re: satirist
Michael Moore also spends a lot of time whitewashing the stream of abuse and lies he generates by saying "it's all just a joke." Fine. The same excuse doesn't seem to work for conservatives, but there it is.
What's really funny is that half the gay couple in Doonesbury, Chase Talbott* is, to the best of my knowledge, the only living Republican in the entire strip (Lacey Davenport is dead.**) Talbott, of course, is about as realistic as a conservative as Trudeau can manage, i.e. not realistic at all, but at least he exists.
*who doesn't rate a biography on the web page.
**she doesn't get one either.