The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
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    Wanda Sykes Picks up Where Colbert Left Off! Rock on Wanda!

    By oleeb on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 12:30pm |

    Officialdom is now sniffing in disapproval and looking down it's long nose at the "poor taste" of Wanda Sykes for making two jokes about a bloated fascist demagogue during her performance at the White House Correspondents Dinner.  These are the same people of course, that are having a hard time figuring out if we should actually follow the law and investigate an illegal program of torture conceived and implemented by the Bush/Cheney White House. 

    The current White House, of course, has to position itself in a way that seems above anything even appearing to be unfair, thus, even though the President and all his people in attendance laughed at the jokes (because they were funny) they have predictably distanced the President from Wanda's remarks.  The rest of it, coming from the media and the villagers is just bald faced hypocrisy.  They could be honest and say that Rush Limbaugh deserves that and much, much more, but they don't have the spine.  Wanda has more balls than the entire Washington Press Corps.  The truth is they are terrified of Limbaugh and she isn't at all afraid of the fat loudmouth from Cape Girardeau.

    I saw the video more than once and what Wanda said was both funny and perfectly appropriate. 

    Limbaugh is an asshole no matter how you look at it.  There's just no way around that conclusion.  If you just take a look at his track record there really is nothing that can be said about him that is unfair to that creepy, fat guy on the radio who says the most hateful and bigoted things all the time.  There really is very little that can be said about that ignorant buffoon that is too much or over the top. 

    He is a racist plain and simple.  He is unpatriotic and hateful to our soldiers if they do not agree with him.   He openly supported all kinds of illegal and unconsitutional efforts by the worst crooks in the Bush regime.  This is a man with absolutely no moral character at all who was stopped at the border with a bag full of viagra coming home from a Latin American country known for making underage prostitutes available to wealthy Americans.   Whadya think he was up to huh?  A fact finding mission no doubt...  This is a man who slithered out of jail time for his illegal drug purchases, use and possession of what they call redneck heroin only because he is worth many hundreds of millions of dollars.  This is a man who has never apologized for his gutless and sickening mocking of a man with Parkinson's disease, who has laughed about the bombing and killing of foreign nationals, who has equated the torture of Abu Ghraib with fraternity hazing.  And this man who is so full of courage and vinegar when it comes to sending our young people to their deaths on foreign soil, when his country called him to service during Viet Nam, he was such a pussy that he used a cyst on his ass as an excuse to make him ineligible for service.  A cyst on his ass!  What a pathetic coward!

    No folks, I'm sorry.  What Wanda said was a-okay with me because she is a comedian.  Her jokes were caustic and funny, but her jokes about Limbaugh were not only not over the top but well deserved and long overdue!  It was not in bad taste for her to say what she said after all of the horrible things he has said and done to so many over the years and which he will, no doubt, continue to do.  Are we now to be mindful of his feelings as though he were a regular, decent human being instead of treating him like the plague upon the nation that he is?  This guy ridiculed the widows of 9/11 victims for God's sake!  Go easy on him?  No thanks!  I'd rather treat him like the scum he is.  Wanda Sykes deserves our thanks not our disapproval!  She did a great job and even if ya didn't like those two jokes you would have to say she did her job that night very, very well.  She's talented, funny and right on the money!

    What is most telling though, about this little incident, is the cowardice and false concern of officialdom in condeming Wanda for making the biggest ass in America the butt of a couple of jokes.  They did the same thing to Colbert a couple of years ago after he gave a brilliant, razor sharp critique not only of the tyrant Bush and his administration but also of the media who failed so miserably to do their jobs for all those years.  Wanda should feel honored that the same cowards and poltroons of the establishment who didn't see the humor in Colbert's routine are made uncomfortable by what she said.  She just picked up where Stephen Colbert left off is all.

    Rock on Wanda!

    Comments

    I do not know exactly why, but I am elated you liked Wanda Oleeb.

    We need a list, like Media Matters keeps of the traitorous, illogical, inflammatory, racist etc. comments made by this asshat rush. It needs to be read out loud every time someone says ole Wanda went over some line.

    I LOVED IT. And I love this post!!!!


    by dickday (not verified) on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 1:05pm

    I thought her remarks about Limbaugh were right on!

    I don't know what they were drinking but the guy said he wished that our president and our country would 'fail' and he reiterated it and stood by his remarks like a complete ass!

    I love that she said what she did! He crapped all over everyone in this country. Hoped everything failed for all of us because he is that freakin' selfish and obtuse.

