But as Noah was wrapping up his speech, he said something really important — and worth remembering.
“I stood here tonight and I made fun of the president of the United States,” Noah said. “And I am going to be fine.”
It was a line quickly lost in the hubbub of the night and the mad dash for the exits once Noah had finished speaking.
It shouldn’t be.
The ongoing Russian war against Ukraine bring the freedoms that we all take for granted into very sharp relief.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has, repeatedly, punished those who criticize him. Since the initial incursion into Ukraine, Putin has systematically shut down any dissenting voices in the media, leaving the Russian people in the dark about the true state of the war.
While many people insist no such thing could ever happen in America, we have lived through a four-plus-year assault on the very notion of truth — culminating in the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol, an insurrection fueled by misinformation about the 2020 election.
What the January 6 insurrection should have taught all of us that democracy is tenuous. When we take our rights and freedoms for granted, we run the very real risk of losing them.
That Noah could feel comfortable ribbing the President of the United States — while he sat just a few feet away — speaks to the strength of our democracy. Dissenting voices are both heard and welcomed.
We would all do well to remember that — in hopes that what Noah said Saturday night is always true in this country.