This time, it’s Greg Braxton in the LA Times who says, “Comedians are treading carefully as they test the limits of political satire with a black president.”

Yes. Comedians and political satirists. Treading carefully. They’re such a cautious lot. Always concerned about how their audience “feels” and constantly fretting over how they’re perceived and what kind of reaction a joke might get. Always more than willing to take the blame if an audience fails to get a joke or, worse, takes a joke the wrong way. “Can’t rile the audience. They might think less of me. They might get offended!”

Is this the New Political Comedian? If it is, then we don’t particularly care for it. (And their reticence is making us all look bad.)

Of course, the opposite– the rude political sage who rams his ideology down the throats of unsuspecting audience members with gags that are poorly crafted and about as subtle as a poke in the eye with a sharp stick– is not a very appealing archetype. But these folks must find something in between.

Bill Maher, a professor or two, a TV producer and Stan Winston, a former Tonight Show writer, are the ones holding forth on why comedians are suffering from occupational paralysis.

Interestingly, “writers and producers for Late Show With David Letterman, The Tonight Show, The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report declined comment for this story.” Are they catching on that these stories are making everybody look bad?

There’s hope. Maher seems to be chafing under the oppressive atmosphere (it’s about time) when he describes his freebie studio audience members as people…

…who are overly sensitive, particularly about race. But he says when he’s on the road performing in arenas, jokes about Obama having a shark tank in the White House earn big laughs.

“There’s a huge difference with the stand-up audiences across the country in cities such as Tulsa and Kansas City,” said Maher. “Those people never boo. They’re the real deal, true freethinkers. They want to laugh.”

We’re pretty sure the sarcasm light wasn’t flashing.

For the past 18 years, the comics (and TV show hosts) who dealt with politics were portrayed as sort of verbal superheroes– armed only with their wit and their ability to deliver a gag, valiantly speaking truth to power, not caring one iota about who might get hurt in the process.

Suddenly, Obama is Komedy Kryptonite.

It’s 2009, and they’re struck dumb. Cowed by their New York and Hollywood audiences (“limousine liberals” as Maher calls them.) and all too willing to lay low and wait for the president to make some sort of gaffe, to stumble in some way, physically or verbally or policy-wise.

All the while they completely ignore the fact that President Obama once said that there are 57 states… on tape… and it’s all over YouTube. Of course, a statement like that would have been a watershed comedy moment had any other candidate– of any party affiliation, any race, any gender– said the same thing or the equivalent.

If you are getting tired of hearing us bitch about this subject, trust us– we’re getting mighty tired of reading about it.