UPDATE: As I predicted, the Yahoo Home Page headline this morning leads with "President Jokes About Himself..."...pokes fun at Washington, himself" so open minded, so self effacing.....what a guy! Let's VOTE FOR HIM! (ya, right)
Also, just wanted to update again after watching Sykes for the 2nd time....She "hopes Rush Limbaugh's kidney fails..." And "I tell my kids.." (MY KIDS?)...that if two cards drive up and one's a stranger and one's Cheney, you get in the stranger's car." There was no end to low. By the way, Olbermann WAS challenged to waterboard Hannity but HE backed down, not Hannity, just for the record, Ms Sykes.
So I just watched the Obama speech on CSPAN tonight..at the Washington Correspondents Dinner:
Mr. Obama started his words with a teleprompter joke to deflect the criticism he's been receiving...Big laugh there from the media crowd.
I guess you'd all think I was priggish and old fashioned to say that I wished my president hadn't said that "Rahm Emanuel has a rough time tomorrow because he has difficulty saying Mother with the word DAY after it...that's the truth, he really DOES!" 'Hilarious', huh? Well, he didn't actually say the WORD we all know he implied, our new president of these United States of America....but he sure got a BIG laugh.
He said his daughters who were not there that night because they were "grounded....they took Air Force One for a spin around NYC and we had to ground them..this whole thing's getting a little to their heads..." deflecting criticism of that nightmarish event last week. ("if I can laugh at it, it's just one big joke, and aren't I amiable and self-effacing?", he implies. Now his daughters are under that proverbial Obama bus, huh!?)
But, his words to the media were the most amazing to me. Some of his first words at the dais were welcoming the media ".....all of whom voted for ME!.......with apologies to that one FOX table over there.." BIG laugh after that line from his media sycophants.
Mr. Obama talked about how the media "informs the public and pursues the truth". My Gosh.
"The media's ultimate success is essential to democracy." I kept wondering if he even realized how biased our media has become. He said the media must be "tough and vibrant and anything less is not an option for the United States of America." "We look to YOU for the TRUTH." Who does, Mr. President??
But, my favorite was "When YOU are at YOUR best, I am at MY BEST." Well said, Mr. President. If their "best" is to be in the bag for you, and it seems that IS their best, sadly, then you really are at your best. How could you be otherwise? As if the media'd be the slightest bit critical? Something we can agree on....finally.
I hate reporting this negatively. It gives me absolutely no pleasure. I've always very much enjoyed watching the Washington Correspondents Dinner. Not so much tonight. Oh, but Michael Steele enjoyed himself; Mr. Obama introduced him and said the Republican Party doesn't warrant a bail-out. Steele was delighted, stood up and had a spot light on him, big smile and WAVES to the crowd. mhmm
OH! And the scholarships for the young people introduced there totaled quite a bit more than the last year's. The emcee, a CSPAN interviewer, implied that was Obama's greatness, too.
Quite a night. Not THE BEST, for sure.
z
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39 comments:
How many of those comments will actually be heard by the average American so they can see what a jerk they have elected.
zip, Shoprat, count on it.
But, don't forget, obama's so enthralled with our media's TRUTHFULNESS, right!?
Imagine that line about Mothers? only Obama. He's lowered the bar for future presidents who have dignity with one lousy joke as if he's playing more to the audience than to the American public; which he also seemed to do while he campaigned...anything to please the crowd THERE, not caring what the millions of cameras were recording.
But, you know? it WORKED!
Wanda Sykes was the Comedian and did have a funny line about him...she said "first black president, you'd better do a good job....or, if you mess up, we'll be saying "what's with that half-white president?" THAT was funny.............and pretty darned TRUE, huh?
I laughed at his jokes. Maybe it’s something wrong with me, but I thought they were funny.
Or, oh mother, I’m a hopeless sycophant! One lacking an ax to grind.
This guy is truly insufferable. He shows every day where he is coming from - they all think the language of community organizers is cute... I think it is a disgrace and a disservice to the country. But after all, what do you expect from a community organizer? He must stay in training when these folks of ACORN and so on come over to strategize.
May be with the exception of some Africa countries (and I don't mean to insult them when I mention at the same level as this government), this is the most incompetent and corrupt government I have ever seen in my lifetime.
And what is worse is that the MSM has a communist agenda (only God knows why), and so they are playing right with these guys. Disgusting is an understatement.
Mr.Z
psi bond, you're NOT a hopeless sycophant? right!
