Who's afraid of Wanda Sykes? (Our Death Threats Don't Count!!)

Salon ^ | May 12, 2009 | Joan Walsh

[2ndDivisionVet]

I love Wanda Sykes, I always have. I laughed out loud watching her White House Correspondents’ Dinner routine (on the Web; Salon has never attended that particular circle jerk of DC insularity; maybe someday we will!)

Sure it was off-color and, um, slightly out there – but that’s the point. Or it used to be. Even if I didn’t already love Sykes, my point of view would be: Once a barely elected president who started a devastating war on false pretenses can joke about those pretenses at that same dinner (Remember Bush looking behind sofas for WMDs? ) it’s hard to ever be offensive again.

There are other wince-worthy examples we never hear about: At the 1970 Gridiron dinner, according to "Nixon's Piano," by Kenneth O'Reilly, the not yet disgraced GOP president Richard Nixon and his scandal-dogged VP Spiro Agnew did a classy racist interpretive piece. "What about this 'southern strategy' we hear so often?" Nixon asked Agnew. "Yes suh, Mr. President," Agnew replied in what was known as “dialect,” adding "Ah agree with you completely on yoah southern strategy." While Nixon played a variety of songs on piano, Agnew drowned him out with his renditions of “Dixie.”

Also in that Gridiron program, a newspaper reporter sang a rendition of “Dixie Melody” with these words: “Rock-a-bye the voters with a southern strategy; Don't you fuss; we won't bus children in ol' Dixie! We'll put George Wallace in decline Below the Mason-Dixon line. We'll help save the nation From things like civil rights and inte-gra-tion! Weep no more, John Stennis! We'll pack the court for sure. We will fight for voting rights - To keep them white and pure! A zillion Southern votes we will deliver; Move Washington down on the Swanee River! Rock-a-bye with Ol' Massa Nixon and his Dixie strategy!” Hilarious, right? Move over, Wanda Sykes! Let's make room for that kind of comedy!

Reader J.K. sent me that historical footnote; surprisingly it never came up in critical coverage of either Stephen Colbert in 2006 or Sykes in 2009. The prissy MSM barely mussed their hair in response to the sacrilegious Bush jokes, let alone Nixon race jokes -- but Sykes is being accused of slander with her jabs at Rush Limbaugh -- and Obama is being attacked for barely stifling laughter at it. It’s so ridiculous. In case you’ve been in a bunker without media, Sykes is in trouble mainly for saying this:

“Rush Limbaugh said he hopes this administration fails. 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 might want to look into this, sir, because I think maybe Rush Limbaugh was the 20th hijacker but he was just so strung out on Oxycontin he missed his flight. Obama supposedly laughed, but then took a sip of wine. "Too much?" Sykes asked him. "Rush Limbaugh, 'I hope the country fails,' -- I hope his kidneys fail."

OK, I personally wouldn’t make a joke about someone’s kidneys failing on cable news—I am a serious unpaid news pundit, and I want to be asked back! But I also wouldn’t mock Michael J. Fox and his Parkinson’s tremors, as Rush Limbaugh did, or wax hysterical about having to grab my ankles for our new black president, as, yes, Limbaugh did (I’ve never once thought about that possibility, to be honest. I really admire Michelle and their marriage.)

Watching Sykes, I was so pleased. I thought: My God, there’s never been a better match for Limbaugh. He’s an entertainer and a comedian – I despise him, but every once in a while he’s funny – and he’s regularly off color; Sykes is all those things while, in my opinion, funnier and less cruel. But let’s be honest: We had comedian and entertainer v. comedian and entertainer. She’s his match and his equal, and anyone who criticizes Sykes without sending the same criticism to Limbaugh is both a phony and a wuss.

Press secretary Robert Gibbs reportedly tried to back away from Sykes, and amazingly – according to Newsbusters.com, not the most fair and balanced Web site – so did Keith Olbermann. (I've emailed MSNBC for comment because I can't quite believe that.) But there’s been no rebuke from Obama, and that makes me happy. Much of Sykes routine was actually tweaking Obama: My favorite jokes included Sykes lampooning the president for his shirtless photos (“I know you’re into transparency but…I don’t need to see your nipples"), his race (“The first black president, I’m proud to say that, unless you screw up, and then it’s gonna be, what’s up with the half-white guy? Who voted for the mulatto? What the hell?”)

And much of Obama’s routine shockingly crossed our dull political lines as well. He described Dick Cheney’s new book, “How to Shoot Friends and Interrogate People,” and welcomed John Boehner as a fellow "person of color," although “not a color found in nature.” Obama actually cut a wider swath of comedic pain across the political landscape than Sykes did – but Sykes came down hard on He Who Cannot Be Criticized, Oxycontin Man! And she's now in deep trouble.

