Political Leaders Are Fair Game for Satire

As a joke writer for various late-night TV shows, I found amusing the opinions of Counterpunch correspondents who seem to feel America’s liberty is threatened each time a comedian aims a dart at our political leaders (“Whatever Happened to Hail to the Chief,” Counterpunch, Dec. 26). Making people think and laugh is a noble profession. Satirists are society’s philosophers; their barbs humanize their targets and educate the rest of us about egregious behavior. In particular, Jay Leno performs a public service with his state-of-the-art, evenhanded spoofs, which embody all that is precious about our 1st Amendment. Anybody who doesn’t understand that should just go to bed earlier.

DAWNA KAUFMANN

Los Angeles