Odd, past presidents have been funny and haven't had to sound like thug community organizers, mr. Z's right.
I thought obama was funny, too..if he'd been Letterman or the late great Richard Pryor......but he's president. America used to be dignified, now we're talking about Michelle and the "Right to bear arms" (which was the best line of the night, in my opinion, VERY clever)
I looked forward to them during Clinton, too.........I thought maybe obama would rise above his basketball pick-game mentality and class it up.
oh, well.
The President gave a funny speech at the White House Correspondents Association tonight, offering a bit of self-deprecation -- fake teleprompters -- but saving the harshest digs for senior aides, Republican leaders, and the press.
"Most of you covered me. All of you voted for me," he said to applause and laughter. "Apologies to the Fox table."
The hardest shots at aides: The White House, he said, was a now a place to learn and grow. For example, "Larry Summers asked if he could chair the White House Council on Women and Girls," he said, adding that it was "seven hours past his bedtime."
He and Hillary Clinton "could not be closer," Obama said. "The second she got back from Mexico she pulled me into a hug and gave me a big kiss."
(Jokes about Rahm swearing are getting a bit tired, I think, though Obama's -- "he's not use to saying the word 'day' after 'mother." -- wasn't bad.)
By far the toughest bit of the night was aimed at Michael Steele, who he said was "in the house -- or as he would say, in the heezy -- wassup?" mocking Steele's penchant for slang.
(Steele told me afterward that it was "love between brothers." "It was great -- always good to get the shoutout," he said.)
Boehner also got a "wassup" "He is a person of color, although not one that appears in the natural world."
The bit likely to resonate on cable tomorrow: Obama smiling through comedian Wanda Sykes' over-the-top attack on Rush Limbaugh:
"He just wants the country to fail. To me that's treason. He's not saying anything different than what Osama Bin Laden is saying. You might want to look into this, sir, because I think Rush Limbaugh was the 20th hijacker but he was just so strung out on Oxycontin he missed his flight. ... Rush Limbaugh, I hope the country fails, I hope his kidneys fail, how about that? He needs a good waterboarding, that's what he needs," she said.
Also, one interesting sidenote on same-sex marriage.
Joking of launching the presidential campaign with Axelrod, Obama said he'd said "the same thing that partners all across America are saying to one another right now: 'Let's go to Iowa and make it official.'"
By Ben Smith 12:45 AM
www.politico.com
Z: psi bond, you're NOT a hopeless sycophant? right!Perhaps not. But I am laughing it up under the bus where Obama's thrown Sasha and Malia, Hillary, Rahm, and Larry Summers–––apologies to the Fox table and Z bloggers.
Susan Boyle turned down an invitation to the dinner:
"She was shocked and thrilled by the invite - but it was all too much too soon for her so she said No."
"She has been told President Obama has seen clips of her on TV and loved her singing. And she is delighted.
"But instead she'll have no doubt stayed in with her cat Pebbles, washed her hair and watched Britain's Got Talent on telly."LOL.
I have noticed that since he ascended the throne, the media has become even more adept at spin than before. The economic news continues to be terrible, but with the exception of Fox, news programs invariably present stories on the economy in a manner calculated to positive. You have to listen carefully to what they actually say to pick out the truth. If it's there at all.
thanks, psi bond, there were some very good lines, no doubt about it.
As I said before, it's unseemly that a president said what he did, but if it had been Pryor or Miller or Letterman, it would have been very funny. I thought the Michael Steele things was demeaning too. I'm tired of reminding everyone of color. I had hoped we were past that and just recognized two good men..Well, ONE. And not THE one.
Why apologize to us? You're the one who thinks a president inferring Mother.... is a good idea.
I appreciate your putting the jokes here, I didn't start writing them down until he was halfway through and then I had to remember the details.
Always, it would be like this WH to invite any celebrity. Makes it look like she loves him, too. Oh, or maybe she's too polite to tell them SHE reads the Telegraph and Daily Mail and agrees with them. oops.
Cathy, I think something was 'up', too...what timing, huh?
Hermit..the negativity started abuot a year ago; I'd hear a great economy story and then hear a real downer bit of info, and I thought "That is So weird, that little bit isn't as hefty as the good news, why is ABC radio CONSTANTLY emphasizing the negative?" Time passed and it got worse and worse. There were plans for this and we're just in it for their ride.
Wish I knew who 'their' really was. I have my suspicions.
