Every single year there is an event called The White House Correspondents' Dinner. The White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) is an organization of journalists who cover the White House and the President of the United States, and every year they host a dinner reception, which in recent decades has become more of a roast of the President, where comedians and the President himself take turns making fun of the President and his policies. It's all in good fun and the humor is light and playful- or at least it used to be.
President Obama has brought change to the The White House Correspondents' Diner- it is no longer light and in good fun and the target of jokes is no longer the President himself, now under Obama, the dinner is all about making fun of everyone that the President doesn't like, taking personal shots at his rivals, and using the power of the office of President to make bitter and mean attacks on other people.
A google news search of "White House Correspondents' Dinner" from 2001-2008, which was the time period that Republican George W. Bush was President, reveals the picture. Way back then when politics was less bitter and partisan and vindictive, the stories that the dinner generated included:
- In 2006, laughter and discussion regarding Stephen Colbert's mock tribute to President Bush at the dinner, where Colbert mocked Bush and his policies and the whole room laughed in good humor.
- In 2007, Bush said it was important for people in Washington "to learn to laugh" and that the ability for a nation to poke fun at its leaders is good for democracy.
- In 2005, Laura Bush ripped off a series of pretty funny jokes on the President, mocking her husbands TV habits, laziness, and mother-in-law.
- In 2004, Bush has a serious message, because he was being criticized by Democrats over a performance a month earlier at the Radio and Television Correspondents' dinner in which he made a humorous slide show of his personal search for WMD's in Iraq.
- In 2002, Bush did an extensive routine that ranged from mocking his ability to pronounce names to his policies in the Middle East.
Via memeorandum, we see that Obama once more used the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner to rip into his opponents, mock his opponents policies, roll off a series of non-funny and mean jokes, and generally turn the event into a cold exercise in bitter partisanship. There was no 'learning to laugh' at Obama and he continues to demonstrate his inability to learn anything about being a better person, directing his attacks and jokes and mockery outward rather than inward. Our democracy was not improved by demonstrating its ability to make fun of its leaders, since under Obama this democracy is moving more towards tyranny, where you don't make fun of your leaders because there will be retribution.
Obama took his time at the dinner to systematically work his way through all of his political rivals and potential challengers in 2012, mocking each and ripping each as the adoring crowd lapped it up, except for the people who were being ripped and mocked, who sat there in cold silence and anger that the President of the United States was ripping them. I know, comedy is hard, and that making fun of other people is difficult and requires skill and tact and grace, but once again we see that President Obama lacks skill and tact and grace and turned this dinner into an exercise to send people home angry and upset and lessened by his comments.
Unlike past events when the target of the jokes and humor was the President, this dinner was an attempt to turn his main rival Donald Trump (according to recent polling) into a punching bag. I've seen the video- at one point, the joking does go too far, and everyone can see that the line was crossed from gentle making fun of a person to personally attacking them in a mean spirited manner, and it's at that point that the room looked for leadership to our President, but he was busy laughing too, enjoying the slicing and ripping on a rival and sucking in the vileness of the room.
President Obama and those who laugh and joke in such a manner deserve to be thrown out of office. Our nation has no place for such meanness and smallness.
UPDATE: TheBlogProf sums up what the dinner has become under Obama:
I think most people would agree that repeatedly punching someone in the face while your friends hold that person from responding is less than fair and amounts to bullying in the extreme. It is also gutless. Yesterday, it was pretty much the same thing as Obama attacked Donald Trump from the bully pulpit without Trump being able to respond. This was simply classless and has become Obama's MO.UPDATE II: I agree with Trump- Obama's use of the White House Correspondents' Dinner as yet another forum for him to engage in his bitter partisanship attacks is 'not the greatest' and 'inappropriate.' It is worth noting that Donald Trump appears to have more class than Obama in this situation- but at least when Donald dropped inappropriate F-bombs earlier in the week that was at a partisan event.
UPDATE III: To all of those liberals and Democrats commenting, here are some more jokes that I am sure you will find witty, clever, and all sorts of funny. There are dozens of jokes like this over at Big Hollywood- here are some of the best:
- So, have you heard about those Republicans? Yeah, I hate them and I think they’re stupid.
- The funniest thing about Obama is how SO MANY people don’t get how cool and smart and physically attractive he is.
- Q: Why did the blonde get confused by an ordinary household object? A: Cuz she was a Republican. And Republicans are stupid.
- “Knock knock.” “Who’s there?” “Republicans.” “Republicans who?” “Republicans sure are stupid and evil.”
- So, a Republican walks into a bar, and I get super upset.
- A black man, a Hispanic, and a Jew enter a bar. They all say in turn, “Voting Republican would make us traitors to our races!”
- So, what’s the deal with the Tea Party? Is it racist, or is it SUPER racist?
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