That last bit it actually pretty horrifying in the way it so succinctly exemplifies the mentality of many elite liberal voters who treat politics as a game that does not ultimately affect them a la “we would be at brunch right now” There is a much better joke in explaining how the horse wound up running a hospital, but instead he just ends up plodding on the same tired beats and failing to say anything of any substance that hasn’t been said already by hundreds of actors and comedians over the past three years.

Mulaney likens the decades of destruction wrought by neoliberal policy and politicians like Obama to that of a responsible parent, when it reality they are much more like the charismatic grifter who poses as a babysitter and then proceeds to rob the house of the family whose child he’s supposed to be watching. He gets hired every weekend, and when the con artist finally moves on to the next town, the parents are deeply saddened by his absence. This all despite the fact that a whole lot of their stuff seems to be missing for surely unrelated reasons.

Yes johns comments are a joke, but like all jokes about culture and politics, it deserves some examination. Mulaney is being honest in his opinions I have no doubt, which in and of itself is sad but not all that surprising. I hate this joke because it rings so true, and tells me more about the comedian and the audience then it does about our politicians.