In between "jokes" the camera panned the audience. I noticed how unhappy they all looked, especially Mark K...whatever his name is...the bearded WH correspondent from CBS. I'm glad I didn't have to face that face.
I can no longer watch BHO nor listen to BHO-I do not want his voice waves nor visual waves connecting to my brain and thus my memory-I'll read his narcissistic tripe via my blog 'friends'...
Happy Mothers' Day to all and especially to the Mothers of our BEST!
C-CM
Christian Soldier, the videos at your place are AMAZING.
I HIGHLY recommend EVERYONE goes to see them. You will NOT FORGET THEM...EVER.
Joe, you know I thought the same thing but was almost afraid to say so.
The crowd was NOT in one voice for THE ONE...lots of frowning and not as much clapping of hands as I'd have thought. I'd see the non clapping hands and frowns and look closely at the faces to see if I recognized which side they were on..the real well known pundits were stomping and guffawing along with THE ONE, but MANY were SO definitely not, it almost puzzled me, knowing how liberal that bunch had to be.
I believe even some liberals recognize dignity and saw it shredded last night...by our president.
but, he sure does have a wonderful smile. That really does touch a lot of people. If only smiles were good character.
I just wrote about this also, please take a look.
great review z!! (and i mean that!!) isn't that obama just so cool and suave....he he...
Love hearing you folks squirm.
Man, is he in your heads or what?
You ain't gonna last eight years. Believe me, Chucklenuts almost had us reaching for the razor blades.
Better pace yourselves.
Right is Right...I forgot that Sykes actually said she wished Cheney dead, didn't she.
Looks like our psi bond forgot that part when he clipped from the 'highlights'.
OH, by the way..I met Boehner about a month ago and he has to use some self tanning junk that is SO BAD, I'm telling you. Also, his character didn't impress me. BIG time. I'm sorry to say it, but I have to. I'd be real careful about the Republicans putting too much trust in him.
Ducky, good Americans MUST squirm when confronted with the lack of class; it's what good Americans DO.
Sorry about the razor blades.
Thanks for not deleting me, Z, and for changing your tune (before you were uniformly negative and harsh about Obama’s dinner remarks, but now you concede “there were some very good lines”).
As I said before, it's unseemly that a president said what he did, but if it had been Pryor or Miller or Letterman [or Stephen Colbert], it would have been very funny…. Why apologize to us? You're the one who thinks a president inferring Mother.... is a good idea. I’m not apologizing for my opinion about that (I was apologizing for laughing at the jokes when everyone else here is carping about them). I think we should be grown up enough to laugh at that Mothers’ Day quip. He did not say anything that the FCC could censor. And (as noted above) the conservative commentator Ben Stein over at politico thought it not at all bad considering all the jokes made about Rahm’s vocabulary. Of course, I admit nothing can be as funny as when Bush pretended at a dinner that he was looking all over the Oval Office for Saddam.s WMD, while our military people were risking their lives looking for them in Iraq. Some of us suckers can still laugh.
I'm tired of reminding everyone of color. I had hoped we were past that and just recognized two good men..Well, ONE. And not THE one. When we can laugh un-self-consciously, as I did, with his jokes about color, it indicates to me that the mainstream, at least, is entering a post-racial era. Michael Steele obviously took it in good humor.
I appreciate your putting the jokes here, I didn't start writing them down until he was halfway through and then I had to remember the details. Memory can distort. For instance, when you said, “But, my favorite was "When YOU are at YOUR best, I am at MY BEST." Well said, Mr. President. If their "best" is to be in the bag for you, and it seems that IS their best, sadly, then you really are at your best. How could you be otherwise? As if the media'd be the slightest bit critical? Something we can agree on....finally.”
Obama said, "When you are at your best, it HELPS ME to be at my best.” That is quite a different sentence than your quote. It means he recognizes the potential role of criticism from the media to help him improve his administration. Your notion that the media is not “the slightest bit critical” is a diehard rightwing myth. Here is a counter-example from the lead editorial of today’s New York Times:
Recently, when the banking industry worked to defeat a measure to let homeowners have mortgages modified in bankruptcy court, the administration did not fight back, even though President Obama had long professed support for the measure. And the administration’s main regulatory proposal for a single regulator to monitor systemwide risk is overbroad, putting more faith in a new regulator than in new rules.
In the end, the fallout from the stress tests may say more about the Obama administration’s willingness to reform the banks than about the banks themselves. We’re listening.
