The red carpet night of the political elite was this past weekend, the White House Correspondents' Dinner. While the mainstream media is reporting that the President ‘killed it’ and Jimmy Kimmel, the evening’s host, ‘fell flat,’ that’s not exactly how Glenn, Pat and Stu reviewed the event.
“The open of this thing, or at least the open to Obama's section, embarrassing,” Pat said.
The opening of the event centered around the President having a hot mic – a joke on at least two instances that have put President Obama in some sticky situations with the American people over the last year or so. Once, when the President made some questionable remarks to the Russian PM, and another when he was overheard mocking Rep. Paul Ryan. To make matters worse, the joke didn’t end with a pun of the ‘hot mic,’ but also included bathroom humor. Like Pat said, embarrassing.
Bathroom humor and jokes about the President telling the Russians things he doesn’t want American’s to hear …hilarious? Apparently so, if you’re a member of the mainstream media. Jimmy Kimmel, who reportedly fell flat at the Correspondents' Dinner, was actually pretty funny, just a little too honest for those in the media.
“Mr. President, you remember, you remember when the country rallied around you in hopes of a better tomorrow? That was hilarious. That was your best one yet,” Kimmel said to open his act. “But honestly, it's a thrill for me to be here with the President; a man who I think has done his best to guide us through some very difficult times and paid a heavy price for it. You know there's a term for guys like President Obama, probably not two terms, but... there is.”
Kimmel didn’t shy away from other sensitive subjects for the Obama Administration. Everything from the size of President Obama’s ears and the Secret Service to Jay Carney “personally knowing three Hilary Rosens” was on the table.
Glenn described Kimmel’s joke on Carney and the Hilary Rosen situation as “an epic takedown.”
Here is the joke:
“One of Jay's jobs is to keep track of all the Hilary Rosens. For those of you who aren't familiar with this story, Kim, Lindsey, etc. Hilary Rosen is the woman who said Ann Romney never worked a day in her life, even though Mrs. Romney raised five kids, and, of course, the administration tried to distance itself from those comments. They said she is not an adviser to the Obama campaign even though as we later found out, her name appeared on the White House visitor log 35 times. So when reporters asked Jay why her name showed up 35 times, this is where it gets hilarious. He said he wasn't sure it was the same Hilary Rosen. He said, I personally know three Hilary Rosens. You personally know three Hilary Rosens? Where did all these Hilary Rosens come did you pick them in the Hilary Rosen garden? I bet you $10,000 you don't know three Hilary Rosens but I'm not running for president. So... three Hilarys, that sounds like President Clinton's worst nightmare.”
“At least some truth got out there through this comedy,” Pat said.
“Kimmel is one of the first comedians who’s actually crossing that line and being unafraid,” Stu added.
Glenn pointed out that, of course, after he did it, the media rips the act apart and says he wasn’t funny. “This is four years, three and a quarter years into this man's term and this is the first time I've seen a comedian, a big comedian actually take this guy on,” he said. “That's saying something. And as soon as he does, all the press is saying that he failed, it wasn't that funny. He was on fire.”
Glenn, who attended the Correspondents' Dinner in 2009 when Wanda Sikes was the host, described the event as a “slime fest.”
“My wife and I got into the car, when left there, we made a vow we'd never, ever go again,” Glenn said.
Of course, Glenn couldn’t help but point out that his least favorite President, Woodrow Wilson, started the tradition of the Correspondents Dinner. “The idea was they're enemies of the White House and of congress. If we can just bring them in, feed them, have a lot of laughs, hang out with them, we can make them our friends.”
Stu also noted one more interesting detail about the “slimy” event attended by the political elite – the attendees. “The only place you're going to be able to see a whiter crowd than President Obama's staff is at the White House Correspondents Dinner,” Stu said.
“It’s nothing but evil white privileged people, who all they do all day is condescend to you about how you're not diverse enough,” Stu said of the attendees.
Check out the picture Stu posted of the crowd last year here.
