liked this article titled "Is Obama becoming a joke?"

robine · 10-09-2009, 05:51 AM

RealClearPolitics - Is Obama Becoming a Joke?

By David Paul Kuhn

Most presidents become a joke at some point. It's a matter of when and how. Both points should concern this president. In Winston Churchill's words, "a joke is a very serious thing." Or it can be, when the joke is about a very serious thing.

"Saturday Night Live" has long been a comedic benchmark. Last weekend, SNL took its first hard hit at President Obama. Fred Armisen, who plays the president, gave an Oval Office address questioning why some critics were distraught with him transforming the country: "When you look at my record it's very clear what I've done so far and that is nothing. Nada. Almost one year and nothing to show for it."

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David Paul Kuhn RealClearPolitics
michael moore Obama
Saturday Night Live Bill Maher
Jon Stewart reagan
CNN
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Political satire matters when it is larger than the joke. The growing rap on Obama is that he is a man both ineffective and meek; a man who is loved by all and feared by none.

Bill Maher hit the punch line first in mid-June: "You don't have to be on television every minute of every day. You're the president, not a rerun of 'Law & Order'... TV stars are too worried about being popular and too concerned about being renewed."

Soon Maher came to his key point: "You're skinny and in a hurry and in love with a nice lady, but so is Lindsay Lohan. And just like Lindsay, we see your name in the paper a lot but we're kind of wondering when you're actually going to do something."

Jon Stewart has been in on the joke all week. On Monday, Stewart hit Obama for "appeasing" the health care and energy industries. On Tuesday, Stewart showed clips of Obama's repeated campaign promises to allow gays to serve openly in the military.

Stewart to Obama: "I know you have a lot on your desk plate. But as a thin man who smokes, you may not understand the concept. All that stuff you've been putting on your plate, it's f-cking chow time, brother. That's how you get things off of your plate. "

The Olympics only helped reinforce the punch line. The president went to Copenhagen to rally for his hometown. Analysts assumed that the White House was in on a secret. The president could tip the vote? But Chicago lost on the first round. The president looked powerless.

Many Sunday political shows touched on Obama's Olympic failure. Was it a metaphor? On ABC's "This Week," George Will said yes. He listed Obama's big initiatives abroad and the absence of progress. "Saying no to the president is a habit," Will argued. "The world adores him and ignores him." The digs came from all sides. But SNL brought the point home.

Smart administrations take jokes seriously. By the spring of 1982, Ronald Reagan's staff was concerned by a running joke. A new comedy record was popular, portraying Reagan as the amicable dunce.

Satire helped undermine both Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. And as Reagan's pollster, Richard Wirthlin, put it then: "the danger" of political satire "arises when the humor portrays the president as silly or impotent or portrays what he's trying to do as irrelevant--when it attacks some of the basic elements of his leadership."

Mocking the powerful is as old as Ben Franklin. A JFK impersonator won a Grammy in 1963 for satirizing the Kennedys. By the late 1970s, SNL became political satire's defining institution.

Chevy Chase made Gerald Ford a klutz. Dana Carvey parodied George Bush as the wimpy, "wouldn't be prudent" president. Phil Hartman nailed Clinton as the fast food president in his McDonalds skit, cheapening Clinton as a man after the easy pleasures. Just last year, Tina Fey devastated Sarah Palin as a silly, high school cheerleading airhead.

It was supposed to be hard to joke about Obama. White liberal comics were afraid to touch on race. Obama came to office in serious times. But it was also Obama's image. He ran on a lofty persona unlike any candidate since Reagan. But in the case of Obama, the liberal pop culture was buying and selling it. Obama was to bring, "change, we can believe in."

But the change maker has not made change--at least not on the hard fights, not yet. Hillary Clinton once asked why Obama "can't close the deal." Her dig is now a punch line. And most people get the joke, except CNN.

This week CNN actually ran a segment fact checking the Obama SNL skit. Bush and Palin may have wondered why CNN never came to their defense. But then, where's the humor in that?

As Garry Trudeau, of "Doonesbury" fame, told one reporter, "For something to be funny, the audience has to be in a position to sense the truth of it." And SNL's lampoon of Obama was funny.

I think he was ALWAYS been a joke, but that's just me

intheknow · 10-09-2009, 07:15 AM

This is spot on. He is an absolute JOKE. In his whole life, there is NOTHING he can show for a product of accomplishment. People say he was in on important legislation, but none of it was that original or really that important. He has ridden on the coat tails of fame for being famous. He has become famous for campaigning to be famous and winning the campaign, but then not accomplishing anything afterwards . . . just more campaigning.

