All good questions, Garsett, and I don’t know the answers to all of them.

What I do know is that satire is effective, and a potent form of political protest that predates “fake news” by about 300 years.

But don’t take my word for it that satire matters:

“The more monocratic the regime, the less it can bear criticism. And of all criticism, satire — with its single ambition of ridiculing vanity and delusion — is the most potent.

This can be only because the boastful are thin-skinned and the intolerant are forever looking over their shoulders. Mr. Trump himself is visibly easy to wound. Should this be a reason to hold back? “Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?” the great satirist Alexander Pope asked. The question was rhetorical. Wounding the vainglorious is a pleasing pastime in itself and contributes to their demoralization. Fire enough salvos of comedy and their solemn edifices start to crumble. It might be a slow process, but it is at least the beginning.” — Howard Jacobson, Novelist

That’s all for now, Garsett. I do thank you for reading and commenting.

–AI