56 comments

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  CraigHickman

  11 months ago

  Speaking of jokes.
  
  Keith just reported about the 1986 joke McCain told where the punch line was a woman enjoyed being brutally raped by an ape.
  
  Yes.
  
  Go right ahead and make the jump.
  
  Anyway.
  
  Keith and Rachel talked about how if it was discovered that Barack had told this joke we would be on wall-to-wall special coverage as I type this. But other than Countdown or the blogs, this corporate media is silent.
  
  Meantime Jesse Jackson uttering the N-word, which, by the way, Fox refuses to let us hear him utter, gets, to my dismay, lots of attention.
  
  To quote Susan Rice, surreal indeed.
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  CraigHickman

  11 months ago

  Standing up and applauding furiously.
  
  Bravo.
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  JJ

  11 months ago

  As a white Jack and Jill reader, I have to agree with points 1 and 2 from RBL, but I'm not so sure about #3.
  
  I don't think it's that (most) white people expect blacks to be funny or entertaining, but more about the lame "who would I like to have a beer with" presidential test (even though I'd much prefer to have a beer with Obama). Just look back to the last 4 elections. The supposedly more beer-worthy candidate has won every time. Humor contributes to that beer-factor that the media plays up so much.
  
  I'm glad his personality and campaign border on too-serious. Running the country is serious business, we have a lot of serious problems, and the voters need to seriously consider what's happened to our political system, not make jokes about it. The jokes make me laugh to the point of crying. All in all, the serious tone seems quite appropriate to me.
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  rikyrah

  11 months ago

  JJ,
  
  I believe #3 is cultural.
  
  Like RBL, though I have what people consider to be a ' friendly face', and can crack a joke with the best of them, I'm not one who, goes out of her way to make White people feel comfortable. I don't believe that's my job in life.
  
  " Lighten up" is something I've heard many a time.
  
  NEVER from Whites who have known me for a long time, and who are in my circle of friends.
  
  But, yes, I've been told to 'lighten up'.
  
  I believe RBL sees it through that cultural lens. And, especially being a Black male, who, from the beginning of this country, has always been seen as the most threatening being on the planet. (until Arabs and Muslims came along..but they're late to the game.)
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• 

  Town

  11 months ago

  "The supposedly more beer-worthy candidate has won every time. Humor contributes to that beer-factor that the media plays up so much."
  
  
  Yeah, and look where that got us.
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  jelana

  11 months ago

  Yup,
  Our cultures and priorities are definitely different
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  Michelle

  11 months ago

  Black people are not here to entertain white people. We are not here to make them laugh, we are not here to make them cry, we are not here to make them angry. We are human beings living our lives just like them. We are under no obligation to make them “smile.”
  
  Barack Obama is running to be the most powerful politician in America during one of the most unsettled times in this country’s history. And white folks are wondering if he is going to lose because he doesn’t make them smile?
  
  Yes. From this perspective white people are the only real humans and everyone else is just there as objects in relation to that --"You don't actually exist except as you please or displease ME ME ME."
  
  So. Ugly.
  
  Anyway, I think this post is just excellent.
  
  #3 is extremely accurate, in my view.
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• 

  JJ

  11 months ago

  Well, with anything that can be viewed from many perspectives and cultural lenses, there's probably a bit of truth to each conclusion. I'd just be hesitant to ascribe all, or even most, of the "humorless" criticism to racial reasons consider how important this aspect of general election dynamics has been in the past.
  
  I definitely have noticed pressure on many other black celebrities, to "lighten up", and to even plain shut up about social or political issues, but I haven't really noticed that pressure as much towards black politicians. Most nationally known black political figures have had a pretty serious tone about them, and I haven't caught the lighten up vibe much. Maybe I haven't been paying enough attention.
  
  I'll agree that no matter what the reason, it's a silly issue (sorry :), along with the elitism claims (I thought elite was good?). Luckily, I don't think it'll have any real effect this time, and for once we'll be electing the more serious candidate.
  
