Q: What’s the Best Way to Mock Politicians Without Being Partisan?

A: The Art of Equal-Opportunity Offense – By Alan Nafzger

Why Partisan Satire is Lazy Satire

At Bohiney Magazine, we’ve built our reputation on skewering all sides of the political spectrum with ruthless impartiality. The secret? We don’t attack political ideologies – we attack the universal absurdities of political behavior itself. Here’s how we maintain our nonpartisan edge while still drawing blood.

1. Target the Behavior, Not the Belief

We mock:

• Political theater (grandstanding, performative outrage)

• Bureaucratic absurdity (red tape, nonsensical procedures)

• Universal political traits (hypocrisy, self-importance, tone-deafness)

Example: Instead of “Republican Climate Deniers Are Idiots”, we’d write “Congress Votes to Outlaw Rising Temperatures By Making Thermometers Illegal”

2. The “Switch the Parties” Test

Before publishing, we ask:

• Would this joke work equally well if we flipped the political affiliations?

• Is the humor coming from the ideology or the behavior?

• Could both sides recognize this trait in their own team?

Case Study: Our piece “Senators Propose Bill Requiring All Legislation Be Read Aloud by Siri” works because tech-illiteracy is bipartisan.

3. Punch Up, Not Left or Right

We focus our fire on:

• Institutional absurdity (Congress, electoral systems)

• The political-industrial complex (lobbyists, consultants)

• The theater of governance (press conferences, hearings)

Example: “Lobbyists Unveil New ‘Democracy Plus’ Subscription Service”

4. The “Both Sides” Sweet Spot

Find issues where:

• Both parties are equally guilty

• The system itself is the joke

• The hypocrisy is symmetrical

Example: “Bipartisan Agreement Reached: All Future Elections Will Be Decided by Coin Toss”

5. Use Universal Political Archetypes

Instead of naming specific politicians, we target:

• The Grandstanding Senator

• The Out-of-Touch Elitist

• The Flip-Flopping Candidate

• The Do-Nothing Committee Chair

Example: “Local Mayor Declares War on Neighboring Town’s Superior Coffee Shop”

6. The “No Safe Spaces” Rule

We maintain a strict policy:

• If we mock one side for something, we must be willing to mock the other side for equivalent behavior

• No sacred cows (but also no cheap shots)

• Equal airtime for all political absurdities

7. When Real-World Politics Tests Our Neutrality

In hyper-partisan times, we:

• Double down on institutional satire

• Find the common ground of political absurdity

• Remember that the system itself is funnier than any one party

Example: *”Congressional Hearing on UFOs Derailed by 6-Hour Debate Over Snack Budget”*

8. The Telltale Signs of Partisan Satire

We avoid:

• Jokes that only work if you agree with a certain ideology

• Punchlines that require political alignment to understand

• Humor that makes one side laugh while the other scowls

Final Thought: The Highest Form of Political Satire

The best political humor doesn’t make conservatives or liberals laugh – it makes politicians squirm. When we can publish a piece that has staffers from both parties nervously checking if we’re talking about their boss, that’s when we know we’ve hit the sweet spot.

Because at the end of the day, nothing unites Americans like mutually shared contempt for the political class – and that’s a bipartisan sentiment we can all get behind.

— Alan Nafzger