Lots of people like to chuckle at the thought that at least comedians will have plenty of good material over the next four years. Unfortunately, that’s not exactly correct. Political parody works by comedians being more ridiculous than the politicians they’re mocking. But what do you do when the person you’re mocking is already at peak ridiculous?
Take, for example, Maine Gov. Paul LePage, who made headlines recently by saying something supremely stupid about civil rights hero Rep. John Lewis and Abraham Lincoln, as CNN reports.
“John Lewis ought to look at history,” LePage said on a local radio show. ”It was Abraham Lincoln that freed the slaves. It was Rutherford B. Hayes and Ulysses S. Grant that fought against Jim Crow laws. A simple ‘thank you’ would suffice.”
If that sentiment sounds familiar to you, it might be because your uncle is kind of a jerk. Or it might be because you initially heard it as a bit of parody from Bob Odenkirk and David Cross, as they’re all too happy to point out.
Odenkirk also acknowledged the unmistakable similarities with the 20-year-old sketch, but in a slightly calmer fashion.
The sketch that they’re referring to is from the ninth episode of the show’s third season, “A White Man Set Them Free,” which aired originally aired on November 28, 1997.
At least in their sketch, they’re trying to make people hate them. It seems doubtful that LePage has that much self-awareness.