The only thing extraordinary about Dave Barry’s annual roundups is that they contains the only criticisms of the Democrats and the Left that are allowed to appear in papers like the Washington Post.
Equal opportunity political comedy (which was never equal opportunity, but took two hard shots at conservatives for every light shot it took at liberals), once ubiquitous as recently as a decade ago, is all but extinct in mainstream forums. Saturday Night Live under Obama turned into a Democrat cheerleading squad with exactly the kinds of jokes you would hear at the DNC if it felt the need to do comedy routines.
Barry’s annual roundups, which fall under the aforementioned two for one category, is a dinosaur, a pay phone on the street corner, a vestige of a lost genre. And Barry dares to poke fun at the Democrat impeachment follies, media bias, and even mention the “elite media” disdain for Trump voters.
But of course there is one unmockable subject.
In the midst of all the pandemic jokes, Black Lives Matter is treated with solemn respect. You can’t blame Dave for that. He might be an institution, but he knows how fast his head would fly if he said the wrong thing about BLM. Aside from a brief reference to Portlanders fighting for racial justice with peaceful protests and arson, all the other references to BLM are carefully serious, supportive, and unfunny.
Dave’s 73 now. But he would still probably like to retain his career and he’s aware enough to know that he can get away with laughing about Pelosi’s impeachment pens (as long as he takes three times as many shots at President Trump) , but that BLM cannot be joked about. Bigger men than him have been taken down by #MeToo and then by BLM. Call it the year in review of tiptoeing gingerly around Black Lives Matter.
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