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Web provides some election humor
The phrase "election humor" seems to be an oxymoron this year. There seems to be little to laugh about, regardless of one's political perspective. Yet the Internet has spawned countless Web sites devoted to poking fun at the presidential candidates, many of which will inspire chuckles—if not guffaws—from even the most disaffected political onlookers.
The most high-profile humor site this campaign season has undoubtedly been http://www.jibjab.com, which presented a flash-animated parody of Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land." JibJab.com co-founders, Gregg and Evan Spiridellis, followed up this huge Web hit a few weeks ago with the edgier "Good to be in DC" at the urging of NBC's Tonight Show host Jay Leno. Whether you are, in the Spiridellis brothers' parlance, a "liberal wiener" or a "right-wing nut job" or more likely, some place in-between on the political spectrum, you'll find these animated vignettes hilarious. (Caution: Do not open in front of children.)
You'll uncover more election jokes at About.com. Go to http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/election2004/ and find the "10 Dumbest Quotes of the Campaign," the "10 Funniest Ads," late-night television one-liners, candidate-loyalty quizzes, ad parodies of the electronic voting-machine manufacturer, Diebold, and more. You'll even be able to morph the candidates' faces into your own caricatures with your computer mouse.
Is your taste in humor a little more high-brow? Point your browser to http://www.cagle.com/, which is the site of Daryl Cagle's Professional Cartoonists Index. Select "Daily Editorial Cartoons" for a large selection of political cartoons from such newspapers as the Baltimore Sun, the Christian Science Monitor, the Denver Post, etc. If you find a cartoon that particularly catches your attention, you can email it as an e-toon to a friend or family member.
And, if election night on Nov. 2 grows too long and you need a break from anything and everything political, try clicking through Yahoo's humor directory at http://dir.yahoo.com/Entertainment/Humor/. You can snap virtual bubble wrap, learn how to make a duct-tape wallet, peruse the traffic-cone field guide, or go to the "useless pages" and play staring games. "Stare Down Sally" (http://www.stairwell.com/stare/) may well be more humorous then watching televised maps of states turning red or blue.
-Gemma DeVinney, University Libraries