This weekend’s “Saturday Night Live” skit targeting likely GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney is a perfect example of two media worlds working toward the same goal – the re-election of President Barack Obama.
First, mainstream news media outlets take a Romney quote out of context – “I like to fire people” – to gin up manufactured outrage. That meme circulates for a few days, long enough to get on the radar of “Saturday Night Live” writers who can’t find anything funny about a president residing over a stagnant economy.
Why look for potential laughs there, right? It’s not as if sitting presidents haven’t translated into comedy gold for decades.
Next, “SNL” picks up the Romney meme and makes it the Jan. 14 show’s opening sketch. The bit has Romney (Jason Sudeikis) appearing at a Middle American diner and firing everything in site – including the bacon on the menu.
Ha ha.
The joke wouldn’t connect unless dishonest media outlets misused Romney’s actual quote to paint him as a cold, unfeeling bureaucrat who doesn’t blink when it comes time to lay people off.
It’s the kind of theme Obama will use, no doubt, during the presidential campaign. And “SNL” and other late-night hosts will be right there, of course, to keep hammering the message home, no charge.
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