Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, Essay Example

People have been somewhat accustomed to seeing politicians satirized or made fun of in a derisory way.  Part of a democracy relates to freedom of speech and the ability to laugh or cry about the state of our political leaders.  This was recently evidenced in the run up to the US presidential campaign with both political party leaders.  Whilst some of this material may be perceived as being humorous there is a dark side in terms of undermining the political and constitutional process of the country.  By building an increase in cynicism within the younger elements of society this may potentially damage the face of democracy and the machination of political leadership.

There is a serious side to this in that we need to respect the leadership administration of the country.  The people elect these people into office and as such if we do not respect them it is merely making a statement about our poor judgement and lack of self-respect.  The other side of the argument is that we should not take life too seriously and that politicians are human beings, like the rest of us, with the same weaknesses and fallibilities.  Sometimes laughing at the odd mistakes and political gaffes is good as it shows the politicians to be more connected to our own weaknesses and vulnerabilities.  So in some regards it is a question of degrees. The odd comments may be humorous but prolonged or sustained campaigns at a political figure or party may be more damaging.

The advent of social media like that of ‘You Tube’ has made lampooning much more accessible to a wide audience.  There is no real control over the media in this regard and as such is subject to political agendas and promotion of undermining the characters and credibility of political figures.  Hopefully, most people will not take this too seriously and will differentiate between the humour and serious business of political administration of the country.