Jabs at Cheney an "Ugly" truth of VP's infamy

[Kadie]

Jabs at Cheney an "Ugly" truth of VP's infamy
By Joanne Ostrow
Denver Post Television Critic
Article Last Updated: 09/29/2007 06:28:11 PM MDT


Vanessa Williams plays the devilish would-be publisher Wilhemina Slater in "Ugly Betty." (ABC)After all the editorial cartoons knocking Dick Cheney, after Jon Stewart's riffs and the Letterman/Leno jokes, it still comes as a surprise when a primetime comedy aims a personal barb at a sitting member of the executive branch of government.

Once Cheney becomes fair game on a mainstream hit like ABC's "Ugly Betty," you know he, as a symbol of this administration, is reviled by most Americans.

These days you don't have to watch "Meet the Press" to get a stinging critique of the war, President Bush or the GOP in general. Jabs at the Republican establishment and Bush administration policy are popping up on primetime TV entertainment shows too.

When "Ugly Betty" launched its new season Thursday, a persistent theme of the amplified, soapy dramedy was the devilish nature of the scheming Wilhemina Slater, played by Vanessa Williams. The plotting, would-be publisher was depicted as hellish, the very embodiment of evil, complete with literal fire and brimstone accouterments. Capping the over-the-top display of Wilhemina's satanic ways, the camera panned a photo, conspicuously displayed in her office: her hero, Cheney.

Who else would the devil worship as a role model?

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