  Anyway, thanks for this blog. It's in my top 3 for politics this season.
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• 

  B-Serious

  11 months ago

  Obama can let stuff slide AFTER he wins this election. Until then, I'm sticking to my new theme for the campaign . . . "This ain't the time to be cute."
  
  Just focus on winning. Save the style-points for some other time.
  
  I don't want to wait for people to "get it" when we could just as easily be direct and unequivocal in our message. Be assertive. Don't rest on satire to get your point across. . . just make your point.
  
  So the New Yorker wanted to convey the fact that Obama's not a Muslim? Well how about this . . . put his face on the cover with the words, "NOT A MUSLIM" in big bold red letters across his forehead. Then have an article dispelling the rumor and making the point that the word "Muslim" shouldn't be a perjorative.
  
  See, Rush Limbaugh can be "cute." He can afford to be "cute" and "clever." After all, he's won the past two elections. We, on the other hand, ain't won jack in a long time. Stay focused.
  
  McCain can joke about Ape Rape and get a pat on the back. But let Obama brush his shoulders off and you've got the MSM asking whether that means he's a sexist. This brotha can't fart without having some pundit ascribe an ulterior motive.
  
  Trust, the media is NOT Obama's friend. Every one of those journalists would sell their souls if it meant they'd get the exclusive scoop to tear Obama down. No matter how much they want to see him crack a joke, you'd best believe they've prepared several ways to twist his words for the next manufactured "nontroversy."
  
  No thank you. People want to joke? Fine, talk about his big ears; mock his speech patterns; joke about his skinny frame. But Obama has no obligation to "let it slide" when it comes to matters of race, religion and "terrorist fist-jabs."
  
  They can call Obama uptight all they want, but there's a reason why people don't "go there" with McCain's military service . . . he won't let them. In fact, his camp makes it clear that you better think twice before you even think about challenging his military record (joking or not). He's got that game on lock, so much that you can't mention the word "McCain" without first prefacing that with "war hero" or "he deserves our honor and respect." That's a walking campaign endorsement.
  
  No. There are many ways to show Obama's lighter side. Take Rachel Maddows advice and go dance with Ellen again; Make a stop on SNL; have a heart-to-heart with Oprah.
  
  But draw that line in the sand. It's the small things that get you in the end.
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  CraigHickman

  11 months ago

  Say it again.
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  GreenLadyHere

  11 months ago

  B: As your NAME bespeaks - Mr. Obama must keep that "professional, SERIOUS distance from people, lest they get too FAMILIAR and straight into YOUR BUI'NESS!!!
  Secondly, "they" have searched high and low for something derogatory that they can have FUN with and EXPLOIT! Cain't find it! That's their PROBLEM!!
  Keep the "GAME FACE" on Mr. Obama!
  Great article!!!!!
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  rikyrah

  11 months ago

  You're on the money.
  
  As always.
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  RonnieB

  11 months ago

  Preach preacha!!
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  Nellcote

  11 months ago

  I try to watch Obama's speeches and things as much as possible & find him to be pretty humorous on occasion. I laughed when he said " I think you're likeable enough, Hillary". Maybe they just don't get his wry sense of humour. On the other hand they're apparently all over the satire...
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  B-Serious

  11 months ago

  @Nellcote,
  
  Exactly. And, to this day, some think Hillary won New Hampshire because of that "joke."
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  TRW

  11 months ago

  Yeah, I was with you on that one. I was really confused when they tried to say it was a put down. I just think he has a wry sense of humor and people want a fake controversy. So as B-Serious noted above, while people claim they want him to be funny, lighten up, and make jokes, but the minute they don't "get" the joke because its over their head, then it will create another controversy.
  
