Posted on 05/02/2010 6:31:25 PM PDT by Bigtigermike
Barack Obama, the Insult Comic President, was up to his old shtick Saturday night. Breaking with presidential punch line tradition for the second consecutive year, Obama dropped zinger after zinger on his opponents and allies alike at the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner. Obama went all Don Rickles on a broad range of topics and individuals: Vice President Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, presidential advisers David Axelrod and Rahm Emanuel, the news media, Jay Leno, and Republicans Michael Steele, Scott Brown, John McCain and Sarah Palin.
Except for a mild joke pegged to his falling approval ratings, Obama mostly spared Obama during his 14-minute standup routine. (The jokes were unofficially credited Sunday to Axelrod, Jon Favreau and Tommy Vietor.)
ad_icon
Obama's derisive tone surprises and dismays some of the people who've written jokes for presidents past.
"With these dinners you want the audience to like you more when you sit down than when you stood up," says Landon Parvin, an author and speechwriter for politicians in both parties, and a gag writer for three Republican presidents (Reagan and Bushes I and II). "Something in [Obama's] humor didn't do that," he said Sunday.
Parvin advises his political clients to practice a little partisan self-deprecation when they make lighthearted remarks: "If you're a Democrat, you make fun of Democrats and go easy on the Republicans; if you're a Republican, you do the opposite," he says.
Presidents past have generally hewed to that tradition, even when they were under intense criticism or were deeply unpopular.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
SMART-ALECK IN CHIEF! ALERT
The inability to make a joke at one’s own expense shows a major amount of insecurity.
Oh the WAPO is all atwitter over his boring jokes.
Pray for America
When Sarah was in D.C. for that dinner with the Press....she joked about herself mostly..Hmmmm!!
Obama continues to make the case for being the biggest self-absorbed arrogant president of all time.
I watched the video-I believe C-span was the only one that did not delete the part where Jay Leno was speaking and the topic was Sarah Palin...it was short but the camera glances towards uhbama were very uncomfortable. He CANNOT laugh at himself and he does not like Palin’s name, for sure. Apparently the big news outlets cut out the part of Leno’s Sarah Palin comments...very strange. Weird even. There is a thread running about here on FR today.
Because Palin obviously irks Obama and I bet you that if She and Obama were debating that she would be the only one that would draw out the real Obama for all to see....
The Obama economy utilizes a system of carefully monitored checks and balances. He writes the checks, you pay the balance.
Q. Why is the healthcare plan called ObamaCare instead of ObamaCares?
A. Because he doesn’t.
Q. Why is the healthcare plan called ObamaCare when he is exempt from it?
A. You’re a RACIST!
Bill Clinton, Joe Biden and Barack Obama go into a bar. Bill tells the barkeeper, “I’ll have a B and C.” Obama whispers, “What is a B and C?” “That’s a bourbon and Coke,” Clinton answers. Then Biden orders, “I’ll have a G and T.” Obama again whispers, “What’s a G and T?” “A gin and tonic,” Joe replies. Obama wants to seem like he’s one of the guys so he tells the barkeeper, “I’ll have a 15.” Now it’s the bartender’s turn to ask, “What’s a 15?” Obama says, “A 7 and 7.”
Q: What is the difference between ObamaCare and a car battery?
A: The battery has a positive side.
Q. Why won’t Obama laugh at himself?
A. Because it would be racist.
Obama is remarkably humorless.
Letterman doesn’t joke about Obama either. He’s still doing jokes about W.
Actually this article pretty much skewered his performance. I was surprised.
Chuckle Boy is sinking faster than rock, his need for admiration will only grow while the people will be slipping away. I noticed a great deal of put up “ha ha’s” at the press club gathering.
I dislike him more and more every time he stands up to speak. 2012 can't come soon enough!
Obama cannot take criticism. Dangerous trait.
I couldn't like him any less. What a steaming pant load of sub-Saharan crap.....
Did you year that when Obama was in the second grade he was having trouble learning to read, so his mother got him Hooked on Phonics. But even that was too hard for little Barak so she exchanged it for “Your Baby Can Read”.
I had never seriously considered what a debate between Sarah and uhbama might look and sound like. I got a bit of a reaction to what you wrote because immediately I envisioned it and yeah, that is exactly what she would do. She would burn a hole through his mask so quickly he would not know it happened. He is used to ridiculing and smirking his way through a debate. Sarah doesn't operate that way, she is too honest and dedicated to the truth.
It would be an amazing event to watch. For sure. She is NOT AFRAID OF HIM. In fact, I think she is disgusted by him.
I guess there are different ways to explain Obama's avoidance of self-deprecating humor in favor of jokes at others' expense--he's a mean-spirited Chicago thug and putting down others is what he knows, or that he knows that he's nothing but a stuffed shirt who takes credit for other people's work, and he's afraid that the public might see his self-deprecation as an honest evaluation of himself.
2012 may turn into the Stockholm Syndrome election--does the electorate want 4 more years of a toxic narcissist in charge?
In truth Obama really does have a fond affection for the American people... to POOP on.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.