Media Atwitter Over Obama Joke

RUSH: You know what the press is all atwitter about right now? I'm gonna get to it here in just a second. The press is all atwitter. Obama, speaking to a gay group at a fundraiser, talked about how his wife doesn't go all the way down. Obama was talking about exercise and push-ups, and there was a contest apparently between Moochelle and Ellen DeGeneres, and apparently Moochelle can do more push-ups than Ellen and Obama was explaining by saying that Michelle doesn't go all the way down. And then he said she can do more push-ups than he can do because she doesn't go all the way down. Well, the place broke up. They erupted in laughter. And Obama, according to the video, has a blank look on his face like he doesn't understand what they're laughing at.

So Politico does a story and talks about Obama's double entendre. They clearly think Obama's making a sex joke about his wife. And they thought it was hip and cool. I mean, this is Mr. Cool, oh what a guy, talking to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender bunch, raising money, and says his wife doesn't go all the way down. And then they started thinking, "You know what, maybe we better...uh, that actually doesn't look hip and cool, talking about his own wife that way." So now the media is in a total spin cover-up. They're trying to encourage, the administration is trying to persuade media outlets not to run the video or the audio. We have it. You'll hear it in a moment. And they're saying it's not a double entendre. He was telling the truth. They even got witnesses now saying they've seen Michelle Obama do push-ups, and she doesn't go all the way down.

Now, the witnesses are saying Michelle doesn't go all the way down in push-ups, and they're saying, Barack, it was total innocence. He didn't know what he was saying. In fact, here is the story on it from the UK Guardian, a guy named Oliver Burkeman. "Double Entendregate: Did President Obama Make [a Lewinsky] Joke?" is basically the headline. Of course, he uses the actual BJ word here in the headline. Yeah. So Burkeman says: "Did President Obama Make [a Lewinsky] Joke?" Then, "No. He really didn't. Quick thought experiment: You're the president of one of the most prudish nations on earth." Would you call this one of the most prudish nations on earth? This guy from the UK Guardian thinks we are.

Okay, "You're the president of one of the most prudish nations on earth. You're generally accepted, even by your enemies, to be a masterful speechmaker." Not here. That's what we've been saying. There's nothing that is real. Not great at anything. Anyway, a sidetrack. "You're giving a speech at which you're fully aware the media is present, and you know that any remark you make might be blasted around the nation and the planet in a matter of seconds. So here's the question -- think carefully now:

"Do you deliberately crack a dirty joke about your wife, the First Lady of the United States, having oral sex with Ellen DeGeneres, who is hosting the event? It's not a terribly difficult question, is it? You don't. And sure enough, while addressing supporters of the LGBT Leadership Council in Beverley Hills on Wednesday night, Barack Obama didn't. So, how come a story that was, until the middle of this morning, headlined 'Obama's double entendre' is currently the 'most read' on Politico, while Buzzfeed wants to know 'Did President Obama Just Make A [Lewinsky] Joke?'" This guy writes three pages on this trying to persuade his readers there's no way the president of the United States would make this kind of a joke about his wife. Think about it. The assumption is he's too classy, country's too prudish, doesn't disrespect his wife blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But all the media outlets at first ran stories based on Obama purposely told a little funny here.

Now they're going back and they're looking at it, saying, "You know what? I don't think he meant to tell a joke," they're saying. "Look at his face. He's got a blank look on his face. Everybody starts laughing and he looks lost. He doesn't know why everybody's laughing. So it's much ado about nothing," and they're trying to get the video buried. And it is, pretty much. Can you imagine Laura Bush getting down on the floor and doing push-ups on the Ellen show?

Can you see that? Just asking. Whether you go all the way down or not, can you see Laura Bush going on the Ellen show and doing push-ups on the floor with a lesbian TV host? Or whatever host. A hetero host. It doesn't matter. Doing it with Oprah? Can you imagine it with Gayle King? Well, Oprah doing push-ups is about like trying to imagine me doing 'em. Ha! Ha! Ha! I took the line out of your mouth.

