Entertainment at the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner was NOT all in good fun.
The New York Times' coverage of the event didn't have the same take.
No, Ashley Parker was loving it, sharing some details of the alleged hilarity and the excitement of those in attendance.
President Obama took the stage at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner Saturday night and said he was going to “speak off the cuff” — as two teleprompters loudly whirred into place.
“I’m Barack Obama,” he said. “Most of you covered me. All of you voted for me.”
Such is the criticism of the annual soiree — that the president and the press corps who cover him are just a little too cozy — and this year’s dinner provided the usual mix of journalists, administration officials and Hollywood imports.
...“The difference is palpable,” [actor Richard] Belzer said, who attended the dinner once before during the Bush years. “It just seems more glamorous. Now it’s rock-star, Kennedy elegance.”
“Nothing wrong with being cool,” he added quickly.
The Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence Page stood just inside the massive room, looking for his table before the dinner, and offered his own assessment on the giddy mood: “This is Christmas at Tysons Corner.” (Which is to say, we assume, cramped and crowded but with the promise of something exciting at the end.)
I don't think there was anything cool about the way Obama behaved at times.
I don't know which I found more disgusting -- Wanda Sykes' material or Obama laughing at it.
Transcript
WANDA SYKES: Rush Limbaugh, one of your big critics. Uh, boy, Rush Limbaugh said he hopes this administration fails.
You know, so you're saying, 'I hope America fails.' You're like, 'I don't care about people losing their homes, their jobs, our soldiers in Iraq.' He just wants the country to fail.
To me, that's treason. He's not saying anything differently than what Osama bin Laden is saying.
You know, you might want to look into this, sir, because I think maybe Rush Limbaugh was the 20th hijacker, but he was so strung out on Oxycontin he missed his flight.
Too much? But you're laughing inside. I know you're laughing.
Obama wasn't "laughing inside." He was laughing openly at Sykes' ugly remarks.
SYKES: Rush Limbaugh -- 'I hope the country the fails.' I hope his kidneys fail. How 'bout that?
He needs a little waterboarding. That's what he needs.
Wow.
I'm not surprised that Sykes would say that stuff; but I am surprised that Obama would allow himself to be seen laughing at such horrible remarks.
Maybe I shouldn't be surprised. Obama thinks it's OK to mock the participants in Special Olympics. The guy has a truly twisted sense of humor. I shouldn't be surprised that someone like him would enjoy such cruelty. Obama thinks being cruel is funny.
I'm not picking up on "Kennedy elegance" with Obama.
_________________
From REDSTATE: Jokes Wanda Sykes didn't tell.
29 comments:
Wanda Sykes was great. Thanks for posting her routine.
I stopped listening to Rush when I found out he was a narcotics addict. Fact is, Rush wants America to fail.
And so do you.
Pff, lighten up. Of course waterboarding isn't alright, and some of Wanda's comments are just as 'over the edge' as Rush Limbaugh sometimes made.
But you can also be too biased about a person. All these negative remarks about the event are totally one-sided, not even trying to see other sides.
Ah well, that's your right of course.
You're welcome, libhom.
__________
Gus, did you stop watching Favre when you found out he was a Vicodin addict?
I suppose you don't support Al Franken. He's a former cokehead, drunk, and drug abuser.
Can you think of anyone on Air America or any Leftist performer who hasn't broken America's drug and/or alcohol laws?
Did Ted Kennedy's drunkenness bother you? Chappaquiddick?
Fact is, Rush wants America to succeed. That's why he wants Obama's misguided, God-awful, Leftist policies to fail.
_________
Anon, with all due respect, as far as being too rough on Sykes and seeing one side, yours is a very one-sided comment. You jump to conclusions about my alleged biases about Sykes.
This particular post addresses what she said about Limbaugh, not her ability as a comic in general. I'm not biased about Sykes. I enjoy some of her humor. I think she can be very funny.
However, her remarks about Limbaugh were just ugly. She twisted what he said about wanting AMERICA to fail. He doesn't want Obama to enact his disastrous policies. Thus, he wants him to fail.
