One such show depicts political leaders as puppets, wearing short pants and being manipulated by their Iranian, Syrian, American, and French "masters."

With the sole exception of Al Manar, the television channel of the Shiite Hezbollah organization, all Lebanon's private TV stations broadcast satirical shows.

Undisputed leader of the pack is LBCI, with 26 percent of the audience tuning in to "Basmat Watan" - a play on words in Arabic meaning both "smiles" and "death of a nation."

Its figures beat the 8 o'clock news, which comes in a poor fourth place with 18.4 percent of the ratings.

The audience for "Basmat Watan" also trounces the 16.3 percent garnered by the highly valued political talkfest "Kalam Al Nass" - "What the People Say."

One sketch depicts the smelly suit of a politician that continues to stink, no matter whether the detergent used to clean it is Western, Syrian, or Iranian. The cleaner discovers that the terrible odor comes from the man who wears it.

"Basmat Watan" producer Sharbel Khalil is a pioneer in this kind of programming in Lebanon, which he began in 1993. A year ago a sketch in which he parodied Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah sparked rioting by the movement's supporters.

"Our satire has become an outlet," Khalil said. "By tuning in, Lebanese compensate for their sense of powerlessness, and the fact that they are not masters of their own destinies."

He is a staunch defender of the country's independence.

"In the past, I used to ridicule Syrian domination. These days I strip naked our politicians who have offered us up as food to a multitude of other influences," he said.

"The key is to take on absolutely everyone. I make no secret of my sympathies for general Michel Aoun," the leader of the Christian opposition, who is allied with Hezbollah. "But one of my favorite skits shows a journalist whose face is all puffed after interviewing the general," who is reportedly quick-tempered.

Lebanon is known for its freedom of expression in a region dominated by authoritarian regimes.

Andre Gedeon has taken up the torch of "The 10 O'Clock Theater," a cabaret troupe specializing in satire that was founded in 1962.

One skit on the political power struggles shows a perilous bus journey to Baabda - the official residence of the country's president - in which the vehicle is full of Lebanese in the dubious care of a particularly bad driver whose lack of skills threatens to plunge them into a ravine at any moment.

Lebanon's current political crisis was partly sparked by Syria issuing a decree in 2004 renewing the mandate of the president, Emile Lahoud.

"We urge the Lebanese to laugh at themselves through their history of blood and tears," said Gedeon. "In denouncing politicians, we are sending a message to young people not to allow themselves to be used as cannon fodder in a new civil war aimed at satisfying their power-crazy leaders."

Lebanese politicians themselves have even been known to wield the weapon of humor, albeit questionably.

In a political broadcast earlier this month the pro-Syrian speaker of parliament, Nabih Berri, said that he had "high hopes of the SS" - Syria and Saudi Arabia - in solving the Lebanese political crisis.

Salim Yassine - AFP