I’m late to the faux outrage about Sykes’ edgy hilarious routine, but let’s let Jon Stewart get the last word. Like many of us on Monday he wondered how Sykes could provoke outrage while torture revelations provoke yawns and/or lame rationalizations.

Let this be the beginning of a beautiful new era of savaging Limbaugh freely and with delight – and please God, let the rumors of Olbermann’s disapproval be false!

[Irishguy]

just amazing isnt it?

didnt obama say he wanted this all to be different? seems as if that has been forgotten when targetting a citizen.

also limbaugh didnt say he wanted the country to fail..he said he wanted obama to fail. I guess truth and honesty is so passe now.

i think all of this comedy routines are cring worthy. All of them, this is the President of the USA, a President smiling at kidney failure in a citizen. Disgraceful, regardless of who would do it.

is this change you can believe in?

the good news is they are obviously terrified of the radio especially Limbaugh and increasingly Beck. and the really good news..is they should be terrified.

[americanophile]

Agreed.

[PhilDragoo]

She must be steaming Hussein won't come out for her lesbian marriage--

Instead he kisses the Saudi king's ring--

She was bitterly hateful and deceitful.

Think of the Gephardt-Daschle misrepresentation of Gingrich's "wither on the vine" remark--illegally taped by the Democrat operatives the Martins.

She was malignant in the way of the anti-Clarence Thomas remarks by Julianne Malveaux:

"I hope his wife feeds him lots of eggs and butter and he dies early like many black men do, of heart disease....He is an absolutely reprehensible person."

Calling Rush the twentieth hijacker--what a class act--

No, Rush has been clear from the start that he wants Obama the Marxist to fail--and so does every American who knows the difference between the Constitution and the Letter of Intent Odinga signed with the Kenyan Muslims.

Sykes is one of those deeply poisoned types like Rosie O'Donnell who spit bile and expect a check.

Does she know what the Saudi king does with homosexuals, what I'm-a-Genocide does with homosexuals--

She can check out Google for "impalement" or link to a video from antimullah.com--

These sick, hateful people spit lies and call it humor--

Of course Rush is too class an act to respond.

[Darkwolf377]

Is this guy the last person in the nation to realize that Michael J. Fox actually DID skip his meds, and even talked about it, to "make a point"? Because that's what Rush was talking about.

my point of view would be: Once a barely elected president who started a devastating war on false pretenses can joke about those pretenses at that same dinner...

Zzzzzzzzz...

[Darkwolf377]

My favorite jokes included Sykes lampooning the president for his shirtless photos

Oh, I'm sorry, here I thought this guy was trying to come off as "cutting edge,"--yeah, lampooning the prez about shirtless photos--woooo! That's BITING stuff!

Sykes came down hard on He Who Cannot Be Criticized,

Strawman alert. Yeah, people are criticizing her comments because Limbaugh can't be criticized.

Oxycontin Man!

I just caught why this bore thinks Aunt Esther's routine was funny.

[Impy]

“welcomed John Boehner as a fellow “person of color,” although “not a color found in nature.””

I gotta give that one to Obama(’s speechwriters). That’s funny.

[lentulusgracchus]

I still don't get that one. What did Obama mean?

[DemforBush]

Joan Walsh

[Skeezicks]

Boehner’s fake tan is every bit as cheesy (more like Cheetos orange) than John Kerry.

[Impy]

I believe Boehner is currently sporting the distinct orange hue of a poor fake sun tan.

[Kent C]

Another liberal commentator that's never listened to Rush enough to get any of his comments. Typical.

Watching Sykes, I was so pleased. I thought: My God, there’s never been a better match for Limbaugh. He’s an entertainer and a comedian – I despise him, but every once in a while he’s funny

She's only heard clips on MSNBC most likely.

'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.

She quotes this without correcting the actual facts and context of what Rush said. If she listens _at all_ she would have known.

But I also wouldn’t mock Michael J. Fox and his Parkinson’s tremors, as Rush Limbaugh did

Again, she only knows what was reported on MSM (not including Fox) - had she done the least bit of digging, she would have known that Rush was depicting (not mocking) on the dittocam what M.J.Fox was doing during his 'campaign ad' for Claire McCaskill. And the fact that Fox had said that he purposely didn't take his medicine in order to exaggerate his condition. If she would have tuned in to Rush at any time after that event, she would have known that and yet it wouldn't fit her template for her piece. Her integrity is in the toilet once again.

