SNL and the Truth!

When did the media begin caring about the accuracy of Saturday Night Live skits?

For as long as I can remember the political satire has been brutal on the NBC bellwether, and, while I can remember numerous occasions when the people mischaracterized on the show bristled at what was said, most often the targets of the satire just smiled and went along.

Well, that was before the media had a crush on the man occupying the Oval Office, and before the media had shelved its purported purpose of providing objective news and had instead become the mouthpiece and protector of the progressive left.

Look, we know SNL isn't the Times, and that some people might consider it ridiculous to fact-check one of their skits. But political satire isn't legitimate if it's not based in truth. It's not that SNL's disenchantment with Obama is unsupportable; they just picked some faulty evidence to support it. If you're going to skewer Obama for all the things he hasn't done, it might be better to make sure that, you know, he hasn't done them. Especially since, after witnessing the lasting impact of its Sarah Palin caricature last year, we can probably stop pretending that SNL is "just a comedy show" with no real influence.

Funny how New York Magazine sounds appalled at the treatment of Sarah Palin in the skits, but it isn't until The Obama is skewered that the magazines has the nerve to stand up on principle.