and its treatment of Donald J. Trump and Republican Party.
Has “SNL” gone too far? Hah! The question makes me laugh out loud. It hasn’t in the least gone “too far” in spoofing the president.
I mean, good grief! The show debuted in 1975 when Gerald Ford was president of the United States. Chevy Chase portrayed the president as a stumble-bum, based on the one time President Ford slipped and fell while coming down the stairs of Air Force One.
Dan Aykroyd once portrayed President Carter as an expert on illicit drugs. The late Phil Hartman used to poke fun at President Clinton’s gluttonous fast-food habits; Hartman’s send-ups about President Reagan also were hilarious. Then we had Dana Carvey cracking wise about President Bush 41’s occasional rhetorical non-sequiturs. Will Ferrell made “strategery” a national punch line with his spoofing of President Bush 43. And, of course, Fred Armisen’s Barack Obama made all of us howl.
Donald Trump needs to get over himself. He won’t, of course. The man is fixated on his own image and the idiotic notion that he must be portrayed as something he isn’t, which is an erudite, sophisticated, nuanced politician. He is none of that, as Alec Baldwin’s caricature reveals.
I’ll admit that “SNL” doesn’t hit it out of the park with every sketch. Then again, it has whiffed on several of its previous presidential sketches.
Lighten up, Mr. President. Tell those who comprise your political “base” to settle down, too. It’s all in fun, man!