  The man CAN'T win.
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• 

  Town

  11 months ago

  Actually I find Barack Obama to be quite hilarious. He is funny but it goes over most people's heads. I know sometimes during the debates I would see him being grilled and he would break out into this big grin and you could see the wheels turning in his head, like he was thinking "Ok I see what's up, punk." I know I was rolling on the floor when he gave that interview to Robin Roberts about "don't mess with Michelle" and he had this look on this face that looked like "and I mean that," and Robin Roberts was looking kinda uncomfortable and then he broke out that "How ya like me now" grin while Michelle was in the background going "bwahh haa haa." They either want Obama to go into a rage (which is why they keep attacking Michelle**) or they want him to coon and buck dancing. And because he's doing neither they can't figure the man out.
  
  **Once they figure out that going after Michelle is not going to make Obama break down, they will start indirectly attacking the children and they're going to use a Magical Negro to do it. Bet on it.
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  rikyrah

  11 months ago

  I have a Sistafriend who said the same thing to me last night. Get ready for the attacks on the WeeMichelles. Oh, I can't wait to hear how those mofos try and justify THAT bullshit.
  
  But, we'll be here, pushing back.
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  Town

  11 months ago

  It will be disguised as "concern" for the girls. Or they will have some reports about black girls/children and somehow tie the Obama girls into it. And they'll get a person of color to do the dirty -- they want their hands clean.
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  TRW

  11 months ago

  When he did that "lay off my wife" line I nearly fell out of my chair, because you knew he was playin' but not really. The smile said yeah, you think I'm joking but I'm not. So I agree. People just want to push his buttons and since its hard to figure him out and get him flustered they are literally throwing every attack at him that they can.
  
  I hope and pray that they do not go after the weeMichelles. That would be too much. I would only march on the rarest of occasions, but a march against attacking those girls would have my name all over it.
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  smoothie

  11 months ago

  First things first
  #3 is about the most ACCURATE comment Ive read on a blog about the currrent topic ever. As a proffesional, and someone who's lead people in the military at a time, I was labled an angry black man b/c I actually had the nerve to be on time, proper, fair in my discipline of subordinates, and most importantly , I didnt kiss any ass. Reguardless the color (but to be fair, a large part of the leadership in the military is white)
  
  With that said, Baracks been hilarious to me. I dont know where to begin, Brushing his shoulders off, Calling Hillary Annie Oakley, and calling Senator Gramm Dr. Phil. Got me giggling. But, his humor as much as it makes us laugh, comes off as him being "uppity" which i think is code for them saying who does this nigger think he is.
  
  As to B's point about John McCain's military service. I couldnt agree more. Of course IT SHOULD BE up for grabs, but rethugs have painted anyone who makes a comment bad about military servicemen as unpatriotic and unworthy of there security.
  I COULDNT CALL BS MORE TO THIS POINT. If you all knew how much of your Tax dollar was really wasted on the military, I can assure you, it wouldnt be just John McCain who'd be put under the radar, but anyone who's ever ran using it as a backbone of there campaign would be heavinly scrutinized. no matter what party they claim.
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  TRW

  11 months ago

  Wait, I forgot about the Hillary , Annie Oakley joke. That was hilarious actually. I re-watched that video a couple of times thinking, this dude is funny. Same thing with the Gramm/Dr. Phil thing. So you're right. Barack is funny, maybe it just that some people in the press want him to be funny in a certain way though.
  
  As far as the whole military thing, I can't tell you how disappointed I was that the Obama campaign didn't back up Wesley Clark or at least read the interview he gave. People can have mixed feelings about Wesley Clark, but the man was clearly repeating verbatim what the interviewer asked him, i.e. qualification for President being shot down in a fighter plane, etc (paraphrase). And then McCain comes out about how he was trying to demean his service. I thought that whole thing was total BS. But you're absolutely right. Even if people do have legitimate questions about McCain's service in this election it seems to be off limits, whereas for Kerry, no one had any qualms about demeaning his service.
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  Miss-Opinion

  11 months ago

  Thank you for this post. Glad I'm not the only one seeing it. I tried to watch that video but I couldn't bring myself to watch that mess. But this is what always happens. Someone does or says something racist or wrong about him and they run out of angles on the incident and turn it into being Obama's fault. One minute it's outrage against The New Yorker and the next it's oh well he's to blame for the New Yorkers horrible cover. If only HE had a sense of humor about it it would all be better.
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  hopee

