Politics as unusual?

Salon Arts & Entertainment: "Political theater is thriving in America -- just not on our stages. Most weeknights, more than a million people tune in to Comedy Central for a satirical double act by those matinee idols Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Their brand of headline-riffing humor may not have a long shelf life (my 'Indecision 2004' DVD has grown dusty), but it acts as a comic purgative to a long day's news cycle. These fake-news shows also enjoy a pedigree of politicized vaudeville (Will Rogers, Lenny Bruce, 'Saturday Night Live') and, given the crude theatricality of the current administration, seldom lack for material. '[Bush] is not a very good actor,' Arthur Miller noted tartly after Sept. 11. Not for nothing has Washington been called a Hollywood for ugly people."