    I am going to write Wanda a thank you note!:)


    by synchronicity (not verified) on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 1:16pm

    Ehh. She was sometimes funny, but her performance can't touch Colbert's 2006 appearance. It's one thing to mock the Republicans when you're in front of a Democratic administration, it's quite another to mock George Bush to his face at the pinnacle of his power and influence. Colbert's appearance was a watershed moment, something that will not be duplicated anytime soon.


    by dschwarz (not verified) on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 1:28pm

    Righteous post, oleeb. Check this out:

    "Daily Show" Mocks Talking Heads For Defending Torture While Decrying Wanda Sykes (VIDEO)


    by steve katz (not verified) on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 1:34pm

    Of course, Colbert's appearance at the White House Correspondents dinner was incomparable and brilliant. I honestly think Colbert is the funniest person in America. My point is only that Wanda was carrying on, picking up the torch if you will, in the same tradition.


    by oleeb (not verified) on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 1:48pm

    Glad ya liked it DD


    by oleeb (not verified) on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 1:55pm

    Good stuff!


    by oleeb (not verified) on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 2:06pm

    Sykes jokes were so on target Rush has not even exhibited a peep of his usual feigned outrage at the commentary on his treasonous buffoonery.

    That the leader of the Republican Party can be jokingly castigated as a drugged up ideological cohort of bin Laden with no response from the self anointed party of (fake) patriotism shows what craven cowards they all are.


    by NobleCommentDecider (not verified) on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 2:39pm

    The medias is so removed from the public, that the media is merely offering their own opinions rather than asking he opinions of the public.

    Comedians who are picked for the dinner because they are edgy, are criticized for delivering what thy were paid to do.

    I'm shocked that the media is shocked.


    by rmrd0000 (not verified) on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 3:10pm

    Oleeb, I had only heard the vague media grumblings about 'kidney failure' and '20th hijacker', and thought it a bit overboard. Then just now took a look at the video. Seemed actually pitch-perfect: righteous outrage at a hate-spewing shithead. Well done! I applaud her. thanks for this.


    by Obey (not verified) on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 3:50pm

    If they were not talking about Wanda Sykes, they would have to replay Obama's smack down of Cheney, or his jabs at Steele and Boehner. I thought those were the poignant moments and very surprising. Sykes was a professionasl comedian and she rocked the house, but Obama rocked the Reich.


    by GregorZap (not verified) on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 4:34pm

    Of course, you've got Howard Kurtz disputing whether Limbaugh even "lies" during his program.

    I really want to pin these establishment defenders down on this: do you consider Limbaugh part of the media establishment, who shares your basic vision for the country? and, if so, how do you defend much of what he says (e.g., "Barack the Magic Negro") and what he does (e.g., child sex tourism in the Caribbean)?

    You described the venomous gasbag that is Rush Limbaugh very well in your post. What I still would like to know is why Rush gets a shoulder shrug for three hours of racism, hate and subversion every day from the MSM, while Wanda Sykes get the full "she trashed the place - and it's not her place" treatment from them for a very jokes at a banquet?

    Are they the leading personalities in the MSM scared of Limbaugh's audience? Or do they agree with his opinions and methods of argument? Inquiring minds would like to know.


    by brewmn61 (not verified) on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 4:36pm

    Nice sum-up, oleeb, congratulations! "I hope his kidneys fail" made me cringe for a moment -- I don't think it's generally right to ever wish political opponents physical illness. Here, though, "I hope he fails!" really is directed at all of us, he already scoffed at Michael J. Fox's illness, and I have to say that, heaven forbid, should our President contract a serious illness, I a certain the fat drug addict would not conceal his utter delight. So I wouldn't have said the line above, but I can understand where it's coming from and I can't be mad at her.

    I think it was an excellent presentation she made, I was howling out loud which I don't do too often, and I thought it much better than the transcript-only version of Colbert that I got to see.


    by Overreach THIS! (not verified) on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 5:10pm

    It is so much better on video. Here is the Colbert tape...http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-869183917758574879


    by jsuaka17 (not verified) on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 5:23pm

    Great Post.

    I thought Wanda was brilliant, and just outright hilarious.

    I told it the next day :)


    by dragonfly2x (not verified) on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 6:24pm

    Just goggled 'colbert whitehouse press youtube' and listened to Colbert.

    Talk about going into the lions den and having the 'audacity to speak the truth.'

    It took more than courage for Colbert to do what he did. It took a sense of morality and decency, so lacking in most of those he spoke to, that though the host and invited guests stayed silent in their laughter and applause, it caused them to take a look in the mirror at what they so shamelessly had become.

    Thank you Mr. Colbert.


    by letthesunshinein (not verified) on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 7:07pm

    What Wanda said did not bother me. Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck & Co say worse. Look at the joke the CBS anchor made about Pelosi being shot.


    by neesy08 (not verified) on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 7:34pm

    We don't agree on everything, but you're bang-on right with this, Rec'ed...


    by The Old Grouch (not verified) on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 7:51pm

    I'll play devil's advocate. I dislike the attacks that come from the likes of hannity and limbaugh and I feel like Sykes stooped to their level. I don't like that kind of humor coming from either side.


    by FDRdog (not verified) on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 8:05pm

    I appreciate your assuming the role of devil's advocate, but you seem to be equating Sykes with Hannity and Limbaugh and that is an inappropriate comparison.

