Not so hard a question as you might think.
During the campaign for president that both Bush and Gore were in, BOTH appeared on Saturday Night Live, a TV show that has lampooned every American President since the 1970’s. Indeed, candidate Bush was even lampooning himself and his muddling of the English language in the opening skit.
And keep in mind that SNL never spared their wit for his father, either.
In the US, if you even run for public office you are considered fair game for politcal humorists, be they stand up comics, newspaper cartoonists, or TV actors. if you actually win, even more so. Indeed, if you can’t stand the mocking don’t volunteer for the job. There are some who think that if a political figure ISN’T mocked to some degree they must not be very effective or doing anything.
In other words, in the US the holder of a politcal office has less protection against being lampooned than a private citizen, not more.
I am told this is very different from other countries.
So, the idea that some watchdog group is objecting to the President of the United States being statirized is… bizarre to this American citizen. Probably there are some lines of good taste and respect that shouldn’t be crossed, but not many of them. You’re talking about a country were citizens burn their own flag in protest from time to time — we’re going to get worked up because you make fun our President? We know he’s a dork and stumbles over his own native tongue! Have these Brits who are objecting listened to US comedy about our government? Man, we say things routinely about our elected leaders that, in many countries, would get you jail time - and it’s perfectly legal.
Heck, Dana Carvey made a career out of mocking Bush, Sr. and was invited to dine at the White House with the President! We Americans are very accepting of political humor - go ahead and mock. If the show is any good, please send it overseas, we can always use another dose of humor.