Limbaugh definitely wants America to succeed. Either Sykes is ignorant of the distinction or she intentionally set out to deceive.
I think it's sleazy to mock Rush about his drug problem. Why is it that when Leftists go to rehab they're heroic? When Rush faces his challenge, he's ridiculed.
Talk about being one-sided. It's shameful.
To suggest that Rush was the 20th hijacker is beyond the pale.
"Fact is, Rush wants America to succeed. That's why he wants Obama's misguided, God-awful, Leftist policies to fail."
Who's Favre?
I don't like Franken. I don't like Ted Kennedy. I don't like you and Rush Limbaugh is a narcotics addict.
Stop listening to and quoting and worshipping narcotics addicts, period.
Rush Limbaugh and you want America to fail.
Mary - Dead on as usual!!
Gee, Gus, you hurt my feelings.
Obama is a past cokehead and is a bore and an amateur hour thug.
The beauty of all of this mess is that Obama is setting himself up for the perfect economic storm of failure. Throw in the upcoming nuclear World War III if Iran cannot be contained and his Presidency is toast.
Thanks, Jill!
Over the line is over the line. And Sykes went over.
If Rush was at all honest about his problem he could be forgiven, but that's not his game. He's the worse kind of hypocrite. You enable him because you like his brand of hatred. Hold on as long as you can. It's the american way.
Aren't these events supposed to be roasting the president and him engaging in self-deprecating humor (like the teleprompter joke) moreso than engaging in barbed, partisan attacks?
I didn't watch any of it, so maybe I'm missing something here.
I certainly don't recall Colbert doing for Bush what Sykes did for Obama.
Yes the one thing that's always over the line for the right is suggesting, without evidence, that someone is a terrorist.
Oh, wait a minute...
And I love this "defense" of Rush Limbaugh. At best Limbaugh is a hack winger comedian. What is leaping to his "defense" establishing beyond doubt?
The right: they can dish it out, but can't take it.
Rush cam completely clean with his audience regarding his addiction.
Nothing is known about Obama's hazy cocaine days at Columbia. All of his records and history from those years are nowhere to be found.
Obama is the liar and hypocrite.
Had we been so lucky as to have Dick & Bush still in the WH, would it have been ok & funny for the POTUS to say something like this:
If this were a dictatorship it would be a heck of a lot easier. So long as i'm the dictator.
Oh, wait, Bush did say that! and people did think that it was funny!!
So as long as astrnomically ridiculous rhetoric comes out of someone other than a democrats mouth, it's funny?
Got it, now it all makes sense.
People, get a clue: they're jokes!! Even the asinine comment by your previous dictat..uhm, leader.
Bush making jokes about himself and Obama joking about his teleprompter dependence are not the same as Sykes calling Rush the 20th terrorist or saying she hopes his kidneys fail.
Not all "jokes" are equal.
Just as when Obama compared his poor bowling skills to the Special Olympics, some things aren't funny. They're offensive. They're cruel.
Just because something is said allegedly in jest does not mean it's appropriate.
Wishing death on someone, mocking one's struggle with drug addiction, and calling someone the 20th 9/11 hijacker isn't funny.
It wasn't funny when Obama mocked Nancy Reagan. At least Obama was willing to call her and apologize for his stupidity and cruelty.
So the President showed he is human and has a sense of humor. Get a grip. I'd much rather have a leader who makes off-color remarks about Special Olympians and laughs openly at jokes about waterboarding Rush than one who is uber-concerned with how "this" or "that" will look and choreographing how it should be played.
You can't be serious.
You think it's appropriate for Obama to mock Special Olympics participants?
When America fails, Rush Limbaugh prospers.
Rush Limbaugh has made a career out of vitriolic and nasty comments, so I'm finding it hard to find any sympathy for him.
"Did Ted Kennedy's drunkenness bother you?"
Did George W. Bush's alcoholism bother you, Mary?
"anonymous, 4:19 PM, May 11, 2009" says: "When America fails, Rush Limbaugh prospers."
(BTW, would it kill you to make up a screen name?)
I am so sick of hearing that "America failing" BS.
