Yuckin’ It Up… Wanda Sykes at the White House
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on May 11, 2009
By Vicki McClure Davidson * Frugal Café Blog Zone
Ah, another fun-filled evening with well-groomed guests at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, with Wanda Sykes bashing conservatives on the taxpayers’ dime… and President Barack Obama howled.
Wanda, wishing death on anyone, even if you loath Rush Limbaugh, is not funny. Terrorists are NEVER funny. This isn’t a boozy nightclub, this is the White House. Which used to mean something reverent, patriotic. Gotta give you credit, though—you made an effort to tone down your usual filth. You’re such a class act.
Jules Crittenden has compiled a collection of reactions to Sykes’ act, both from the right and the left. Sorry, Jules… I can’t be as casual about this as you. I have a big problem with the nastiness she spewed at those not in attendance, like Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh (of course, there were the expected cheap shots at G.W. Bush and Dick Cheney, but they were innocuous at best). None of her nastiness was leveled against liberals. The worst thing she said about Obama, after she stopped genuflecting, was something strange and uncomfortable about his nipples.
Recap of Sykes’ unfunny, ultra-partisan shtick from Michelle Malkin:
In a nutshell: Liberal comedian Wanda Sykes indulged in Palin-bashing, Rush Derangement Syndrome, and post-Bush /Cheney-induced psychosis while leftist journalists rubbed elbows with politicos and Tinseltown eye candy. They all Twittered and tittered and Flickr-ed and snickered together at various D.C. before, during, and after-parties. (There’s even an entire fanboy/gossip site now devoted to the event).
From The Hill:
Alaska GOP Gov. Sarah Palin was scheduled to be a guest of Fox News but had to cancel late because of flooding in her state. In her place came her husband, “first dude” Todd Palin, and he was left to squirm in the face of a few pointed jokes from the night’s entertainer, comedian Wanda Sykes.
In a not-so-veiled reference to teenage daughter Bristol Palin’s out-of-wedlock pregnancy, Sykes said of Sarah Palin’s “early pull out” of the dinner, “Somebody should tell her that’s not really how you practice abstinence.”
Todd Palin and most of the guests at his table fell silent while other diners gasped and laughed.
US correspondent Toby Harnden of the UK’s Telegraph was there and wrote:
I was at the dinner and I began by laughing at Sykes’s gentle teases about the press loving Obama so much they never capture him on film smoking but often seem to get him on the beach.
It was amusing when she quipped that Obama [was] trying so hard to be all things to all men that the next thing is he’ll be seen mowing the White House lawn.
But the speech took a very ugly turn when she laid into Limbaugh.
This is what she said: “Rush Limbaugh said he hopes this administration fails, so you’re saying, ‘I hope America fails’, you’re, like, ‘I dont care about people losing their homes, their jobs, our soldiers in Iraq’. He just wants the country to fail. To me, that’s treason.
“He’s not saying anything differently than what Osama bin Laden is saying. You know, you might want to look into this, sir, because I think Rush Limbaugh was the 20th hijacker. But he was just so strung out on OxyContin he missed his flight.”
She then concluded: “Rush Limbaugh, I hope the country fails, I hope his kidneys fail, how about that? He needs a good waterboarding, that’s what he needs.” Obama seemed to think this bit was pretty hilarious, grinning and chuckling and turning to share the “joke” with the person sitting on his right.
There’s not much room for differing interpretations of what Sykes said. She called Limbaugh a terrorist and a traitor, suggested that he be tortured and wished him dead.
What was his crime? Hoping that Obama’s policies – which he views as socialist – will fail.
Kudos to Ben Shapiro at Big Hollywood for his elegant precision at nailing on the proverbial head why I’m still seething about Sykes’ cheap Palin bash:
…But she saved her most despicable gibe for Sarah Palin, who was not attending. Apparently, Sykes isn’t only a shrinking violet when it comes to her lesbianism – she’s a shrinking violet when it comes to her sex. Noting Sarah’s absence at the dinner (her husband, Todd, attended), Sykes said that Palin had pulled out at the last minute. “Somebody should tell her that’s not really how you practice abstinence,” she chided.
