Cute. On one hand, "Bush is childish" humor is overdone - See Family Guy, Letterman, etc. On the other hand, the fact that he keeps hiring people who worked for his dad sort of keep the doors open for such jokes. Borowitz is also funnier than Letterman and Family Guy. Actually, anything is funnier than Family Guy.
Sometimes I wonder if Prof. Volokh and his fellow conspirators purposely avoid others' attempts at political humor most of the time. I can't think of any other explanation for why something like this is so stand-out funny to them. The joke's been done thousands of times already, and this isn't exactly one of the better executions.
I know that jokes about our President are a dime a dozen these days, and certainly 99% of them are worthy of nothing more than a groan. They're usually unoriginal and cliche, and often uttered by not very funny people. In fact, I think the more notable the politico making the joke, the less likely it'll be actually funny (I guess Borowitz is too far up the ladder, though he'll never be able to so completely ruin a joke as, say, Senator Kerry). But there are talented humorists out there, and some of them are doing stuff about government and politics that is so professionally well-done I can't imagine why anyone would opt for their amateurish counterparts. The worst issue of The Onion or the worst episode of The Daily Show will have five different jokes along these lines, and every single one will land better than this.
Bush II tells better jokes than this at his own expense. I thought that Will Ferrell's imitations of Bush were hilarious, but this attempt at humor was lame.
I know that jokes about our President are a dime a dozen these days, and certainly 99% of them are worthy of nothing more than a groan. They're usually unoriginal and cliche, and often uttered by not very funny people. In fact, I think the more notable the politico making the joke, the less likely it'll be actually funny (I guess Borowitz is too far up the ladder, though he'll never be able to so completely ruin a joke as, say, Senator Kerry). But there are talented humorists out there, and some of them are doing stuff about government and politics that is so professionally well-done I can't imagine why anyone would opt for their amateurish counterparts. The worst issue of The Onion or the worst episode of The Daily Show will have five different jokes along these lines, and every single one will land better than this.