  11 months ago

  I had to send Maureen Dowd an email because I'm tired of her constant attempts to make Obama appear an effete elitist with snooty tastes. Imagine a black man who doesn't like sweets, what could be the matter? What does it mean? Only in America could the guy who recenlty paid off his student loans be considered an elitist when he's running against a guy whose wife charged almost a million dollars on one credit card in one month. Somehow because the Obamas shop at Whole Foods and eat "exotic" things like arugula, they're out of touch with middle America. I think some people want him to bust out some fried chicken, lemonade, and a nice piece of watermelon to make the media comfortable. "Oh, did you see him spit out the seeds before he drank from his forty? See, he is black enough. Now if only he'll spit a rhyme my day will be complete."
  Another storyline that I found quite amusing was the consternation about some comics inability to make fun of Obama. If a comedian cannot make a joke about Obama that is not racially based then he needs to find a new career.
  And I couldn't agree more with the comments about suddenly Obama is responsible for everything that comes out about him. I watched Jon Stewart and his it's "a fuc*king satire" moment and complely lost it. I then watched the editor of the New Yorker, David Remnick, on Charlie Rose, blame Obama (he's too thin skinned) for the media's overreaction; and then he thanked Jon Stewart for his support and understanding. Are you kidding me? You put out a cover that could be construed as anti-Muslim and anti-black and somehow it's Obama's fault that people were offended. Any idea that this cover was in fact intended to highlight the ridiculousness of the smears was erased after five minutes of watching that smug prick bask in the controversy he caused. I think what has been so surprising about this process is watching the so-called left struggle with their own issues about race. Suddenly the people who were oh-so-progressive when it comes to race (theoretically) seem to struggle when they are confronted with someone who doesn't fit neatly into those boxes that have been reserved for the "exotics." (And by the way, if I hear Chris Matthews refer to Obama as exotic one more time, I'm going to scream.)
  And If Obama is smart and I know he is, he will continue to keep the media at a respectful distance. Since he secured the nomination they have taken great pleasure in twisting his words and perpetuating untruths about his "shifting" positions. Anyone who has heard Obama speak about Iraq for the last 18 months, knows he is saying exactly the same thing today that he said then. So, why is Mark Halperin of Time magazine on MSNBC this morning (or yesterday) talking about Obama's flip flop? They want this race to be close and they will continue to give McCain a free ride. They are going to scrutinize every move that Obama makes and should he crack a joke, they will call him arrogant and Jon Stewart will call him a douche, again. (Yes, Jon is on my sh*t list with his seeming inability to be critical of the insanity that is McCain.) That is the minefield that awatis Obama. The good news is I think he knows it.
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  TRW

  11 months ago

  Co-sign, 100%. I love Jon Stewart. I think that he is one of the best things that has happened to political commentary, but I was pissed off about some of his comments with regards to the New Yorker cover the other day. Specifically when he tried to call out Obama by saying, "the only people who get angry at cartoons are Muslim extremists and you are not a Muslim extremist." when I heard that, I literally said WTF? So now only Muslim extremist are the ones who object to depictions of themselves or their loved ones that they deem offensive? Really? Is he on that? Because the last time I checked, people asked for Obama's opinion, and he exercised his First Amendment right by calling that "satire" tasteless and offensive. But silly me, what do I know. It just seems like that people in the press want Obama to shut up, eat s*** with a knife and fork , and smile about it, and when he doesn't they criticize him for it.
  
  Chris Matthews is another one. He has this weird man crush on Obama, but during the primaries he was saying stuff like, yeah Obama is popular with African Americans, but how is he going to appeal to regular folks. Yup. There is Black people and there is regular folks. Now, I'm sure that he didn't mean it to be offensive, but it just goes to show you that subconsciously, some "progressives" or "liberals" still view Black people as this other that needs to be figured out, or categorized.
  