Our Z: Looks like our psi bond forgot that part when he clipped from the 'highlights'.That wasn’t me. It was Ben Stein, the conservative commentator. The entire piece I posted above including his remarks about Sykes, is his impressions verbatim and unexpurgated, clipped whole.
One of Sykes’s best lines, not mentioned above (from memory): Someone should tell Sarah Palin that canceling her appearance here is not how you practice abstinence.
About Cheney, who wants the reports open that show that we were able to drown useful information out of terrorists by waterboarding them, Sykes quipped with a beaming smile and her arms outstretched, would be like getting caught robbing a bank and going before the judge saying "Yeah I robbed the bank but look at all the bills I paid!"
And I laughed at Obama’s line that Cheney’s memoirs are to be titled “How to Shoot Friends and Interrogate People”. Sorry.
psi bond, I said "obama was funny", what more do you want? In my comment, here on this page, I said that....I wonder who wrote his stuff, by the way, did they say?
..you say he said exactly ""When you are at your best, it HELPS ME to be at my best" I told you I was paraphrasing as I had no pen when I was watching.
It doesn't change the humor..of COURSE he's at HIS BEST when there's nobody doing anything but GIVING us only HIS BEST in their eyes. Not the truth. For him to go on raving about a VIBRANT TRUTHFUL media when we get SO little of the truth was laughable. Who's holding his feet to the fire for the Air Force One debauchle? Imagine if Bush had done that? Or if Bush had used teleprompters this much?(Bush was inarticulate as hell but did better without notes than he did with), how about if Bush had tossed out the Churchill bust or treated Brown as obama did? Or how about if Bush had spoken in Berlin like THE ONE did..? I could go on and on. The media's IN THE BAG, Psi Bond, everyone, including THE ONE, knows that.
As for the MOTHER line, I don't believe any president in the history of those dinners cutely inferred the F word and I remain strong in my criticism for that.
It's about class and dignity; one needn't stoop for humor.
By the way, I loved Michelle "right to bear arms", the funniest , most clever line of the night, in my opinion.
Sykes' line about Palin is "she PULLED OUT of this engagement..(not canceling as you say).." then the line about abstinance..GET IT? pulled out/abstinance? You think that's classy? Watch the video, Psi, you only got half the line..
You have a point about Steele but I still think it was singling him out for his color and that's just plain silly. they're both American men; GET OVER IT.
Yes, you're right, if we can joke like that, I like that, it's cool, but really........well, let's say I'm agnostic on that line.!
Psi bond, I'll just bid you goodbye. I'm finding really rather pathetic your attempts to insult and your very obvious purposeful mischaracterizations, and I find that so sad.
That's all I have to say. Oh, and I'll be deleting without reading your comments now. Knock yourself out.
For anyone curious, know that I have deleted psi bond's last comment which moved me to write this comment. I've been criticized in the past for keeping the nasty and snide left here at all. perhaps some of you were right. I find it sad we can't at least converse, but that's that!
I may be away from the computer, but please don't reply anymore to psi bond, and I'll be deleting when i return..every time.
Sad. I didn't really want to.
Z,
Have you seen this? Excerpt:
What was Wanda Sykes thinking? Perhaps more to the point, what was President Barack Obama thinking when he laughed and smiled as the comedienne wished Rush Limbaugh dead?
Although the Left is reporting her White House Correspondents' Dinner speech as "taking shots" at Limbaugh and mocking everyone, that's a gross misrepresentation of what turned into a hateful and disgusting diatribe.
I was at the dinner and I began by laughing at Sykes's gentle teases about the press loving Obama so much they never capture him on film smoking but often seem to get him on the beach.
It was amusing when she quipped that Obama trying so hard to be all things to all men that the next thing is he'll be seen mowing the White House lawn.
But the speech took a very ugly turn when she laid into Limbaugh....On the news this morning, the anchors on CBS Morning News are referring to BHO as "Comedian-in-chief." Sheesh!
Ducky, good Americans MUST squirm when confronted with the lack of class; it's what good Americans DO.
-------------------------
Did you squirm when Chucklenuts did his little skit about looking for the (nonexistent) weapons of mass destruction that had worked up the right wing blood lust?
Of course not, your rage is selective and has nothing to do with being "American". It is quite something else.
Ducky, don't look now, but tell those 300,000 Kurds there weren't WMD. Also, because Bush did dopey things doesn't take away from the incredible lack of dignity Saturday night.
