至少从古希腊开始，人们就使用幽默来揭露和嘲笑他们眼中的政治领袖的愚蠢和腐败。今天的信息技术使政治讽刺更加常见；维基百科(Wikipedia)列有29个国家的讽刺性新闻节目。
在美国，政治讽刺受到“宪法第一修正案”（First Amendment）的保护——“国会不得制定法律……限制言论自由或出版自由……”。领导人——无论有多大权力——都知道，笑纳批评是当领导所天经地义的。
一张漫画中一位母亲遮住孩子的眼睛不让他看到华盛顿的国会大厦，以此表达国会僵局令美国人感到的厌恶。 (Garrincha/El Nuevo Herald)
例如，副总统拜登(Biden)就经常是讽刺新闻网站《洋葱》（The Onion）的目标。拜登称《洋葱》“好笑极了”，并通过社交媒体对它的嘲讽给予善意的回应。
《每日秀》（The Daily Show）是美国最热门的政治讽刺来源之一。这个脱口秀最近频繁成为新闻话题，原因是其人气很旺的长期主持人乔恩·斯图尔特（Jon Stewart）卸任。十六年来，斯图尔特以他尖锐的幽默和能够对像9/11袭击和巴尔的摩(Baltimore)种族骚乱这种话题进行严肃讨论而著称。
奥巴马总统曾作为嘉宾上过这个节目；其他世界领导人、美国国会参议员、州长和内阁成员也都当过嘉宾。经常作为斯图尔特交锋对手的参议员约翰·麦凯恩(John McCain)，在斯图尔特的最后一场节目中出现（手里拿着一个貌似斯图尔特的布偶）。国务卿约翰·克里(John Kerry)也在最后一次节目中露面。
常被当作嘲讽对象的奥巴马本人用“才华横溢”一词形容斯图尔特。
奥巴马说：“他能够拨开各种胡言乱语直达本质的程度令我惊叹。”
Have you ever laughed at a politician?
People have employed humor to expose and ridicule the perceived foolishness or corruption of their political leaders since at least the days of ancient Greece. Today’s information technologies have rendered political satire more common; Wikipedia lists satirical news programs in 29 countries.
In the U.S., political satire is protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution — “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ….” Leaders, no matter how powerful, have learned that accepting criticism with grace comes with their jobs.
American disgust for congressional gridlock is conveyed by a mother shielding her child from the sight of the Capitol Building in Washington (Garrincha/El Nuevo Herald)
Vice President Biden, for example, is a frequent target of The Onion, a satirical news site. He calls The Onion “hilarious” and has good-naturedly responded to its jabs via social media.
The Daily Show is among America’s most popular sources of political satire. The show has been in the news recently because of the departure of its popular and long-serving host, Jon Stewart, who after 16 years is well-known for both his biting humor and his ability to seriously address subjects like the 9/11 attacks and racial unrest in Baltimore.
President Obama has appeared as a guest, as have other world leaders, U.S. senators, governors and Cabinet members. Senator John McCain, a frequent Stewart sparring partner, appeared (with a puppet that looked like Stewart) on Stewart’s last episode, as did Secretary of State John Kerry.
Obama, himself often the subject of humorous critique, called Stewart “brilliant.”
“It’s amazing to me the degree to which he’s able to cut through a bunch of the nonsense,” he said.