  "
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  GreenLadyHere

  11 months ago

  Hope: Co-signing!
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  Lisa M

  11 months ago

  David Gregory is an idiot. He used to be pretty decent. It seems after dancing with Karl Rove he's become just another MSM hack.
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  bison1

  11 months ago

  White Americas have much to learn about Black Americans.
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  bison1

  11 months ago

  This post was needed. Maureen Dowd’s wit works with main stream White Americas, but she is out of her element when it comes to Black culture and humor. Black people understand the twoness that permeates the American landscape. Black people are often guarded, because we have to be. Not angry, just mindful. We understand how familiarity can breed disrespect and contempt with those who are only vaguely familiar with you.
  
  On the lighter side, I thought the commercial of the car salesman parodying Obama was funny.
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  lene

  11 months ago

  Barack Obama is funny in a way I've never seen comedians be funny.
  
  The first inkling came from a one liner at a debate just before the Iowa primaries.
  
  (It also shut Hillary, who was laying it on a bit thick, up).
  
  Then the next example came during a rally at Nevada.
  
  Of course there was the dirt off your shoulders, Annie Oakley, Dr. Phil and his response after hearing Hillary claim his message was tantamount to wishing a choir of angels will sing and unicorns will make the world better ("Hey, that sounds good to me.").
  
  So the fact is, the guy isn't humorless. He's funny and unlike Hillary or McCain, he has great timing and delivery.
  
  He's just not a buffoonish character. He's good looking but he doesn't appear overly high maintenance. (No $400 haircuts for him). Extreme displays of emotion are unheard of, unless it's during a passionate barnstormer of a speech. He's intelligent but he's doesn't come off as too intellectual. The change message he talks about has been painted by his opponents as overly idealistic, but there is this undercurrent that Obama is not some pie in the sky dreamer. His campaign has been drama free from the start.
  
  So I have watched the late night comedy shows and there is no easy material for him. They usually fall back on his race or his African heritage. "I have a package, and it needs some stimulus," anyone?
  
  Comedians can try to forcing a buffoonish personality on Obama, or falling back on his race, but it won't work. It doesn't come off as something unique to Obama so it will never really be all that funny.
  
  The few successful attempts at comedy I've seen have been when Obama plays the straight man to someone else's fool.
  
  That's why they're hoping he picks a vice president that's joke fodder. That what the late night shows are left with.
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  lene

  11 months ago

  crap, I meant in a way I've never seen candidates be funny, not comedians. Sorry!
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  GreenLadyHere

  11 months ago

  lene: Great post!!! I love his subtle humor!
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  RonnieB

  11 months ago

  Thanks for the reminder about Annie Oakley; the shoulder brush (white folks over 25, and maybe Black folks over 40, didn't get the inside joke); the "you're likeable enough, Hillary; and many others.
  
  It's become quite clear that some in the media are expecting that Barack to channel his inner Dave Chapelle--I mean, we all have an inner Dave Chapelle, right?
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  Michele

  11 months ago

  My only issue with Cindy McCain is that the first time I heard her speak was to make a dig at Michelle. But, I'm still not going to rag on Cindy. Frankly, she looks shell-shocked. I wish her well. It can't be easy being married to John McCain, or going through this process.
  
  I reserve the right to change my mind about going after her if she decides to go after Michelle again.
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  delfinajones

  11 months ago

  You are so right!
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  Jay

  11 months ago

  OMG - open thread link worthy!!!
  Obama is my slave T-shirt
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  bison1

  11 months ago

  Should Obama tell more jokes or be a joker?
  