Always, ANOTHER BRIT is writing the truth and Americans still don't hear it, But Obama says OUR MEDIA HELPS HIM BE HIS BEST.
AHA....well, here it is: POINT ILLUSTRATED. They're covering for the indignity and lack of class. The fun never really stops.
sigh... nothing he says surprises me anymore.
"When YOU are at YOUR best, I am at MY BEST."
Spoken like a true leftist, always angling to sponge off the success of others.
psi bond..haven't you ANYTHING to do but write and keep comments?
it's a little..pathetic, n'est-ce pas? :-)
I won't be back, I DO have things to do. Knock yourself out
psi bond, I said "obama was funny", what more do you want? In my comment, here on this page, I said that But not in your original comment. I want you to admit, Z, that you laughed. I would laugh if you did.
..you say he said exactly ""When you are at your best, it HELPS ME to be at my best" I told you I was paraphrasing as I had no pen when I was watching.And as I said, your paraphrase is vastly different from the more accurate quote.
It doesn't change the humor..of COURSE he's at HIS BEST when there's nobody doing anything but GIVING us only HIS BEST in their eyes. It seems you missed the intent entirely. His closing remarks, addressed to the economic plight of the media, were not not intended to convey any humor whatsoever. The line did not mean, as in your wording, that when the media are at their best they will show that he's the BEST. Rather, it meant that when they are at their best, that can be helpful in many cases to enable him to adjust his policies so as to become better. It is an admission not of perfection but of improvability.
Obama knows that "media in the bag" or "media in the tank" is a self-justifying rightwing myth. That's why it can be used as fertile fodder for jokes. The Air Force One debacle and other things you mention were criticized by the media and at least one person lost his job. But rightwingers would never concede as much. I remember when the media assessed Obama's chances of getting elected president as a long shot.
As for the MOTHER line, I don't believe any president in the history of those dinners cutely inferred the F word and I remain strong in my criticism for that.
It's about class and dignity; one needn't stoop for humor.So Obama may be able to claim a first. Wouldn't that be funny? We are lucky that you've chosen to be the guardian of class, Z. That's a classy thing to do. Your co-ideologue Ben Stein is not classy, huh?
By the way, I loved Michelle "right to bear arms", the funniest , most clever line of the night, in my opinion.That was a very clever pun. Her right to bare arms should not be infringed by the Constitution or the media critics. However, Helen Thomas's arms should not be covered. I mean they shouldn't be uncovered. Can I say that?
Sykes' line about Palin is "she PULLED OUT of this engagement..(not canceling as you say).." then the line about abstinance..GET IT? pulled out/abstinance? You think that's classy? Watch the video, Psi, you only got half the line..I noted I was citing from memory. But, although it's funny either way, your rendition of what she said is more clever and (I must be old-fashioned) funnier.
You have a point about Steele but I still think it was singling him out for his color and that's just plain silly. they're both American men; GET OVER IT.I am OVER IT, Z. You need to get over it and not make a global crusade out of this thing. The fewer harsh words you say about that line, the easier it will be to take it in the good-humored way in which it was intended. It is not a national scandal, except for folks like you, Z.
The New York Times was skeptical today of Obama's ballyhooed stress tests. It seems that is not an issue of any importance to you. His jokes of last night are of much greater importance, apparently. Very classy, Z!
In his somber closing remarks at the disputed dinner, Obama praised the media (whose future is endangered by the Internet) and stressed the need for them. In that context his point that the media help him to be at his best reflects the media’s record of exposing missteps and deception and their willingness to print opposing political opinions.
Wanda Sykes, who, like Carrie Prejean, exercised her freedom of speech, is being put to the wrack in the rightwing press for wishing Rush dead. But wishing kidney failure is not wishing death. It is widely rumored that bin Laden has it. In which case Rush and bin Laden would have more to draw them together than just wishing Obama fails.
“The president was funny [at the White House Correspondents’ dinner] and handled himself well,” said Bill O’Reilly the following Monday..
The next day, O'Reilly opined that Sykes's free speech will hurt Obama.because of how he handled his reactions.
The following day, still groping for lasting national significance in the jokes, O'Reilly called in Dick Morris to help him make the case that Obama's joke about his closeness with Hillary was actually evidence of their distance.
Tony Norman of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said, “Mr. Obama defied the conventional wisdom that he's more earnest than funny by turning in an urbane and hilarious performance that Washington will be chattering about for a long time.”
Sorry I'm late reposting, folks: I have a life.
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