RUSH: This is what started this double-entendre thing. He's at a lesbian, gay, bi, transgender campaign fundraiser in Beverly Hills last night. He's talking about Ellen DeGeneres and his wife, the First Lady, Moochelle (My Belle) Obama.

OBAMA: I wanna thank, uhhh, my, uh, wonderful friend, uh, who, uh, accepts a little bit of teasing about Michelle beating her in push-ups.

OBAMA: Uhh, but I think she claims Michelle didn't go all the way down. (comedic pause)

OBAMA: I just want, uh... I want to set the record straight. Uh, Michelle outdoes me in push-ups as well.

RUSH: Now, you heard that. You haven't seen the pictures. Well, maybe you have. I have not seen the video attached to it. But clearly the crowd thought he was making a joke. Just stick with me. The crowd thought he was making a joke. "Michelle didn't go all the way down." Now, he may be talking about push-ups with Ellen DeGeneres, but he had the proper comedic pause. He didn't sound embarrassed. They're claiming he is. The media is trying to cover it up. The first report: "Obama's Double Entendre." Then they realized, "Wait a minute, it's not gonna look good if we report that."

"We think it's cool, we think it's hip, we love Obama talking this way," the press says. "But it's not gonna look good if we report that Obama's actually talking about his wife this way." So they start an immediate cover-up saying, "He didn't know what he was saying! It was totally innocent. Look, he couldn't possibly have meant this on purpose!" UK Guardian, Politico, everybody: "He couldn't have meant it! He didn't mean that! No, no! He's so clean and pure as the wind-driven snow, he had no clue what he said. He's so innocent." They're going out of their way to cover it up.

BANFIELD: I want to be very, very clear: This was a scripted speech that the president gave. This was talking about the Ellen DeGeneres Show when, umm, Michelle Obama appeared and did the push-ups contest.

BANFIELD: That moment, I -- I gotta be honest with you. If you watch that tape over again -- transcripts aside, watch the tape -- some people could easily say that the president was a bit blindsided by that line; did not expect it to be a double entendre. And he looked somewhat crestfallen afterwards. Also tried to stop the crowd with his hands. Kept doing this (gestures). Tried to stop them from laughing. I'm just curious about the fallout from this and whether there's a speechwriter somewhere who's about to get the axe.

RUSH: So you see, the cover-up was on. He didn't even know! He was so shocked. He didn't know the line was coming, and he read the line. Is a speechwriter gonna get canned or the teleprompter operator gonna get canned?

They're doing their best to reposition this as Obama being some innocent dummkopf who has no clue what he said and is embarrassed by it.

RUSH: I haven't seen the video of Obama and the joke, but it sounded pretty smooth to me. It sounded smooth. The comedic pause was in there and the reaction was in there. And the excuses they're offering? He didn't know what was on the teleprompter? He doesn't pre-read his speeches?

RUSH: I want to go back to this Obama business and this joke that he told. I want to play it again. I have not seen the video. All we have is the audio here, obviously. (It's a radio program.) He tells this joke. Now, here's a guy... They're asking us to believe this guy is so unhip that he doesn't know what he's saying. He's talking to a group of gay activists -- hip, gay, Hollywood activists. He makes a joke about his wife doing push-ups with Ellen DeGeneres. And then, with enough of a pause between the push-ups and the line, he utters the line: Ellen "claims Michelle didn't go all the way down."

It's not Obama saying Michelle doesn't go all the way down. It's Ellen said, "Michelle didn't go all the way down." Well, there is the appropriate laughter and amazement. And we're being asked to believe that a guy who's done a looooooot of doobies in his day, and by his own admission he's been around sniffing some coke (and, by definition, he's Mr. Hip and he's Mr. Cool), all of a sudden he doesn't understand what he said. And he didn't know that it was on the teleprompter. And that somebody's maybe gonna get fired for this.