  Many White Americas have much to learn about Black Americans, their culture, and sense of self. I thought the commercial of the car salesman parodying Obama was funny. Obama was being mock. So in answer to Maureen Dowd question, Obama can be mock. Maureen Dowd’s wit works well with main stream White Americas, – and I have no problems with her Bama spoof – but she is out of her element when it comes to having an appreciation for black culture and humor. Black people understand how the vines of twoness wrap around American’s landscape. Black people are often guarded, because we have to be. Not angry, just mindful. We understand how familiarity can breed disrespect and contempt from those who are only vaguely acquainted with you. Many Americas do not know him merely because he has not been on the national political scene for a very long time, they do not know him because many Americans do not really know the nuances and sensibilities of black behavior. The closest many every got to seeing it was from watching the televison show “In Living Color.’
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  CraigHickman

  11 months ago

  Very well said.
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  Get Togetha

  11 months ago

  Obama is the Matrix. Let the comedians remain in a quandary over what and how to say.
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  roadkill refugee

  11 months ago

  This whole sense of humor thing is BS. It's the MSM taking the pose of the school yard bully. The bully does something hurtful and when called on it, instead of being respectful and apologizing, the bully tries to avoid responsibility by blaming his target for not having a good sense of humor.
  
  I'd like to see some of the egocentric national reporters and anchors handle having themselves and their spouse mocked on a major magazine cover surrounded by hateful images and see them laugh it off. Let's start with Maureen Dowd, and surround her with Irish Catholic hateful imagery and mock her miserable love life, and see how much she laughs.
  
  Like others here, I think Obama's got a great sense of humor, a priceless laugh, and a very calm, balanced temperament that will make him a great leader in a time of crisis.
  
  Off-topic, but you may find this newsworthy... Obama hate activist and Georgetown professor Heidi Li Feldman, head of the anti-Obama 527 "Denver Group", is running ads to sabotage Obama's candidacy. Ran one recently in Chicago Tribune and one again today in Congressional Quarterly trying to force an open roll call for Hillary at convention as only way to "insure legitimate selection" of nominee. She doesn't seem to realize primary race is over and Hillary conceded, and Denver Group's efforts are only giving MSM and McCain anti-Obama talking points. Her contact info and more here: http://roadkillrefugee.wordpress.com/2008/07/18...
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  Big Man

  11 months ago

  I appreciate all the comments on my point and I appreciate the link from JJP.
  
  
  I"m glad folks pointed out all the times Obama did make jokes. I should have mentioned that in my blog. Like so many of y'all have said, Obama can be funny but it's not that Martin Lawrence, Eddie Murphy in Norbit funny. He's not going to be grinning and skinning. He's a Harvard-educated lawyer running for president. He's not going to be making fart jokes in public.
  
  A lot of you like point 3 in my blog but I really thought point 2 was the most important. Comedians are whining that Obama and his cult members won't let them joke about him, but the reality is that Obama supporters will not let them make racist, demeaning jokes about him. We will not allow him to be dehumanized for profit. It's happened too many times to far too many black folks in power and we are sick of it.
  
  I'm glad we're taking that stand.
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  GreenLadyHere

  11 months ago

  Big Man: Co-signing - BIG TIME!! That NYKer cover created the biggest, supportive response from Mr. Obama's "peeps" than any other. WE have his back!!!! ABSOLUTELY!!!!!
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  KXB

  11 months ago

  As I recall, Obama made appeared on SNL - kinda stiff, but it looked like he was having fun. He did an intro to Monday Night Football where he seemed to enjoy himself. During the primaries, he joked about how he took the question, "What is your biggest weakness?" way too seriously. His answer - he needs to be better organized. Clinton and Edwards answered they care too much. And when showing up late to a black organization rally, he cracked one about being on CPT.
  
  Obama is funny - the media is just not listening.
  
  And keep in mind, he was a law lecturer for a good chunk of his career - not exactly a profession known for hilarity. I don't see anyone asking Alan Dershowitz why he can't be more like Jerry Seinfeld.
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  Town

  11 months ago

  I don't see anyone asking John McCain why can't HE be more entertaining. Because Lord knows the jokes he's got ain't funny.
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  GreenLadyHere

