Christian Science Monitor column

My op/ed for the Christian Science Monitor is available online. It discusses the history of humor in presidential politics -- and why there's so little humor in the 2008 race. There's also an audio interview with me available at the same site.

Here's the first paragraph:

Abraham Lincoln loved a good joke. During the famous Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858, Stephen Douglas accused Lincoln of being two-faced. "I leave it to you," Lincoln replied, "If I had another face, do you think I would wear this one?" Each one of Lincoln's jokes, Douglas complained, "seems like a whack upon my back."

Click to continue.