Want Obama in a Punch Line? First, Find a Joke

Shocker: McCain Jokes Are Ok For The Media/Entertainment Industry, Obama Jokes Aren’t
Say Anything — Who would have thunk it? On Monday, The New Yorker magazine tried dipping its toe into broad satire involving Senator Obama with a cover image depicting the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and his wife, Michelle, as fist-bumping, flag-burning, bin Laden-loving terrorists in the Oval Office. The response from both Democrats and Republicans was explosive. Comedy has been no easier for the phalanx of late-night television hosts who depend on skewering political leaders for a healthy quotient of their nightly monologues. Jay Leno, David Letterman, Conan O’Brien and others have delivered a nightly stream of jokes about the ...

There is nothing funny about Barack Obama [Karl]
protein wisdom — Today’s New York Times follows up on yeterday’s kerfuffle over the New Yorker cover satirizing various attacks on Barack and Michelle Obama by noticing the near total lack of jokes about Barack Obama on television: Comedy has been no easier for the phalanx of late-night television hosts who depend on skewering political leaders for a healthy quotient of their nightly monologues. Jay Leno, David Letterman, Conan O’Brien and others have delivered a nightly stream of jokes about the Republican running for president — each one a variant on the same theme: John McCain ...

Late Night Comics Having a Hard Time Joking About Obama
NewsBusters.org - Exposing Liberal Media Bias — A New York Times article reveals that late night comics are having a hard time making jokes about Sen. Barack Obama. From the article: What’s so funny about Barack Obama? Apparently not very much, at least not yet. On Monday, The New Yorker magazine tried dipping its toe into broad satire involving Senator Obama with a cover image depicting the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and his wife, Michelle, as fist-bumping, flag-burning, bin Laden-loving terrorists in the Oval Office. The response from both Democrats and Republicans was explosive. Comedy has been no easier for the phalanx of ...

Quote For The Day
The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan — ... “The thing is, he’s not buffoonish in any way. He’s not a comical figure,” - Mike Barry, who started writing political jokes for ...

Late night white TV talk show hosts finding it difficult to joke about Obama
Sister Toldjah — The NYT published a story today that should be considered a must-read. The focus of it is the fact that white late night TV talk show hosts are finding it difficult to joke about Barack Obama, and even though they won’t admit it outright, reading between the lines you can see that it’s primarily due to the fact that he’s black, and they don’t want to be painted with the “you’re a racist” brush. The article points out that the audiences that attend the shows tend to be consist primarily of white Barack Obama supporters who the comedians don’t want to offend. WTH? Comedians not wanting to ...

Obama jokes
Ben Smith's Blog — Yesterday's New York Times piece on the alleged difficulty of joking about Obama prompted, among other things, some decent Obama jokes, notably from Obama-backing comic writer Andy Borowitz (via MoDo): Barack Obama and a kangaroo pull up to a gas station. The gas station attendant takes one look at the kangaroo and says, "You know, we don't get many kangaroos here." Barack Obama replies, "At these prices, I'm not surprised. That's why we need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil." and: A Christian, a Jew and Barack Obama are in a rowboat in the middle of the ocean. Barack Obama says, "This joke ...

No More Mister Nice Blog — THEY'RE RUBBER, WE'RE GLUE Some scandals and gaffes stick. Others don't. Matt Bai of The New York Times has a theory about this, which he explained a few months ago under the title "Krazy Glue Moments": ...Here's a political postulate for you: whether or not a bad moment sticks to the candidate depends on how closely related it is to the core rationale of that candidate or his opponent. In other words, if your gaffe goes directly to the main argument you are trying to make about yourself with the electorate, or if it substantiates the most relevant thing that your rival would have us believe about you, then it has the potential to ...

Anchors Away! (On Obama's Overseas Adventure)
The Huffington Post | Full News Feed — Yesterday, Howard Kurtz reported that the three network anchors would be traveling overseas nextt week to cover Barack Obama's trip to Europe and the Middle East. In his report, he noted that none of Brian Williams, Charlie Gibson or Katie Couric accompanied John McCain on his trip to Europe in March, nor his trip to South America a few weeks ago. Today, the New York Times' Jim Rutenberg explores this difference a little further: The extraordinary coverage planned for Mr. Obama's trip, though in part solicited by aides, reflects ...

Joe Scarborough Savages Democratic 'Hacks' at 'The Daily Show'
NewsBusters.org - Exposing Liberal Media Bias — "Morning Joe" host Joe Scarborough slammed the "hacks" at "The Daily Show" on Wednesday for only making fun of Republicans and giving a free pass to Democrats. Discussing a July 15 New York Times piece that described how TV comics and talk show hosts are hesitant to make fun of Barack Obama, Scarborough mocked, "I never want to hear anybody from 'The Daily Show' or any of these other shows ever saying again, 'We speak truth to power.' 'Cause you know what they do? They speak truth to Republicans." After admitting that Republicans have made many mistakes over the last seven years, the MSNBC host ...

Can I Abuse You Please
Whiskey Fire — Over at Townhall, conservatives are enjoined to invent comical jokes about Barack Obama. The column is written by someone named Jon Sanders, who looks and writes like singing weatherman on a Pop Rocks & ginger ale bender. According to the New York Times, which rumor has it is a newspaper of some repute in New York ...

Did you hear the one about Barack Obama and ... ?
Top of the Ticket — Barack Obama may have achieved a breakthrough with his tour of the Middle East and Europe: It looks like he’s finally becoming a better target for gag writers. Until recently, it has been tough to get a laugh about Obama on the late-night talk shows. As a New York Times story this month put it, “No true punch lines have landed." “Why? The reason cited by most of those involved in the shows is that a fundamental factor is so far missing in Mr. Obama: There is no comedic 'take' on him, nothing easy to turn to for an easy laugh, like allegations of Bill Clinton’s womanizing or ...

Mark Joseph: President Obama & America's Comedically-Challenged Funnymen
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com — For years liberals and conservatives have argued back and forth about a press biased against their side. President Obama is now leading a crusade against conservative talk radio and Fox News, while for years, at least since Richard Nixon's presidency, conservatives complained about biased coverage by the mainstream media. I think it's fair to say that most mainstream news orgs tilt left while talk radio leans right but somehow through a multitude of voices and forms of media, we arrive at a semblance of balance. But I'm increasingly troubled by the lack of objectivity among comedians, especially when it comes to the treatment of our new President. ...