The Axis of Feeble Comedy Tour

Okay, we admit it: The other day, we, the crack young staff of “The Hatemonger’s Quarterly,” caught a few minutes or so of a Comedy Central special program entitled “The Axis of Evil Comedy Tour.” Its point, it appears, was to bring a group of Arab and Muslim comics to the microphone, so they could bitch and moan about the vicissitudes of life in the post-9/11 West.

Ah, yes: Because life in the West is so much worse than in, say, Saudi Arabia. That’s why Muslims are fleeing the United States for such evil dictatorships in such large numbers.

Frankly, dear reader, we watched snippets of the program with suspicion. Ever since John Stewart took control of “The Daily Show,” we’ve had the vague feeling that Comedy Central aims to take MTV’s place as the television network offering the most fervent sugar-coated liberal political messages. If you ask us, if it weren’t for “South Park,” Comedy Central would begin to resemble an intentionally humorous MoveOn.org rally. (Unlike all of their unintentional ones.)

To be downright honest, “The Axis of Evil Comedy Tour” did not let us down. Sure, its handful of headlining comics—Maz Jobrani, Ahmed Ahmed, and similar no-name yet hirsute acts—presented little more than stale gags on obvious topics: Airport security, airport security, and, just to spice things up a bit, airport security.

They couldn’t even muster a lame gag about the traffic in LA. And, hey: Haven’t they noticed that men and women are so different?

In general, the Middle Eastern comics on the program proffered a mind-numbingly similar worldview: Life is tough for Arabs and Muslims thanks to the ridiculousness of the Bush administration in particular and ignorant Americans in general. Thanks to moronic Americans overreacting to the threat of terrorism, life is rough for our Muslim friends.

Now, we, the crack young staff of “The Hatemonger’s Quarterly,” certainly understand why Muslims might be nervous about the treatment they could receive in the West in our post-9/11 world. If Muslims must face prejudice, we think it’s horrible.

Still, we couldn’t help but note what seemed to be missing from these comics’ purview: For all their antagonism toward everyday Americans and George W. Bush, they appeared strikingly untroubled by Islamist terrorists. In fact, they never directed their anger at these fanatics, portraying al Qaeda and its kindred spirits as a collection of sorry folks.

Well, gee: We found it more than a bit irksome that these “Axis of Evil” comics find so much to contemn in the Patriot Act, but have little to say about Islamist extremism. They can upbraid non-Muslims for their ignorance, but offer nary a comment critical of Sharia law, the subjugation of women, Arab totalitarianism, &c.

As if this weren’t bad enough, we noted that one of the comics, Dean Obeidallah, was introduced on the program as hailing from the eastern part of Palestine. That is to say, dear reader, he’s a Palestinian.

Why the “eastern part” bit? Well, the “western part” is Israel, of course. And nothing’s funnier to our “Axis of Evil” yukksters than the destruction of Israel.