[Carley]

Keep in mind that O’s minister roared that 9/11 was America’s chickens coming home to roost.

Of course O laughed at the 20th. hijacker slams at Rush.

[rlmorel]

"...Let this be the beginning of a beautiful new era of savaging Limbaugh freely and with delight..."

There are two problems here: First, this type of conversation doesn't help anything at all. Secondly, conservatives do not "fight back" in this manner. If we did, we would be saying things like she did.

But we don't.

I was going to use a few examples of things we *could* say, but I know what would happen there. The one way ratchet of free speech would probably result in this post being used by the leftists as an example of how hateful FR is while generally ignoring and explaining away the sanctioned hate quoted above.

The point is, while we practice decency and restraint, our enemies (Yes-"enemies"...not "adversaries") do NOT. Anyone who goes to any liberal site like Democratic Underground realizes that the "intelligible speech to profanity ratio" is much, much lower over there that it is here. I would say nearly every other post or every third post contains actual profanity over there, and they aren't much different than any other liberal site I would venture. By comparison, profanity is much more restrained on FR. As an example, view the posts in this thread. The word "bitch" appears...once. And that is applied to someone who apparently richly deserves the appellation. And this is talking about a hateful, spite filled person. Now, go to nearly any thread on Rush Limbaugh, George Bush or Sarah Palin, and the level of vituperation leveled at them boggles the mind. It is as if someone has let their children use their DU account and they are unable to express themselves without profanity.

This is another indication that conservatism is the ideology of ideas, and liberalism is the ideology of emotion. There are more.

We can fight back, but in the same fashion as arguing with an idiot, they will only drag us down to their level and beat us with experience. They control the media and all organs of the government. Their attacks will either not be reported or explained in detail to justify them, and our attacks will simply be branded as "hate speech".

And the majority of people, who watch CNN 24x7 and could not explain Cap and Trade, Sarbanes-Oxley, the roots of the current financial crisis or even how a mortgage works, will, without question, simply accept as fact that conservatives are filled with bile and hate.

Conservatism has been painted into a corner by liberalism, and we never even saw it coming.

[rlmorel]

The post by Ken C. illustrates my point. Ken C, you (and others like you) can deconstruct her bile-filled screed without resorting to even a single derogatory sentence or word, and no profanity. Your analysis is a thoughtful, on target deconstruction of this woman’s distorted view of reality.

But here is the problem:

She is published at Salon (I know, I know...that is not saying much) while you will never, ever be heard except by me and anyone else who stumbles into this thread.

We will not hear arguments like yours from a single conservative except for Rush Limbaugh and a few others. And we all know how the media portrays them and anyone who listens to them as “mouth breathing knuckle draggers filled with ignorant hate and a slavish, fascist propensity to unquestioningly follow authority”.

And that is the view that excludes actual profanity.

[Kent C]

Your analysis is a thoughtful, on target deconstruction of this woman’s distorted view of reality.

Thanks.

She is published at Salon (I know, I know...that is not saying much) while you will never, ever be heard except by me and anyone else who stumbles into this thread.

I think we are all pretty much aware of that fact. :-) ...to an extent. And what you say has some merit as to the 'effectiveness' of the communication. But... the one thing about communication is that it gives 'different angles' for people to use. I find a lot of stuff here from others that is a useful viewpoint - and not necessarily all the 'reasoned deconstructions' but even some of the derogatory and profane - that can be used according to one's 'audience' whether it's at the gun show or the coffee shop, or a family get together ;-)

And so what is said here gets broadcast further than just this forum. And that is the case with all forums. Many times you'll hear the MSM 'aping' something from DU or Daily Kos and then recycled again and again. Same happens here except that we don't have the MSM dominance but that doesn't mean as much as it used to.

[syriacus]

One less task for teachers to worry about..

reprimanding 3rd graders who shout, “I hope you die,” while fighting with a classmate.

[LibLieSlayer]

If one is ready or prepared... it matters not.

LLS

[rabidralph]

We can clearly see where Boehner’s priorities lie. It’s only May and he has a late summer tan.

[linn37]

Obama was not funny. I know he tried to be funny but stuck up aholes can never amuse anyone but their lackeys. Sykes was boring I turned her off about three minutes into her act.

[Protect the Bill of Rights]

Once a barely elected president who started a devastating war on false pretenses can joke about those pretenses at that same dinner (Remember Bush looking behind sofas for WMDs? ) it’s hard to ever be offensive again.

Not the first time I have heard or read this talking point. Yesterday a left talking head defended the joke about the AF flyover of NYC by saying "Bush joked about WMD."

How pathetic.