[Sidebar Moderator]

The Cher joke bombed, the Bush joke didn't go over quite as bad

[Reagan Man]

My friend, who really cares what Jay Leno has to say.

There are more important concerns right now.

[Hoosier Patriot]

Leno is one guy I cannot tolerate. Kisses a$$ bigtime to guests when they are on the show, then stabs 'em in the back when they're not. Anything, and I mean anything, just to get a laugh.

Worthless is the only word I can think of to describe him.

He's not worthy of shining Johnny Carsons shoes, IMHO.

[Hawkeye's Girl]

Man, glad I stick to Dave.

Last night Letterman said that the President's speech was great and that he felt better since Bush had explained how things are going to work now.

[Vicki]

I watched Leno last night. Yes the Cher joked bombed and he did state that he could no longer rank on Bush because he's a smart guy now.

[Pipers]

Leno's wife was put in charge of Afghanistan women by clinton. Hillary loved it. It was an aspect of clinton's "foreign policy". Now excuse me while I grab my airsick bag.

[Dan Day]

So he said something to the effect, "What do you want from me? I can't do Bush jokes anymore. All of a sudden he's a smart guy!"

Actually, I see that as a compliment to Bush.

It sounds like an updated version of Mark Twain's:

"When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned."

The point of Twain's witticism is the unspoken, but clearly acknowledged, admission that it wasn't his father who had actually wised up, it was the young Twain, who finally came to see the wisdom his father had all along.

I see Leno's crack to be similar. It's an admission that George W. is smarter than (some) people originally gave him credit for, and that it will no longer be acceptable to joke about him being not too bright.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Late at night, about 1 or 2 AM ET, some NBC stations rerun "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" from the day before ( Mondays's show could air at 2AM tonight, Wednesday in the early AM, sometimes they get a few days behind) Let your VCR do the job. Check your local listings.

[HHFi]

It would be nice, before everyone piles on someone, if they could bother getting what he said right. Here it is, verbatim:

Leno did a joke about Cher that bombed, then he said, "Well, we can't do Bush jokes! He's smart now!"

This got applause from the audience. And he didn't say it in a snide or sarcastic manner. He was smiling, and I took it as a self-deprecating line; that he realized those old "dumb Bush" jokes were on the "unmarked grave of discarded ideas," and any future "dumb" jokes would have to be aimed at a new target. I'd suggest Cher.

[lowbridge]

Hey Leno, Clinton and Gore are still around to be kicked. Come around here once in a while for some lessons.

[paul51]

Oh Well. I guess MTV is out too.

[Kevin Curry]

Be careful. There are many who post here who believe that we violate a liberal comedian's First Amendment rights if we fail to laugh at his jokes and cease to pay him big bucks to insult us and to be as rude, crude, and irrelevant as he wants to be.