Why aren't more comedians conservative?

Even while prepping for the panel it had become clear to me that the available resources for political humor were, by a huge margin, a ridiculously huge margin, leftist. My desire to be an evenhanded moderator was hindered by my lack of access to comedy or comedians who self-identified as right leaning. Regardless of how deep online I searched, there was little in the way of “Right-Wing comedy” that made any sort of mark on the political spectrum. Not in the enormous ways that Bill Maher, Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart have been making waves, by tying satire to genuine political action. At best, right wing comedy seemed to be relegated to the notorious conservative radio talk show circuit, where pundits like Rush Limbaugh and Anne Coulter gently dip their toe into satire from time to time and Dennis Miller holds court as the sole comedian who will dive into conservative politics exclusively. …

Stephen Colbert once stated that “Reality has a well known liberal bias” and we’ve all heard the term “It’s funny cause it’s true” lamely added to punchlines for most of our lives. Comedians have an almost religious belief that what they do is in part truth-telling. In an increasingly transparent and interconnected world, it is difficult not to mock the discrepancies between the day-to-day reality of people and the insane excesses or political pandering of the ruling classes. While the left is guilty of its own propaganda and doublespeak, it is undeniable that the Right seems to be in a high speed dive towards absurdity so transparently errant, that it makes for simple fodder to those looking to mock. As Rory Albanese of The Daily Show pointed out during our panel,” Santorum is Anti-College! How can you not make fun of that?” For my part, I’ve found that the most brazen lies about human sexuality, reproductive rights, health care, the environment, energy, foreign relations, and our president’s background, all seem to be emanating from a political party who is having to do cartwheels of logic in order to keep from stumbling on its own silly reasoning. As long as one side of the aisle continues to dominate in a childish form of debate where practicality takes a back seat to weird obsessions over sex and morality based on 1950’s sitcoms, then we can rest assured that those who mock and taunt and point out our faults, will continue to hone in on the political right.