I wasn't particularly taken with the White House Correspondents Dinner last night. President Obama's speech was facile and appropriate, though I like him better when he's outclassing his foes. He does that better than engaging them, even in jest. I don't think any politician should get a lot of points for being able to deliver a joke someone else wrote. Several presidents of my lifetime have been pretty good at it and that didn't make them better presidents in any way.
I've enjoyed Wanda Sykes in the past, usually in small doses administered from Mr. Leno's guest chair. She deserves credit for keeping it a little shorter than most do and for not being afraid to do jokes that caused much of the audience to squirm a bit. I suspect a couple of the groaned reactions were feigned and/or a way of saying, "We're going to be hearing a lot of debate about that joke next week." Sitting home, Mr. Limbaugh was probably thrilled that he has something to be outraged about on Monday. If I'd spent my whole career savaging political opponents like he has, I'd look for every possible opportunity to play the victim card. He caters to an audience that will love hearing him lash back at the little black lesbian woman.
One e-mail this morn from a Conservative friend was annoyed that, by his count, she didn't take any shots at all at Obama. What I don't think some Republicans get is that there really aren't a lot of good Obama jokes, at least based on G.O.P. premises. You can mock things like the gifts he's given…and she did. But it's tough to write a joke about how he's a dirty commie socialist who wasn't really born in this country, isn't really Christian and can't say two words without a TelePrompter. For a political joke to work, the audience has to buy at least somewhat into the truth of the criticism and people don't…at least, not yet. The folks in that hotel ballroom last night sure don't, even if some find it financially advantageous to fan such flames.
But come on. 110 days into Bush's presidency, they weren't (yet) making jokes about him being unable to talk or read or being manipulated by Evil Cheney from an undisclosed location, either. In time, the Obama jokes will come. It's just too early for them.