It's day One of the Obama administration, and it's time to return to our democratic duties in earnest. I speak of critique, lampooning and mockery . And I am serious. To be able to make fun of those in power is a keystone of a healthy democracy--it keeps them honest, it keeps us sane (or at least that's the intention).
Obama may be the darling of the masses right now, the hopes of us left-wing liberal sorts pinned on him. We wait, our tongues lolling, for him to enter a phone booth and emerge with a flowing red cape and a spandex suit. But let's not ride too long on this sentimental hobbyhorse. There will be mistakes and foibles and not-so-sound intentions, and it is not for us who voted for him and supported him to now also defend him. Foibles must be pilloried, mistakes speared and intentions prodded. To do any less would be to renege on the social contract of democracy that for centuries has rested on the expectation that those in power must be held accountable.
So it was with great joy that I welcomed the Daily Show's scathing remarks on the Obama inauguration. Bush may be gone, but hey! we have someone else to mock now!
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