With a bevy of new shows and returning favorites, I’d have to say SNL is really something I look forward to.  Aside from the gags, the skits and the musical guests, what really gets me rolling on the floor, hysterically laughing are the political impersonations.

Add that to the fact that they satirize my current favorite reality TV show, the US elections and you’re guaranteed that Saturdays at home won’t necessarily be something to NOT-look forward to.

Is it wrong if they do political impersonations?  I think not — SNL writers are hip, savvy and always timely, plus, jokes are half-truths — they parodied that half and added the other half, intelligently, of course, to the mix.  Besides, if you were looking for the issues, digging deeper, etc — why were you looking at a comedy show?

Here’s a little rundown of my favorite SNL political impersonations:

Darrel Hammond as Bill Clinton – Clinton may not be the big chief in these elections, but he’s still certainly BIG.  What’s not to like about Bill?  I do think he’s certainly a character, Darrel Hammond does a fine job of copying the best (the funny!) parts of Clinton, plus, of course, he gave Hillary her last name.  Plus, he’s also the most parodied surviving president in SNL, with a whopping 67 appearances by Hammond and another 20 by several other previous SNL cast members.

Darrel Hammond as John McCain – Okay, so maybe I did just mention Darrel Hammond — but his 14th season in SNL is looking to be another busy one, as he’s set to do McCain.  As we witnessed last Saturday, he brings on the laugh in the faux debate, capturing the essence and spirit of that serious event and transforming it into something we can readily consume.  (Plus, we can all remember that McCain did a cameo appearance on Weekend Update, joking about his age.)

Fred Armisen as Barack Obama – From what I’ve read, Armisen coached McCain in his opening monologue for that Weekend Update appearance — and we all know that brought in the laughs.  Appearing in dark makeup, he does his best to carry on the charismatic power of Obama and making it funny.

Amy Poehler as Hillary Clinton – We’ve already mentioned Bill — here’s Hillary’s turn.  Poehler has this huge arsenal of characters in SNL, one of those just happens to be Hillary.  There’s this funny bit in this season’s premiere where she (as Hillary) was to deliver a “Nonpartisan message” with Sarah Palin; where Palin was going to mention that both she and Hillary don’t agree on “some things” where Poehler cuts in, and blurts out “anything.”

Which, of course leads to my favorite political impersonation on SNL:

Tina Fey as Sarah Palin – From McCain’s announcement, there have been observations on the resemblance — it’s actually pretty far-fetched if you look at ‘em side-by-side.  It must’ve been the glasses.  In this year’s season premiere, a full week before it was aired, there’ve been speculations about Fey coming back to SNL temporarily to play Sarah Palin, and then one Saturday evening, it really happened.  She recently reprised the character again, this time, being interviewed by Katie Couric, played by Amy Poehler — where they discussed how, when Palin is being backed into a corner she becomes even more adorable — expertly called out by Fey and the glasses.

The lipstick comment — we do live in weird political times.  The other day we were crucifying Palin because of her Freddie and Fanny mistake, and the media is doing the same to Obama for a comment about lipstick.

In all of fairness, I have heard this saying before, although the timing couldn’t be worse — Palin referred to herself as (take note) a pit bull with lipstick on just a week prior — the media just could not resist.

First off, Obama always chooses his words carefully — most times its tailored for the people who will be listening to him, so was this a “malicious” attack, or just a saying?  Obama explained himself in Letterman just the other night, to clarify himself, he said that Palin was the lipstick; McCain [and his inefficient policies] the pig.

Do you think it was intentional, or was it an honest mistake?

While the news and media, and most everyone can’t seem to get enough of digging dirt about Palin, (clue: she puts ‘em out there already!) Obama’s making a plan to manage the oil reserve.

Sen. Barack Obama is proposing a simple maneuver — called an exchange, or swap — that will help lower the price of oil for consumers, increase the amount of oil in the SPR, increase energy security, and leave taxpayers better off by about $1 billion. His proposal deserves to be adopted.

In 1975, after the Arab oil embargo, the U.S. created the SPR to protect against oil supply disruptions. That reserve now consists of 706 million barrels of crude oil, the largest stockpile in the world.

As the steward of that stockpile, the Department of Energy plays an important role in oil markets. Merely announcing oil acquisitions or sales from the SPR moves oil prices. The SPR’s drawdown capability of 4.4 million barrels of oil per day surpasses the daily production capacity of Iran, Iraq or Venezuela.

But honestly, if he does manage the oil situation, wouldn’t we all still be living on a living-on-the-paycheck basis, because of his proposed higher taxes?  No matter how much good that would seem to do, people just DO NOT like taxes.

From The Wall Street Journal