The media, I don't understand. I mean, we're talking about the media. Why would they be bothered by it? They would think it's cool. They did think it was cool. They thought it was cool. That's why The Politico ran the story "Obama's Double Entendre." And then the White House got involved. "No, no, no, no, no! You gotta walk that back." And so they've all started walking it back. You heard Ashleigh Banfield. I'll let you hear it again. We have three bites here, and when you saw the video at some point (if you do), they say when you can see Obama's face, he looks embarrassed and so forth. I don't know. I haven't seen it.

Here's Obama, what he said. This is the joke itself. And we didn't edit any of this in any way for time.

OBAMA: I wanna thank, uhhh, my, uh, wonderful friend, uh, who, uh, accepts a little bit of teasing about Michelle beating her in push-ups.

OBAMA: Uhh, but I think she claims Michelle didn't go all the way down. (comedic pause)

OBAMA: I just want, uh... I want to set the record straight. Uh, Michelle outdoes me in push-ups as well.

RUSH: All right. He meant to say it. I'm telling you. Just the way the line is delivered. There's a pause. (impression) "She claimed Michelle didn't go all the way down." He meant to say it. I don't care what anybody says. In the video, people who have seen it say he looks tired. That may be the excuse that they're offering to claim he didn't know what he was saying. Sounded an awful lot... I mean, the guy's a "master communicator," remember. Master communicators ostensibly don't make mistakes like this.

So here's Ashleigh Banfield after the White House sent word out to walk this back...

BANFIELD: I want to be very, very clear: This was a scripted speech that the president gave. This was talking about the Ellen DeGeneres show when, umm, Michelle Obama appeared and did the push-ups contest.

RUSH: Stop the tape a second! What are they asking us to believe? The president was "blindsided" by the line? That's like me claiming I was blindsided by something I said. I'm sorry, people that say things don't get blindsided by it. You get "blindsided" by things other people do to you. What...? What a flimsy excuse to actually tell us that Obama got blindsided by what he said. Obama got blindsided by the line, didn't expect it to be a double entendre, looks "crestfallen." Here's Soledad O'Brien, audio sound bite 26, on CNN this morning.

O'BRIEN: On Starting Point this morning, uhh, kind of an uncomfortable moment for President Obama that was caught on tape. The president mentions First Lady Michelle Obama in a speech. The audience, though, compleeeeetely misinterprets a joke that he's making. We've gonna show what happened straight ahead.

He wasn't making a joke. Ashleigh Banfield just said he wasn't making a joke; he was "blindsided" by the line. Now the audience misinterpreted the joke. So Ashleigh Banfield says (paraphrased): "I want to be very, very clear! I want you people to really listen and I want you to be very, very understanding! It was a scripted speech," whatever that means. And then Soledad O'Brien says, "The audience ... completely misinterprets a joke that he's making. We're gonna show what happened straight ahead."

And The Politico changed their headline. They got rid of "double entendre." I forget what they changed it to. So there's that.

RUSH: Geri in La Grange, Texas, as we go back to the phones. Welcome to the EIB Network. Hi.

CALLER: Hi, Rush! Dear Rush, I just had to laugh. I came in from washing my car (chuckles), and you were talking about the double entendre that Mr. Obama made to his audience. (laughs) And I thought, "Rush is exactly right again. Once again. Never fooled. Very inside that is Rush." And when I thought of him standing there doing this and not knowing what he was saying. And someone was writing it. And he just didn't have any idea what he was saying. I thought: "Gee, that's just like when he sang the Al Green song. And it was so cute and that big smile." And he's just all showbiz, Rush. He knows how to do it, and you're not fooled for a minute. I know that. It just tickled me to pieces when I heard that.

RUSH: It's funny to watch the media try to walk this back. The Politico, the TV people, say, "He didn't mean it! He didn't know that was a double entendre! He was blindsided by his own speech." That's what Ashleigh Banfield said: Blindsided by the line. That's like Josh Steiner who lied to his own diary. But when you sit there and you're talking about (chuckles) Ellen DeGeneres and push-ups and your wife "doesn't go all the way down," you have to know how that group is gonna hear that! This is a hip, gay group in Hollywood. You have to know how they're gonna hear it. And they did. They heard it exactly as I think it was probably intended.

