A new week brought a new episode of The Washington Post’s “Mouthpiece Theatre” Friday. In a time when newspapers are waning, features such as this Milbank/Cillizza collaboration provide a refreshing perspective on humorous news commentary. These web savvy WaPo contributors routinely skewer the left and right with their biting commentary.

The series, as the name suggests, is a spoof of Masterpiece Theatre. Theme music is used suggestive of such. Milbank and Cillizza  go a step further by wearing nice robes in each segment as well, over a shirt and tie, of course. The opening images include patriotic themes and a caricature figurine of President Obama. This week, like many others, had a political story worthy of lampooning. The video below puts a humorous spin on the idea of “sud summits”.

(The Media Matters recording of this video is displayed above due to the removal of the original from the Washington Post website and YouTube channel.)

But instead of appreciating Milbank and Cillizza for their take on the tomfoolery of the Obama administration and the conduct of figures nationally and internationally, left wingers pushed successfully for the removal of the latest eposode of Mouthpiece Theatre over what it implied about Secretary of State Clinton. If course, these supposedly “fair” inividuals and groups apparently had no objection to the similarly amusing beer suggestions proposed for Palin, and various GOP leaders in Congress. In this phony outrage, the pseudointellectuals of the Leftosphere instead missed what was the one error of this short film; the mistaking of the Cross of St. George for the British union jack. Thus, the feigned anger expressed in the Huffington Post and elsewhere is unwarranted and suggestive of ulterior motives.

Perhaps the real objection of these “progressive” organizations is to criticism of their preferred politicians. Indeed, one should ask why these groups objected to the suggested characterization presented of Hillary Clinton, but not the associations with evil and darkness Cillizza and Milbank suggested with respect to Republicans generally and Sarah Palin particularly in this production. That the Washington Post caved to the pressures of left-wing groups which don’t generally trust much of the older media infrastructure anyway further discredits a paper already weakened by a lobbying scandal.

There was a time when newspapers would have stood by the efforts of their reporters’ efforts at lampooning public officials and their publicity stunts. Sadly, that time has now passed. Instead, those who often claim that their free speech rights are often the target of conservatives and Republicans have sought to suppress criticisms of the public officials they support. If leftists don’t tolerate the lampooning of their leaders, their hold on the political leadership in this country won’t last. That, perhaps, would be the only positive result of this manufactured controversy.

Last 5 posts by James Kane

• A November to Remember - November 8th, 2010
• On hope and fear - October 18th, 2010
• Expecting Different Results - September 12th, 2010
• A glaring omission on Iraq - August 31st, 2010
• Employing a losing strategy - August 7th, 2010