Sooner or later he will have to DO something.

SuzCa · 10-09-2009, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by intheknow

He has become famous for campaigning to be famous and winning the campaign, but then not accomplishing anything afterwards . . . just more campaigning.

Ditto. I am sick of him, Jennifer Anniston and Jon and Kate.

LandJ · 10-09-2009, 12:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuzCa

Ditto. I am sick of him, Jennifer Anniston and Jon and Kate.

Hey, at least they all kicked Linsay Lohan and Brittney Spears off the front pages!

robine · 10-09-2009, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LandJ

Hey, at least they all kicked Linsay Lohan and Brittney Spears off the front pages!

well, not exactly..as this bolded part FROM the article states :

Soon Maher came to his key point: "You're skinny and in a hurry and in love with a nice lady, but so is Lindsay Lohan. And just like Lindsay, we see your name in the paper a lot but we're kind of wondering when you're actually going to do something."

and there ya go.... Obama equated with LL

How appropriate

LandJ · 10-09-2009, 01:16 PM

Man....she's never gonna go away, lol!

Desca · 10-09-2009, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SuzCa

Ditto. I am sick of him, Jennifer Anniston and Jon and Kate.

I don't see Jennifer Aniston as a publicity seeker? (Except in the normal course of her job.)

SuzCa · 10-09-2009, 02:41 PM

All I know is that I see JA on the pages of the rag mags every time I pull up to the resister at the grocery store or sit sit down in a Dr's office waiting room, both of which I seem to do a lot of. I don't know whose fault it is and I don't disike her, but what's with all the press?

rae · 10-10-2009, 01:56 PM

You might enjoy this op/ed piece.

Mark Steyn: Nobel tops 'SNL' for Obama joke | obama, president, war, nobel, afghanistan - Opinion - OCRegister.com

Mark Steyn: Nobel tops 'SNL' for Obama joke
Gosh, it's been so long ago ... what "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy" did Obama make in the first 12 days?

10-09-2009, 05:51 AM	#1 (permalink)
robine 10000-15000 post ace of hearts Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Mountaintop Posts: 18,481 Blog Entries: 1756	liked this article titled "Is Obama becoming a joke?" RealClearPolitics - Is Obama Becoming a Joke? By David Paul Kuhn Most presidents become a joke at some point. It's a matter of when and how. Both points should concern this president. In Winston Churchill's words, "a joke is a very serious thing." Or it can be, when the joke is about a very serious thing. "Saturday Night Live" has long been a comedic benchmark. Last weekend, SNL took its first hard hit at President Obama. Fred Armisen, who plays the president, gave an Oval Office address questioning why some critics were distraught with him transforming the country: "When you look at my record it's very clear what I've done so far and that is nothing. Nada. Almost one year and nothing to show for it." Receive news alerts Sign Up David Paul Kuhn RealClearPolitics michael moore Obama Saturday Night Live Bill Maher Jon Stewart reagan CNN [+] More Political satire matters when it is larger than the joke. The growing rap on Obama is that he is a man both ineffective and meek; a man who is loved by all and feared by none. Bill Maher hit the punch line first in mid-June: "You don't have to be on television every minute of every day. You're the president, not a rerun of 'Law & Order'... TV stars are too worried about being popular and too concerned about being renewed." Soon Maher came to his key point: "You're skinny and in a hurry and in love with a nice lady, but so is Lindsay Lohan. And just like Lindsay, we see your name in the paper a lot but we're kind of wondering when you're actually going to do something." Jon Stewart has been in on the joke all week. On Monday, Stewart hit Obama for "appeasing" the health care and energy industries. On Tuesday, Stewart showed clips of Obama's repeated campaign promises to allow gays to serve openly in the military. Stewart to Obama: "I know you have a lot on your desk plate. But as a thin man who smokes, you may not understand the concept. All that stuff you've been putting on your plate, it's f-cking chow time, brother. That's how you get things off of your plate. " The Olympics only helped reinforce the punch line. The president went to Copenhagen to rally for his hometown. Analysts assumed that the White House was in on a secret. The president could tip the vote? But Chicago lost on the first round. The president looked powerless. Many Sunday political shows touched on Obama's Olympic failure. Was it a metaphor? On ABC's "This Week," George Will said yes. He listed Obama's big initiatives abroad and the absence of progress. "Saying no to the president is a habit," Will argued. "The world adores him and ignores him." The digs came from all sides. But SNL brought the point home. Smart administrations take jokes seriously. By the spring of 1982, Ronald Reagan's staff was concerned by a running joke. A new comedy record was popular, portraying Reagan as the amicable dunce. Satire helped undermine both Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. And as Reagan's pollster, Richard Wirthlin, put it then: "the danger" of political satire "arises when the humor portrays the president as silly or impotent or portrays what he's trying to do as irrelevant--when it attacks some of the basic elements of his leadership." Mocking the powerful is as old as Ben Franklin. A JFK impersonator won a Grammy in 1963 for satirizing the Kennedys. By the late 1970s, SNL became political satire's defining institution. Chevy Chase made Gerald Ford a klutz. Dana Carvey parodied George Bush as the wimpy, "wouldn't be prudent" president. Phil Hartman nailed Clinton as the fast food president in his McDonalds skit, cheapening Clinton as a man after the easy pleasures. Just last year, Tina Fey devastated Sarah Palin as a silly, high school cheerleading airhead. It was supposed to be hard to joke about Obama. White liberal comics were afraid to touch on race. Obama came to office in serious times. But it was also Obama's image. He ran on a lofty persona unlike any candidate since Reagan. But in the case of Obama, the liberal pop culture was buying and selling it. Obama was to bring, "change, we can believe in." But the change maker has not made change--at least not on the hard fights, not yet. Hillary Clinton once asked why Obama "can't close the deal." Her dig is now a punch line. And most people get the joke, except CNN. This week CNN actually ran a segment fact checking the Obama SNL skit. Bush and Palin may have wondered why CNN never came to their defense. But then, where's the humor in that? As Garry Trudeau, of "Doonesbury" fame, told one reporter, "For something to be funny, the audience has to be in a position to sense the truth of it." And SNL's lampoon of Obama was funny. I think he was ALWAYS been a joke, but that's just me __________________ The modern definition of 'racist' is someone who is winning an argument with a liberal. - Peter Brimelow How many Greats have become the Least for me?

