Barack Obama walks into a bar...

He who cannot be laughed at is finally getting laughed at. How's that for a sign of the apocalypse?

I've posted several of these signs before, but a British journalist has gathered a small collection. Tim Shipman, Washington correspondent for the London Telegraph, writes The Joke is finally on Barack Obama.

Have you heard the one about the presidential candidate who was once so popular that comedians were frightened to make jokes about him?

The punchline is this: the more seriously he took himself, the more Barack Obama has become a laughing matter.

Only a month ago American comedians and satirists were complaining that they found it hard to get people to laugh at the first black presidential nominee. A New Yorker cover cartoon showing him as a Muslim extremist was roundly denounced.

But growing Obama fatigue among voters after his pseudo-presidential visit to Europe and the Middle East has unleashed a wave of satirical fire, mocking Mr Obama for his apparent belief that he has the election in the bag.

In addition to David Letterman's "Top 10 Signs Barack Obama Is Overconfident" (video at top of post) Shipman's sampling includes a few I hadn't heard before:

Craig Ferguson: "Barack Obama was in Germany" today, and "he did this speech and 100,000 people showed up. There were so many Germans shouting and screaming that France...surrendered just in case."

Jimmy Kimmel: "They really love Barack Obama in Germany. He's like a rock star over there. Impressive until you realize that David Hasselhoff is also like a rock star over there."

Jay Leno: "See Barack Obama on the news? He's becoming a workout fanatic. He's at the gym, like, twice a day, sometimes three times a day at the gym, yeah, according to his staff. Well, he has to stay in shape to do those flip-flops."

Jay Leno: "Barack Obama back from his big European tour. Did you see him in Europe? People were cheering him, holding up signs, blowing him kisses. And that was just the American media covering the story."

I like that last one particularly. But Jay Leno stole it from ... are you ready? John McCain. Now there's a real sign of the apocalypse, when comedians start stealing jokes from John McCain.