This is sexism of the highest order. Sarah Palin didn’t get knocked up before her marriage – her daughter did. Why didn’t Sykes blame Todd, who was sitting right there? Or why didn’t she blame Levi, who knocked up Bristol? Or why didn’t she blame Bristol? By focusing on Sarah, she perpetuated the stereotype that the woman is utterly and totally responsible for each and every individual act of the child – a stereotype Sykes would surely reject were she not so blindly hateful of Palin.
The bottom line: both feminism and homosexuality matter less to Sykes than kissing Barack Obama’s butt. She didn’t utter a single joke about Obama’s out of control spending. Not one joke about his teleprompter. Not one joke about his visit with Chavez, his messages to Iran, his Cinco De Mayo screwup, his mastery of the Austrian language, his “world without nuclear weapons,” his spreading the wealth around, his ownership of the car companies, his tax-cheat employees.
Two-part video below of the “entertainment” held at the White House this weekend. Enjoy it, you paid for it.
Jane Q. Republican, with a few years’ experience at stand-up and teaching comedy, critiques Obama’s opening jokes at the correspondents’ dinner and has included a video embed of “Jokes by POTUS”: Your Daily Emetic
More posts about reactions to Wanda at the White House:
Legal Insurrection: Wanda Sykes’ Joke Was on Us
Nikki Finke’s Deadline Hollywood Daily: SHE SAID WHAT? Wanda Sykes Gives Extremely Partisan Performance At White House Correspondents Dinner Tonight
Tim Slagle, Big Hollywood: Defending Wanda — Kind Of
Michelle Malkin: Socialist Bernie Sanders: We need more liberal media! and The most self-absorbed night in Washington (since the inaugural)
Kris Kitto, The Hill: Star-studded dinner includes some risky jokes
Thoughts Of A Conservative Christian: Not funny: Barack Obama laughs at Wanda Sykes “joke” about wanting Rush Limbaugh dead
Ben Shapiro, Big Hollywood: Wanda Sykes’ Gutless Performance
Mike Lupica, Daily News: David Feherty shouldn’t get pass for tasteless joke – but neither should Wanda Sykes
The Weekly Standard: Olbermann on Sykes: Probably in Bad Taste; Obama to Sykes: Great Job
Christopher Hitchens, Slate: Obama’s Court Jesters – As Wanda Sykes showed, comedians aren’t funny when they try to flatter the president.
Doug Powers, WorldNetDaily: The joke’s not on Obama and on Michelle Malkin’s blog: Rush is wrong?
Power Line: Wanted: One Funny Comedian
The Anchoress: Notes from the Correspondent’s Dinner – UPDATED
Toby Harnden, Telegraph.co.uk: Not funny: Barack Obama laughs at Wanda Sykes “joke” about wanting Rush Limbaugh dead
Eric Golub, Big Hollywood: Note to Wanda: Obama and Limbaugh Agree on Same-Sex Marriage
Iowahawk, Big Hollywood: I Guess You Had To Be There: The Barack Obama Celebrity Roast
Hot Air: Wanda Sykes: Maybe Rush Limbaugh was the 20th hijacker
Jane Q. Republican: Lowbrow Humor
The Other McCain: The Left won’t let it go, will they?
PinkNews.co.uk: Lesbian comic to headline White House correspondents’ dinner
The Lonely Conservative: Wanda Sykes hopes Rush Limbaugh’s kidneys fail
Scared Monkeys: Obama & Wanda Sykes at the White House Correspondents Dinner … “Most of you covered me. All of you voted for me.” … “Rush Limbaugh, I Hope His Kidneys Fail”
SayUncle: Wanda Sykes wants Rush Limbaugh’s kidneys to fail; just like Wanda Sykes’ TV shows
Zimbio: OBAMA LAUGHS; WANDA SYKES SAYS RUSH LIMBAUGH WAS THE 20TH HIGHJACKER ON 9/11 and SHOULD BE CHARGED WITH TREASON!
About the author
Yeah,…Glenn Beck was there and felt like taking a shower after he left.
I don’t understand why he even attended, what did he expect ?
ANYTHING GOES IF YOUR BLACK. LET ME SEE; WHO WAS THE FELLOW THAT SPOKE THE TRUTH ABOUT THE BLACK BASKETBALL TEAM, WITH ALL THEIR TATTOS ALL OVER THEIR BODIES.
WHEN BLACKS AND LIBERIALS GET TOGETHER THEY ARE ANOTHER BREED!
SKYES, IS BLACK. THAT EXPLAINS IT ALL!