  11 months ago

  town: tru dat!!!!
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  bison1

  11 months ago

  Do you recall that during the primary debates with Hillary and Edwards and they were asked about one of their personal shortcomings, and Obama was the only one of the three to give an honest answer? He said something about wanting his staff not to give him any papers, things too early, because he might misplace them. Afterwards he realize that he didn’t answer the question appropriately and made jokes about it ----saying that he should have said something about not helping little old ladies enough. It was clearly self defecating humor.
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  bison1

  11 months ago

  He and everybody laugh about his bowling score.
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  bison1

  11 months ago

  During the debates with Hillary, he cracked on Hillary for calling all of his supporters delusional. He responded with humor, he did not verbally assault Hillary.
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  bison1

  11 months ago

  In the New Hampshire primary when he wittingly said that “Hillary was likeable enough,” it was turned in to a misogynistic comment. What the dry witty statement was actually inferring was that it was self evident that quite a few people liked her because she was very hard to defeat. If she weren’t likable, he would not have had such a ruff time defeating her. To him, her likeable was not in question, because he was feeling the love for her at the polls. The humor, the satire, the wit was lost.
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  KXB

  11 months ago

  I think you mean "self-deprecating". I'm sure Obama has control over his bodily functions. :)
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  bison1

  11 months ago

  thank you for the correction
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  PTCruiser

  11 months ago

  bison1 -
  
  You did mean "self-deprecating humor" didn't you? (:~) Self-defecating humor would have caused a real mess. (:~)
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  blacksmythe

  11 months ago

  So he isn't expected to make us laugh...and that makes folks mad that they think he is.
  
  But he IS expected to tell "uncomfortable truths" to the black community?
  
  I'd rather him crack jokes and be that funny guy, than speak about issues he's got no technical business talking about (black fatherhood has about as much to do with the energy crisis as eating trix does with the space shuttle).
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  Leila Abu-Saba

  11 months ago

  Early on Michelle was making jokes at Barack's expense - and in that interview with the daughters they made fun of his shoes and his pants for being too old and beat-up. He took it very well.
  
  And thanks for reminding us about the shoulder brush and the HIlary remarks. I don't watch TV and ignore the debates as much as possible (that's just me) so I missed a lot of that. I did watch the shoulder brush on Youtube and thought it was pretty good even though I am a middle-aged white lady and did NOT get the reference at first. Even without knowing about the song, his timing and delivery made me laugh. All I saw was him brushing it off and that was funny on its own. Then I watched the music video and made the connection. I call that a universal laugh moment if you didn't have to know the reference to find it funny. He then bent over and brushed off his shoes - I thought that was great.
  
  Re: humorlessness and being "angry." This whole conversation reminds me of how much I keep myself in check about MIddle East issues, because if I so much as list a few Israeli atrocities in a calm voice, I get called angry. The only thing more dangerous in America than an Angry Black Person is an Angry Arab. We Arabs have to step very very carefully around non-Arab people (that includes my African-American sisters and brothers, too) lest our talk of oppression make people uncomfortable.
  
  Angry Arabs are scary to Americans. The US public has been brainwashed for two generations to believe that angry Arabs are going to come and get their mamas. 9/11 made it all too real. Yep. Can't have any Arab anywhere say anything angry because maybe they'll KILL YOU RIGHT LIKE THAT. Because only Arabs kill thousands of people by bombing with airplanes...
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  Town

  11 months ago

  I can imagine because "Muslim" and "Arab" have been the boogeymen (right alongside black people) for the past 30+ years. If you have the name "Hussein" you're automatically deemed to be one of "dem terr'ists" even though one of our allies in the Middle East was King HUSSEIN. Heck, Rachel Ray can't even wear a scarf without it "meaning something" (even though Megan McCain wore the same scarf with no backlash. Cindy McCain probably has one of those scarves tucked away in her closet somewhere).
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  PTCruiser

  11 months ago

  Yeah, Rikyrah, I think you and folks on this thread have nailed it down. I have read that folks in the Secret Service who guard Obama, for example, like working for him. I don't think this sort of relationship would be possible if he did not have a sense of humor. I read Dowd's piece with a growing sense of dismay. What's next? Tap dancing on the roof of a car?
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