1. Rush has made it clear that he wants AMERICA to succeed. He doesn't want OBAMA and his flunkies to succeed at stripping us of our liberties, making us dependent on government, destroying the private sector, forcing socialized medicine on us, and slashing our military, jeopardizing our national security.
It's absolutely ridiculous to say that Rush prospers when America fails. He prospered during the Clinton administration, the Bush administration, and he'll prosper during Obama's administration.
2. For 8 freaking years, Lefties not only wanted President Bush to fail, they did everything they could to make him fail.
Leaders of the Dem Party, elected officials, relentlessly tried to weaken him. They undermined him as commander in chief, putting our troops at risk. Unconscionable.
Lefties in the media were on a mission to destroy President Bush from day one of his presidency. The New York Times assisted our enemies at every opportunity by spilling details about secret programs. Unforgivable.
The Left did everything they could to make President Bush fail. The Leftists not only talked, they walked the anti-American walk.
Do you see how insane it is for the Leftists to be whining about something a talk radio host said?
Leftists are twisting his words and lying for their political gain.
Zach W., I don't recall Rush ever wishing death on anyone. The only exceptions would be bin Laden and our enemies.
You can be an apologist for Wanda Sykes. I wouldn't want to be in your position. Even Robert Gibbs tried to distance Obama from Sykes' remarks.
That, of course, is crazy. We all saw him laughing. No efforts to say Obama didn't approve of what Sykes said will work. He loved it. WE SAW HIM LAUGHING.
Regarding drunkenness--
George Bush's problems with alcohol didn't bother me, because he overcame them. He didn't kill anybody while driving drunk or leave the scene of an accident, like Teddy.
But that's not the point. The point is we could go in circles with naming people on the Left and the Right with addictions.
I don't know why Leftists consider Rush's struggles with substance abuse open season. It's hypocritical. Someone like Ted Kennedy gets a pass. Former cokehead Al Franken gets a pass. Former coke user Obama gets a pass, etc.
Mary, as they say in my neck of the woods, you are absolutely full of it.
For MOST of his failed presidency, Bush had a Republican House, Senate, and of course an ultra-right cabinet.
And yet what are his "legacies"? That's right, a broken economy and two botched wars making Americans less safe than they've been at any time since the end of the Cold War.
But this isn't about Bush.
This isn't even about Obama.
This is about a comedian taking on another comedian ON HIS OWN GROUND.
Rush of the "bend over for Obama" jokes. Rush of the "Michael J Fox is exaggerating his Parkinson's" jokes. Rush of the "waterboarding is a frat prank" jokes.
Honestly, f*** Rush. Anyone defending him is deliberately whitewashing his history of extremely off-color, extremely poor-taste jokes. That you lapped up like a cat in cream, no doubt.
So he was targeted with an off-color, poor-taste joke.
So what?
He that lives by the sword will die by it. Or, alternatively, if there's any justice in the world, from a busted liver from years of substance abuse.
The sooner the right gets over its Rush fixation, the sooner we will be an effective opposition party, and the sooner we'll return to true Republican values and put the entire Bush nightmare behind us.
Yes I said we. Yes I am a registered Republican.
Haven't voted R since Goldwater -- but that's another story.
Rush is an offensive pig to 80% of the country who does not agree with his racist views. SO WHAT he was the butt of a joke. I wish someone would just put him out of his misery, be it his own body or someone else.
This is about a comedian taking on another comedian ON HIS OWN GROUND.
Rush of the "bend over for Obama" jokes. Rush of the "Michael J Fox is exaggerating his Parkinson's" jokes. Rush of the "waterboarding is a frat prank" jokes.Steven Moore,
What WH Press Correspondents Dinner was Rush invited to as the guest comedian? The problem with Sykes is that her brand of humor didn't fit the occasion. The spirit and tradition of the Dinner seems to be one of good-natured ribbing and roasting, and self-deprecation.
Yes I said we. Yes I am a registered Republican.
Haven't voted R since Goldwater -- but that's another story.Who were you pulling for in '08 Ron Paul?
Steven Moore says: "Honestly, f*** Rush. Anyone defending him is deliberately whitewashing his history of extremely off-color, extremely poor-taste jokes. That you lapped up like a cat in cream, no doubt."
