So Barack Obama, as we saw last week, considers dredging up traumatic memories of 9/11 and scaring New Yorkers half to death to be fodder for a joke. The CNN commentator did not even stray from neutrality as she gleefully introduced the poor attempt at humor. He joked about his children taking Air Force One for a joyride.
The real story here is not the fact that Obama made a stupid and crass joke at the Correspondent's Dinner. No one responded or reacted to this.
The amazing thing is the contrast between Obama's humor and his predecessor. President Bush generally, in such situations, had the self-confidence to ridicule himself. The best example was when he brought out the impersonator and spoke alongside him. President Bush understood that he was funny, but also did not push it past the point where he would injure his dignity as president. Obama is not yet aware that his presidential persona is a huge target for ridicule.
There's nothing wrong with a president lightening up and joking around in the right forum. They still need to be respectful when considering joking about the worst attack on this nation within most of our lifetimes.
Interestingly, Obama was caught laughing at a statement about Rush Limbaugh being killed. Now in an unguarded moment, something similar could happen to any of us. However, compare the lack of comment to the heaps of abuse thrown at CBS golf analyst David Faherty. Faherty toured the Middle East and recounted his assessment of US troops' opinions of liberal politicians. "Despite how the conflict has been portrayed by our glorious media, if you gave any U.S. soldier a gun with two bullets in it, and he found himself in an elevator with Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Osama bin Laden, there's a good chance that Nancy Pelosi would get shot twice, and Harry Reid and bin Laden would be strangled to death." In his apology, he explained that he was simply trying to explain how US soldiers feel about their current commander-in-chief. CBS and the PGA Tour blasted his statements, which, like the Rush Limbaugh murder joke, were inappropriate.
Will anyone condemn or distance themselves from Obama and his friend yukking it up over their fantasized death of Limbaugh? Probably not.
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