Say Anything Blog

Mark Hemingway:

Saturday Night Live recently did a terrific sketch on the Bailout bill in Congress. Shortly afterward, the sketch — which had been available on NBC’s website — disappeared. The sketch mocked a wealthy couple who profited off subprime mortgages named Herb and Marion Sandler, and it turns out there really is a wealthy couple named Herb and Marion Sandler who made billions off of subprime loans, and speculation was that offending the real Sandlers was the reason for pulling the sketch.

So now the sketch is back up, without any mention of the Sandlers. But as the L.A. Times notes, what’s really curious is that the re-edited sketch removed any satirical references to Barney Frank’s involvement in creating the economic crisis

Well that’s convenient.

Here’s video of the skit before it got yanked.

Here’s the skit as it is now:

I had actually started to like Saturday Night Live again this election season.  Their satire was both funny and even-handed.  But I just lost a lot of respect for them over this.