10-09-2009, 07:15 AM	#2 (permalink)
intheknow 1000-4999 post queen of hearts Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Sooo Conservative. Oh NO! Posts: 3,803 Blog Entries: 303	This is spot on. He is an absolute JOKE. In his whole life, there is NOTHING he can show for a product of accomplishment. People say he was in on important legislation, but none of it was that original or really that important. He has ridden on the coat tails of fame for being famous. He has become famous for campaigning to be famous and winning the campaign, but then not accomplishing anything afterwards . . . just more campaigning. Sooner or later he will have to DO something. __________________ Needed a Hero; Got a Zero. Impeach Obama!

10-09-2009, 01:16 PM	#6 (permalink)
LandJ 10000-15000 post ace of hearts Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Florida Posts: 15,977 Blog Entries: 38	Man....she's never gonna go away, lol! __________________ 6 years old

10-09-2009, 02:41 PM	#8 (permalink)
SuzCa 1000-4999 post queen of hearts Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: So Cal Posts: 4,331 Blog Entries: 74	All I know is that I see JA on the pages of the rag mags every time I pull up to the resister at the grocery store or sit sit down in a Dr's office waiting room, both of which I seem to do a lot of. I don't know whose fault it is and I don't disike her, but what's with all the press? __________________ DD Sophia, Seven Years Old! Breast Cancer Survivor - In Support of all of our survivors! "You just have to decide if you’re a Tigger or an Eeyore". Randy Pausch

10-10-2009, 01:56 PM	#9 (permalink)
rae 10000-15000 post ace of hearts Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: You can take the girl out of TEXAS... Posts: 13,156	You might enjoy this op/ed piece. Mark Steyn: Nobel tops 'SNL' for Obama joke \| obama, president, war, nobel, afghanistan - Opinion - OCRegister.com Mark Steyn: Nobel tops 'SNL' for Obama joke Gosh, it's been so long ago ... what "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy" did Obama make in the first 12 days? __________________ I happen to be a proponent of single-payer, universal health care coverage. (2003) But, I don’t think we are going to be able to eliminate employer coverage immediately. There’s going to be potentially some transition process. I can envision a decade out or 15 years out or 20 years out where we’ve got a much more portable system. (2007) Barack Obama

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