    The difference you're missing is that she is a comedian making a joke. Whether you think it's funny is another matter. I certainly thought she was funny. Hannity and Limbaugh are not comedians and are ostensibly taken as serious commentators. They regularly hurl demonstrably false innuendo, openly wish violence on others. There really is no end to their sickening and interminable filth.

    There's just no comparison at all. What she did was edgy humor that not everyone might like. What they do every single day is reprehensible and never humorous. They traffic in ridicule and derision as part of their daily routine in a way wholly unlike anything Wanda Sykes ever came near in her few minutes on the dais last Saturday night.


    by oleeb (not verified) on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 8:40pm

    I'll back you... sort of. "I hope his kidneys fail" wasn't funny because it wasn't much of a punchline. Why kidneys? It has nothing to do with Rush. Why not something more relevant? If you are going with a throw away line, how about "I hope your show fails"... or "I hope your Oxycontin fails"... those things, at least, are related to Rush Limbaugh.

    I also cringed about nailing the statue down because the next white president will move it into the kitchen. Again, more about shock, less about funny.

    I liked she went after whomever, just wish it was funny. A simple put down isn't funny.

    Wanda is much funnier on CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM.

    Having said that, however, her monologue wasn't really newsworthy either. Colbert's was because he was truly breathtaking and uniformly so.


    by clearthinker (not verified) on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 8:41pm

    oleeb, see below. Wanda is very funny... and naturally so, because she is very funny in person, but the kidney joke wasn't funny. Not because it was mean, but because it was devoid of a real punchline.


    by clearthinker (not verified) on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 8:43pm

    Sykes was completely off target with her waterboard Limbaugh joke. A human with Limbaugh's girth is impervious to being affected by the technique, and instead is more likely to damage the equipment, than be broken by it. There is a much lesser known analogous interrogatory apparatus, designed for use and effective on grossly obese detainees: The Waterbarndoor.


    by PseudoCyAnts (not verified) on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 8:48pm

    Fine, but that's merely a matter of personal taste, not of "good" or "bad" or "tasteless".

    The bottom line is, whether you liked the jokes or not (as I sure did and so did the people in the room at the time), what she said was perfectly cricket and not at all below the belt.


    by oleeb (not verified) on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 8:52pm

    Oxycontin and its siblings and derivatives run a higher risk of liver damage than other opiates. Generally the abuse of all drugs including alcohol (except marijuana, which seems mostly excluded here as with almost all side-effects) can cause kidney damage. The liver is certainly even more exposed, but do not discount the kidney.


    by Karl the Marxist (not verified) on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 9:10pm

    (For what it was worth, I did not think it was particularly funny, either.)


    by Karl the Marxist (not verified) on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 10:08pm

    Interesting that Sykes made statements regarding treason. Anyone care to flesh this out and distinguish patriot dissent and treason?


    by suasponte (not verified) on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 11:38pm

    It was a comedy routine, abd she only said treason once.

    I'll take a pass on fleshing-out Limbaugh though. That job is much too big for one person, and would be best contracted out to an abattoir.


    by PseudoCyAnts (not verified) on Wed, 05/13/2009 - 12:38am

    =D

    Well, yeah.

    Supersize it!


    by Bwakfat (not verified) on Wed, 05/13/2009 - 12:46am

    Great post oleeb. There is no criticism of that Big Fat Idiot that is over the top. He has long ago forfiet the right to expect to be treated with dignity.
    The best put down of Rush that I can recall was when he went on Letterman (must be ten years ago). The windbag came out expecting to wow the crowd. Letterman gave him a polite introduction, started the conversation and when Rush started to rave Dave just smiled and let him dig himself in deeper. After a while Rush realised he was crashing and looked at Letterman to save him and Dave just smiled and handed him more rope. Had the guy ever talked to an audience that was not hand picked wingnuts? Normal people just don't buy his crap. He hates when that happens.


    by fpie (not verified) on Wed, 05/13/2009 - 8:35am

    Extra credit for the use of "abattoir".


    by Boyd Reed (not verified) on Wed, 05/13/2009 - 12:50pm

    Good post. I thoroughly enjoyed her routine as well. I thought she did a wonderful job of holding up a mirror to Limbaugh, et al.

    From what I'm told, the live reactions to the jokes were even more telling than what you could hear on C-SPAN.


    by Boyd Reed (not verified) on Wed, 05/13/2009 - 12:57pm

    Thanks a lot for that! Will view it now.


    by Overreach THIS! (not verified) on Wed, 05/13/2009 - 6:15pm