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Home / Entertainment

Karl Puschmann: Democrazy fuels army of acerbic assassins

Karl Puschmann
By Karl Puschmann
Freelance entertainment writer·NZ Herald·
24 Feb, 2017 02:28 AM5 mins to read

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Seth Myers' toothy grin masks a rottweiler wit. Photo / AP

Seth Myers' toothy grin masks a rottweiler wit. Photo / AP

If I was American I'd be losing my gawdamn mind right about now. Even as an irrelevant outsider 12,000km away, watching this once great democracy shambolically transmogrify into a vile pit of democrazy has been both stomach-churning and extremely brow-furrowing.

And while we've got more than enough of our own problems to sort out, there's no risk that any of them will bring about the apocalypse sending us into a Mad Max-like world of grim horror and desperate survival.

Although I'm sure for an unacceptably high number of New Zealanders life already feels a bit that way.

But this isn't about political views.

This is about an unhinged gooseberry being one tweet away from pressing the big red button labelled "nukes" while going out of his way to do awful things.

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He's spewing blatant and outrageous lies, attacking fundamental human rights in the name of religion, instigating half-assed, ill-thought-out, flagrantly racist policies, dismantling crucial environmental protections and actively contributing to the inexplicable rise of honest to goodness Nazis - Nazis ffs! - into the upper echelons of the world's biggest superpower.

So, okay, maybe it's a little about political views ...

There's only two good things come out of the Trump era. All 34 days of it.

The first, the massive and inspiring levels of protest and resistance of ordinary folk rising up against this crap. The second, the increasing importance of the late-night political satirists in making fun of this turkey and holding him and his lackeys to account in a way hard news can't.

This wasn't a guarantee. And not just because of the erroneous attacks on the press from Herr President. Nein.

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Jon Stewart, the undeniable King of political satire, retired the crown three years ago. He went out on a high but losing his acerbic voice and political passion has been a real blow.

His successor Trevor Noah has proved to be a wet blanket replacement. You can catch The Daily Show with Trevor Noah on Sky's Comedy Central but I don't know anybody who does. Because these days TV is not where you watch political satirists.

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Instead you watch the best 3-12 minute highlights on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube and then get on with your day.

My Twitter feed is flooded with monologues and routines from these shows, with that one notable exception. That the once all-powerful The Daily Show is now almost completely redundant proves what a topsy-turvy time this is.

With Stewart gone and Noah invisible, the undisputed champ is now John Oliver. Armed with a quick-fire delivery, devastating wordplay and a crack team of fact-checkers and researchers he's an unstoppable satirical juggernaut. Just ask Steven Joyce ... He's certainly the most powerful right now.

Who else could get away with introducing a greatest hits compilation of his own Trump insults before delivering a vital 20-minute deconstruction of Trump's and Putin's cosy relationship.

"Donald Trump; America's wealthiest haemorrhoid," was one. "A sentient circus peanut," was another. "A clown made of mummified foreskin and cotton candy," was arguably the best.

This segment was all over social, gaining a massive 29 million views, making it the most watched piece of HBO content ever. And this, remember, is the home of Game of Thrones ...

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But his is a weekly show, (on SoHo), and every day some new abhorrence surfaces. This problem also befalls Samantha Bee's brilliantly piercing Full Frontal (TVNZ OnDemand).

This is why you need someone at the coalface. On the grind. Day in, day out. This is why Late Night with Seth Meyers is the new The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

Where Stewart was exasperated and sarcastic, Meyers is breezy and fiery with a toothy grin that masks his rottweiler wit.

His signature segment is A Closer Look which focuses on whatever outrage is making headlines that day; Trump's unhinged press conference, Trump's Twitter outbursts or the resignation of Trump's disgraced national security adviser Michael Flynn.

"Keeping tabs on Trump can be very disorientating," Meyers admits at the beginning of one segment. "On one hand you've got the genuinely ominous thing's he done; from declaring the free press an enemy of the American people to pre-emptively blaming a judge for future terror attacks, and then you've got the everyday weirdness of life in the Trump era."

Meyers has found the balance covering both with equal weight, insight and comedic power.

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"Sweden! Who would believe this?" Trump bellowed in a clip from his recent ego-stroking rally a few days ago after spuriously inventing a terrorist attack.

"Who would believe this?" Meyers shot back incredulous, "The answer is: no one."

While Trump and his cronies huff and puff about "fake news" and spill bile and stoke hate, one has to believe that truth, justice and the American way will prevail.

But if it doesn't and we are all doomed, well, at least we'll go out laughing.

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