When the Super PAC earnings were released at the end of January, the world learned that Stephen Colbert’s PAC, which he really has “nothing” to do with and is “run” by Jon Stewart, had raised enough cash to tip over into seven figures. Pause to ponder: a million dollars of real money raised for a fake political action committee.
I had to really consider the implications. As a true believer in the power of fiction to be more-real-than-real, particularly when reality becomes preposterous, this fiction felt big-sweater-cozy. And as a person with an interest in the history of American humor, particularly the use of satire to lampoon political stupidity, I am well-aware that Colbert’s efforts — though updated through the use of contemporary media — find their great-times-many-grandparentage in the likes of Irving, Lowell, and even Ben Franklin. And, certainly, it’s no surprise that discussions have raged about the impact of Colbert’s PAC, but it’s the money that struck me as significant.
In a toilet-bowl economy and election year — where people have less money to spend and more reason, in theory, to spend it on their political beliefs — people are investing in satire. Real money for a fake message.
But the message — clear as a bell, really — isn’t fake at all, and that’s why I find this investment to be so fascinating and brilliant. By funding this PAC, American voices have funded the role that satire plays in drawing attention to the ridiculous, like the Citizens United decision and the outright lies pedaled in “real” Super PAC ads. By purloining the medium, Colbert has, on multiple fronts and to great affect, influenced the message.
Of course there are questions about over-saturation or a joke-gone-too-far, but I’m not particularly worried about that. The political theater of last year and this is a joke-gone-too-far, and it’s only January. The more Colbert’s PAC rages on, the more fundamentally ridiculous it becomes, the more in line with the level of Theatre perpetrated by the “real” political army marching toward what promises to be the most Fox News-worthy election ever, the more historically significant Colbert’s scheme becomes.
Some suggest that the overall efforts of Colbert and Stewart, while significant in the grand historical context of American satire and humor, do not promote a change in the political discussion. In short, their viewers have already drank the Kool Aid, and these comedians’ shows merely become part of a discussion that is already happening — they are not a value-add. However, I am anecdotally unconvinced. If the Fox News heads and radio hawks are giving Colbert’s “political agenda” real time, and they are, we know he is onto something culturally significant in the now. He, like his friend Stewart, has tapped into that magical moment where the question is asked, “Should we take this guy seriously?” Once the question is asked, it’s clear that the answer is already “yes.”
So despite the reality that there are real people-serving organizations that could be served by the donations going to Colbert’s Super PAC, there is an alternate reality that is of perhaps headier importance: investment in Colbert’s PAC is an investment in a conversation that absolutely needs to happen. It’s a way of participating in a joke-that-is-deadly-serious. Our country is on a screwy path where the investments of a few cloud the conversation, and investment in this satire is well-placed: 100% of the proceeds go to keep the dominant rhetoricians in check, to force them to engage in the surreal in order to peel back the layers and expose what is real.