This bugs me. Don't assume you know what I lap "up like a cat in cream." You can't make that leap.
Steven Moore says: "So he was targeted with an off-color, poor-taste joke. So what?"
The issue is not that Limbaugh was the target of a terrible joke. So what else is new?
The issue is that Sykes made the extremely distasteful remarks while performing for the president of the United States and Obama found it extremely amusing.
Context, context, context.
FYI -- I'm not a Republican. I'm not registered with any political party.
>>while performing for the president of the United States and Obama found it extremely amusing.
Nope. Wrong again.
She wasn't "performing for the PUSA" she was performing for the WHCD. To say she was "performing for the president" is just a deliberate lie. You know she wasn't. Why try and claim something that just ain't so?
Does anyone remember the frankly racist routine performed at the same dinner when Nixon was PUSA? Maybe I'm just old. But I remember these things. She ain't the first to crack a colorful joke in front of the PUSA, she won't be the last, and the WHCD has a tradition of exactly that.
Hell, remember Bush joking about WMD "under the couch"? Thanks, Mr. President. How many people died for your WMD lie, again? Oh you're so funny Mr President.
As for Obama "finding it extremely amusing" that's also, frankly, just a lie. Watch the tape. He smiled, and took a sip of water. No knee-slapping. No laughter (he was laughing at his own jokes earlier, which I thought was a bit much, but at least you know what he looks like when he laughs).
To the other poster, I didn't vote in '08. McCain's "moment" was 20 years ago. I wish he'd followed Reagan. He'd have been a great president, 20 years ago. But he backed away from his formerly principled stand on torture, and so that signaled his character loud and clear to me. And I had problems with Obama's lack of experience, so couldn't go there.
Notice, too, Mary, how you're backing away from your initial outrage as you realize what a crock it is. At first you were faking concern and "outraged" at her Limbaugh comment. When me and others show you that's just silly (considering who Rush is), you're now moderating your views to "it was off color in front of the prez."
Face it, you're losing this one.
I'm not backing away from my opinion of the tastelessness of Sykes' remarks about Limbaugh in any way, shape, or form.
If that's your impression, you're wrong.
As far as your argument that Sykes wasn't performing for Obama, that's an absolutely ridiculous parsing.
Sykes was very aware of the fact that she was making Obama laugh.
From The Hill:
Sykes admitted the night seemed a bit surreal. "It still hasn't sunk in yet. I haven't absorbed it," she told The Hill about her dinner experience.
But President Obama gave her a thumbs up.
"He told me I did a great job," Sykes said. "The first lady said the same thing. I got a well done from the president, I'm on cloud nine."-------
I really object to you saying I was faking concern and outrage.
That's total BS.
No one has shown me the "silliness" of my opinions.
You may not misrepresent my thoughts and words.
Hell, remember Bush joking about WMD "under the couch"? Thanks, Mr. President. How many people died for your WMD lie, again? Oh you're so funny Mr President.The joke wasn't aimed at making fun of the troops; it was to self-deprecate, as those WH correspondents were fond of making the "no wmds found" point.
And there's a difference between a lie and a mistake based upon flawed intell.
The intell on al-Qaeda links to Iraq, on the other hand, were under-emphasized by the CIA. I know you laugh, but simply check out the last study on the matter, the Iraqi Perspectives Project.
To the other poster, I didn't vote in '08. McCain's "moment" was 20 years ago. I wish he'd followed Reagan. He'd have been a great president, 20 years ago.Did you vote for Reagan?
But he backed away from his formerly principled stand on torture, and so that signaled his character loud and clear to me. He opposed an intelligence bill that would have applied military standards to the CIA. That's what McCain opposed. His stance on torture remains the same.
How can Wanda Sykes comments be any worse than what comes out of Rush's mouth every time he opens it?
I find him offensive everyday.
You right-wingers always have to have something negative to focus on or you wouldn't have anything else to do.
I personally thought Wanda Sykes joke was funny and I have to admit-
The thought of Rush out of commision is a pleasant thought to me........
Post a Comment