You are right on Rush!!! Obama is a “dirt bag” from head to toe, and...an America hater to boot!!! The sooner the American people learn that, the better off they will be. He, Obama, is a total disgrace to decent humnaity!!!

I invite everyone’s attention to http://www.opinion-maker.org/2010/08/why-obama-is-subjected-to-blackmails/#

A thorough read of this web entry should confirm Obama’s foreknowlege about the meaning of terms such as ‘going down low’

The look of horror on his face a split second after everyone starts laughing belies your comment. It looks to me like he was in fact completely surprised at what he said and how his audience received it.

I watched the video and it is 100% clear that he thought it was a funny joke about how his wife was cheating in push-ups.

When the audience laughs a bit he is pleased that his joke was funny, but when they start hooting and hollering because of where THEIR minds are, he looks confused. Then he stammers because he’s trying to read his teleprompter but his mind is trying to figure out what just happened.

Breitbart has an excellent article on this here:

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Journalism/2012/06/07/MSM-Prefers-to-degrade-FLOTUS-than-Vet-POTUS

I could easily see myself making exactly the same mistake.

The people who should be ashamed of themselves are the audience. And Rush limbaugh. And Drudge. And CNN. And the rest of the media who think this kind of thing is fair or worthy of coverage.

I used to have a friend........she was from a very old wealthy family, real top drawer, private girls school, lots of charity events, and very proper,well respected. Wouldn’t say it if she had a mouthful. However when she was with our circle of friends, she had no problem with using every four letter word she could think of, drinking, flirting. Many of us were offended, not because of her actions but because she must have thought we didn’t quite deserve the respect she gave to others.. Does anyone in Obamas gay/lesbian audience think he would have made the same remark to the AARP, DAR, GS moms, or a state event? This kind of action speaks volumes about his feeling for the gay community.

Not only has that arrogant lazy, lying pos made the presidency a laughing joke. He has made the entire country into a laughing joke around the world.<p<November 6 can not come soon enough

“I saw the video .....he knew what he was doing”

I agree entirely. This absurd claim by Banfield is a manifest lie:
“ Also tried to stop the crowd with his hands. Kept doing this (gestures).”

If you watch the tape, he makes this gesture exactly once and it’s after a very long pause—well AFTER the lie in which in said “That’s what I heard.” A much more straightforward view of his “gesture” was that he got off his script and was thinking of something else to say (the “that’s what I heard” line looked like an ad lib to me). It reminded me of that campaign speech where he got totally bollixed up and kept umming and uhhhing and saying practically nonsensical lines, then finally laughed and used the same gesture and told the crowd that he couldn’t hear himself think.

It is amazing how the defense goes into full-throated defense mode when it comes to Obama’s slip of the tongue. It must suck for Obama to have to swallow so much of this. Obama has a job to do. Obama blew the joke. Why is that so hard for some to take?

Were it GW, we’d have known immediately that the comment was inadvertent.

I think it says a lot about Obama that people would think he’d deliberately make a low-class, crude comment about his wife for laughs.

first of all, bamey is just stupid...he's just a teleprompter in chief and can not handle himself if left to his own devices...

to think that Dan Quail(sp?) to this day is the brunt of jokes when you've got the likes of Biden and bamey running around....

bamey couldn't be clever or slick all by himself.

so his little comments really are just one of stupidity...a bamey trait....

I saw the video and think it's likely Obama didn't intend the comment the way the audience took it.

If that is true, Obama looks genuinely shocked they they were interpreting him this way.

But I must say, what does he expect with the company he keeps? This crowd is raunchy and many of them are involved in writing/acting/promoting raunch sex jokes fulltime as activists and entertainers on.

Law down with dogs...well everyone knows what you get.

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