It was announced Friday that President Obama has declared
October 19 “National Satire Day.” The date, for those unfamiliar with satire,
is the birth date of one of the most referenced satirists in history, Jonathan
Swift.
Swift’s essay, A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People From Being a Burden
on Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick, or
simply, A Modest Proposal, has been
the basis for many an argument about what subjects are and are not suitable for
public reader consumption. The story proposes that poor Irish folk sell their
children to the rich for consumption. Not surprisingly, the essay was published
anonymously, as are many pieces of modern-day satire.
Nevertheless, satire in its less Juvenalian form, can
provide a much-needed break from the stresses of ordinary life, a chuckle as it
were to some of the most pressing issues of our time, including an ugly
Presidential race.
Mitt Romney’s advisers are against National Satire Day
for obvious reasons. A poll recently conducted by Poll Pro’s Humor Division indicates
that the majority of negative satire is aimed at the Romney camp. President
Obama, on the other hand, is often less of a target, although when he is
satirized, the satire is sometimes highly offensive, which turns off most
readers just looking for a good laugh.
The bottom line seems to indicate that more harm is being
done to the Romney campaign by satire than by any other source, and therein
lies the reason for the Romney camp objecting to naming October 19 “National
Satire Day.”
President Obama is aware of Romney’s complaints and says
his naming this national day just one month before the Presidential election is
a mere coincidence.
“I’ve been reading satire ever since I was a student at
Harvard when one of my classmates turned me on to the Harvard Lampoon,” said the President.
“I find it a refreshing respite from the seriousness that
life throws at us, and I am certainly one who can laugh at myself, unless, of
course, I’m being characterized as a monkey. That is simply an affront to my
sensibilities,” he cautioned.
“Most satirists associate with Jonathan Swift more than any other writer in this genre although, of course, not with his point of view about eating children,” he quipped. “However, I believe it is still fitting to use his birthday as the day to honor satirists nationwide,” said the President.
“I do find it quite ironic that Swift was born in
October, giving satirists the opportunity to do their best writing just a month
before the election,” Obama concluded. “After all, doesn’t irony play a huge
part in a well-written piece of satire anyway?”
No comments:
Post a Comment
If you enjoyed reading this article, or didn't enjoy reading this article, I'd like to know. Go on, I can take it...