Joan Walsh: "Once a barely elected president jokes about WMDs, it's hard to ever be offensive again"

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Tuesday May 12, 2009 23:59 EDT
Who's afraid of Wanda Sykes?



I love Wanda Sykes, I always have. I laughed out loud watching her White House Correspondents’ Dinner routine (on the Web; Salon has never attended that particular circle jerk of D.C. insularity; maybe someday we will!)

Sure it was off-color and, um, slightly out there -- but that’s the point. Or it used to be. Even if I didn’t already love Sykes, my point of view would be: Once a barely elected president who started a devastating war on false pretenses can joke about those pretenses at that same dinner (Remember Bush looking behind sofas for WMD? ) it’s hard to ever be offensive again.

There are other wince-worthy examples we never hear about: At the 1970 Gridiron dinner, according to "Nixon's Piano," by Kenneth O'Reilly, the not yet disgraced GOP President Richard Nixon and his scandal-dogged V.P. Spiro Agnew did a classy racist interpretive piece. "What about this 'Southern strategy' we hear so often?" Nixon asked Agnew. "Yes suh, Mr. President," Agnew replied in what was known as “dialect,” adding, "Ah agree with you completely on yoah Southern strategy." While Nixon played a variety of songs on piano, Agnew drowned him out with his renditions of “Dixie.”

Also in that Gridiron program, a newspaper reporter sang a rendition of “Dixie Melody” with these words: “Rock-a-bye the voters with a Southern strategy; Don't you fuss; we won't bus children in ol' Dixie! We'll put George Wallace in decline Below the Mason-Dixon line. We'll help save the nation From things like civil rights and inte-gra-tion! Weep no more, John Stennis! We'll pack the court for sure. We will fight for voting rights -- To keep them white and pure! A zillion Southern votes we will deliver; Move Washington down on the Swanee River! Rock-a-bye with Ol' Massa Nixon and his Dixie strategy!” Hilarious, right? Move over, Wanda Sykes! Let's make room for that kind of comedy!

http://www.salon.com/opinion/walsh/politics/2009/05/12/wanda_sykes/index.html

[walldude]

1. Shit I thought that said Joe Walsh....

that guy still owes me some smokes....

That said, she hits it on the head... K&R

[Dramarama]

2. Nice sig.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

3. Good for Joan -

she took KO to task for his comments about Wanda Sykes.

Good for Joan. KO blew it.

Gutsy and brilliant piece ..................

[malaise]

8. Ditto

Bravo Joan.

[emulatorloo]

4. I liked this paragraph:

==

Watching Sykes, I was so pleased. I thought: My God, there’s never been a better match for Limbaugh. He’s an entertainer and a comedian -- I despise him, but every once in a while he’s funny -- and he’s regularly off-color; Sykes is all those things while, in my opinion, funnier and less cruel. But let’s be honest: We had comedian and entertainer vs. comedian and entertainer. She’s his match and his equal, and anyone who criticizes Sykes without sending the same criticism to Limbaugh is both a phony and a wuss.

==

Excellent piece - thanks for posting.

[Cha]

5. Nice..KO

was wrong on this but I still love him.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

6. I agree with one comment I read on DU about the KO thing...

...it was something along the lines of "By saying that she went too far, it gave him an opportunity to play the clip again, which kept it in the minds of his viewers."

:patriot:

[Mind_your_head]

11. I agree.

KO was very very very wrong-headed.

[NoPasaran]

7. Well, I guess Lisa Lampanelli's chances of getting the gig next year are about zero

[spanone]

9. the media gave ol junior* a gift when they passed on accountability for that one

imagine a joke like that from President Obama or Vice President Biden?

making fun of the very thing our soldiers are literally dying to find in iraq, sent there by a man who knew they didn't exist. treasonous

[glitch]

14. Not to mention all the latrines who laughed at that excrement. nt

[eleny]

10. I like her more and more each day

This was a terrific editorial. K&R

Thanks to Joan for pulling KO's nose, too.

[Warren DeMontague]

12. But she said something MEAN about Rush Limbaugh!!!! She even implied that she wished him ill!!!!!

Never mind that Rush and the multitude of bile-spewing gremlins his hate radio genre has spawned; Savage, Coulter, Beck, et al... have been fantasizing about death for, and openly advocating violence against, "libruls" for YEARS.

Someone said something mean about Rush? Heavens! Let's all clutch our crinoline doilies to our chests-- because he's such a nice man!

:eyes:

[AwakeAtLast]

13. It's only offensive when DEMOCRATS do it

Didn't everybody get their memo? :shrug:

;)

Great piece! :kick: and R!

[IDemo]

15. Typo by Joan: 'barely elected'

Should read - "barely selected".

[mzmolly]

16. WTG Joan!

:kick:

[Wednesdays]

17. K&R

:kick:

[gratuitous]

18. Nail meet hammer

And anyone who's all up in arms about an entertainer entertaining while giving a pass to Bush and his gut-wrenching "search" for the weapons of mass destructions should just turn in their humanity credentials.

[felinetta]

19. Thanks Joan!

I thought the same thing about Bush disgustingly looking for
WMD in the Oval Office trying to evoke laughs. Now that is
sick!!!!!!!!!!!!!