It was the Cold War ‘70s; it was the winter; and I was in Berlin. When traveling in East Berlin, I was followed. Stasi had no idea who I was, and this was the spy vs. spy era. It was creepy. However, the Berlin Wall optics, as seen from Checkpoint Charlie, were worth writing about, and I did.
But what still resonates were various conversations I had with West Berliners. One constant: references to Chancellor—and former Berlin mayor—Willy Brandt. They respected him and liked him, and they liked poking fun at him by calling him “Schnapps Willy,” for his reputation as the imbiber-in-chief.
No way would residents of East Berlin have poked any fun at their leader, Erich Honecker. Autocracies didn’t tolerate such affronts in the name of humor. Their leaders were on pedagogic pedestals and satiric jabs, seen as anti-government, traitorous affronts, were not countenanced.
Fast forward to now.
If you’re a late-night comedian, punch lines at the president can result in White House counterpunching. Which means free speech censorship, First Amendment hypocrisy and cultural cancellation. “The countries where comedians can’t mock the leader on late-night TV are not really ones you want to live in,” noted MSNBC’s Chris Hayes.
That’s especially true for a democracy that, in effect, features a pathological, narcissistic Archie Bunker felon as its unprecedented president. No, humor is not the ultimate litmus test for a democracy. But it’s a free-speech factor, especially when the leader is an existential global joke.
“Comedy doesn’t change the world, but it’s a bellwether,” observed comedian Jon Stewart. “We’re the banana in the coal mine.” There’s value in humor, especially when the alternative would be complicit silence in the face of a wannabe authoritarian.
BTW, humor aimed at this president is not as easy as it may seem. Satirizing a farce can be challenging.