The Telegraph (Tim Shipman reporting) notes that there's comedy gold – in Barack Obama. Or rather in Obama's extremely high opinion of himself.
The punchline is this: the more seriously he took himself, the more Barack Obama has become a laughing matter.
Only a month ago American comedians and satirists were complaining that they found it hard to get people to laugh at the first black presidential nominee. A New Yorker cover cartoon showing him as a Muslim extremist was roundly denounced.
But growing Obama fatigue among voters after his pseudo-presidential visit to Europe and the Middle East has unleashed a wave of satirical fire, mocking Mr Obama for his apparent belief that he has the election in the bag.
Last month Jon Stewart, host of the satirical news programme The Daily Show, had to tell his audience that they were allowed to laugh at Mr Obama after a joke fell flat.
But Mr Stewart made comedic hay during the Illinois Senator's international trip, mocking his progress through the Holy Land, where he said the candidate stopped "in Bethlehem to see the manger where he was born."
There are some very funny lines from American comedians about Obama and his Rushmore-sized head. But I love that line from Stewart. Methinks the emperor's new clothes are on full display. (Do go over and read the article. There are some real gems there.)
The problem with the New Yorker cover is that the target of the satire was nowhere to be found in the cartoon. It takes more talent and perception to score on a bankshot like that, than is likely to be found drawing cartoons for the New Yorker even in its heyday. Let alone, now.
It really seems like the Obamessiah has given himself over to his own press coverage. The danger for him in believing his own press is that it’s only the press that are still that impressed by him. It is beginning to dawn on the rest of the public that this guy is nothing more than a stuffed shirt with a hugely inflated (by the press and his own arrogance) ego. His sonorous pronouncements are beginning to ring a little hollow.