Monday, May 11, 2009

She was hilarious, until . . .

Wanda Sykes at the White House Correspondents Dinner

she took on Rush Limbaugh, accusing him of “treason” for saying that “he hopes this administration fails.”

“I think maybe Rush Limbaugh was the 20th hijacker, but he was just strung out on OxyContin and missed his flight,” she said, to cheers and nervous groans (boos). “Too much?”

But then she continued anyway. “Rush Limbaugh. ‘I hope the country fails’? I hope his kidneys fail, how about that? He needs some more waterboarding, that’s what he needs.”

This is SO typical. What has happened to comedians in this country? Can't they just be funny? She had a great schtick going there for awhile, but then she had to get vulgar and hateful. There was absolutely no reason for her to go down that road. Unless . . . . . she was directed to. But that would never happen in the Obama Administration, would it?

Can you imagine what would happen if Rush made similar comments about her? Rush never said ANYTHING about the COUNTRY failing. What he DID say was he hoped Obama's spend and tax policies fail so the country would succeed. And so do I. She crossed the line. But who's surprised? The fear the left has of Rush Limbaugh is amazing, and probably justified. Anyway, she'll get away with it, because she's . . . . a liberal.

17 comments:

vwatt said...

They are BOTH entertainers. As such, I even give Rush a pass. Live by the sword, die by the sword-and Wanda put it in deep:



On his radio show Friday, Rush Limbaugh suggested that Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) would be dead by the time health care reform legislation passes. "Before it's all over, it'll be called the Ted Kennedy memorial health care bill," the talk show host says. He says President Obama has moved on to health care because he can't solve the economic crisis

MORE REALITY: Columnist Molly Ivins reported (Arizona Republic 10/17/93) this incident from Limbaugh's TV show--"Here is a Limbaugh joke: Everyone knows the Clintons have a cat. Socks is the White House cat. But did you know there is a White House dog?" And he puts up a picture of Chelsea Clinton. Chelsea Clinton is 13 years old.

"One of the things I want to do before I die is conduct the Homeless Olympics... [Events would include] the 10-meter Shopping Cart Relay, the Dumpster Dig, and the Hop, Skip and Trip." (L.A. Times, 1/20/91)

On NAFTA: "If we are going to start rewarding no skills and stupid people--I'm serious, let the unskilled jobs, let the kinds of jobs that take absolutely no knowledge whatsoever to do--let stupid and unskilled Mexicans do that work." (Radio show quoted in FRQ, Fall/93)

Speculating on why a Mexican national won the New York marathon: "An immigration agent chased him for the last 10 miles." (USA Weekend, 1/26/92)

This is asinine! A Caesar Chavez Day in California? Wasn't he convicted of a crime?" (Quoted in FRQ, Winter/94)

"Kurt Cobain was, ladies and gentleman, I just--he was a worthless shred of human debris..." (TV show, 4/11/94)

"When a gay person turns his back on you, it is anything but an insult ; it's an invitation." (Quoted in FRQ, Summer/94)

"Feminism was established to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream." (Quoted in FRQ, Summer/93)

"Militant feminists are pro-choice because it's their ultimate avenue of power over men.... It is their attempt to impose their will on the rest of society, particularly on men." (Ought to Be, p.53)

"Why is it that whenever a corporation fires workers it is never speculated that the workers might have deserved it?" (Ought to Be, p.275)

Brodad Unkabuddy said...

I noticed in the conveniently published list of Limbaugh comments not ONE instance where he wished someone dead or tortured. Another consideration is the venue of Sykes comments. She was in the presence of the President of the United States, not in some local comedy club. Very tacky. Maybe the gloves SHOULD be taken off concerning drug use. In Obama's own words:

In his 1995 memoir Dreams From My Father (written before he had run for anything but editor of the Harvard Law Review), Obama recalls smoking pot and snorting cocaine in high school and college; he says he even considered heroin before fear dissuaded him. "Junkie. Pothead," he writes. "That's where I'd been headed: the final, fatal role of the would-be black man."

Obama explains that he got high not "to prove what a down brother I was" but to "push questions of who I was out of my mind." In marijuana, he says, he "sought something that could flatten out the landscape of my heart, blur the edges of my memory."

"Blur the edges of my memory" Hmm. . . I can see where that would apply today.

vwatt said...

No, Rush didn't wish Kennedy was dead...just used his fatal illness to make a joke at his expense....and made fun of a 13 year old girl, and denigrated homeless people and hispanics....so Wanda just stooped to his level...fair is fair. Actually, all this is far easier for me to take than the Bush performance of a few years ago where he played a tape of him searching all through the White House for "Weapons of Mass Destruction". Talk about the ultimate hypocrisy and chutzpah- making fun of a screwup that ACTUALLY resulted in the deaths of 4000+ soldiers. OK, here we go again..let's talk about spreadin' freedom and keepin' AL Queda from landin' troop ships on Miami beach....or maybe just talk about real important things like how Obama experimented with drugs in his teens...

Brodad Unkabuddy said...

Oh that's right. It's okay to use drugs in your teens and twenties. I remember it wasn't that long ago when drug abuse was a deal breaker. "I didn't inhale."I wonder where the line will be drawn. 25? 35? 45?

Brodad Unkabuddy said...

And Wanda didn't stoop. She was already down there. Watch her standup sometime.

vwatt said...

This story is really picking up momentum(from national blog TalkingPointsMemo):

"Interesting to note how some people are getting worked up over Wanda Sykes and Obama's behavior at that dinner. Remember GW Bush joking about the "missing WMD's" when he appeared at the same event a few years back? IMHO, that was a truly low point for our nation-- a President laughing about the fact that nobody could find the nuclear weapons that provided the central rationale for his assault on Iraq, which resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths.

vwatt said...

I guess Bush established the cutoff at 40(when he dried out) for cocaine and alcohol:
"When I was young and irresponsible, I was young and irreponsible."
No response yet from anyone on the blog about the WMD movie that Bush showed at one of his corespondent dinners. Was that appropriate? Was that "funny"? Soldiers were probably under fire in Iraq at that very moment as a result of his decisions.

Brodad Unkabuddy said...

I thought it was hilarious. And so did our soldiers serving in Iraq. There was no blow back at all from that. I don't recall any video of soldiers who didn't get the joke. You see the difference is George Bush is a humble man and had no problem with self-deprecating humor - not something found in the Obama Administration.

Just heard DEMOCRAT strategist Bob Bechtel on Hannity say if he had been at the dinner Saturday night he would have stood up and walked out. Being a former addict himself, he took great exception to Sykes' comments about Limbaugh's addiction and commended Rush on his recovery. He called her stupid and tasteless and said if she had been a man, he would have been tempted to punch her out. He went on to say he's been with friends who died of kidney failure and it's a painful, horrible way to die. He could not understand why the Obamas were laughing. This guy was enraged! And HE'S a Democrat.

Brodad Unkabuddy said...

Bush? Cocaine? Puh-leeze.

vwatt said...

WMD joke has hilarious?? I have a sense of humour but I don't get it at all...we're talking about a WAR...I guess I could laugh if I thought he was poking fun at himself for being so stupid as to go to war on false premises...on second thought, no...it's just sad..really sad.

vwatt said...

Cocaine and W...never(from realchange.org)!!!

"According to a new book, three independent sources close to the Bush family report that Governor Bush was arrested in 1972 for cocaine possession, and taken to Harris County Jail, but avoided jail or formal charges through an informal diversion plan involving community service with Project P.U.L.L., an inner city Houston program for troubled youths at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Houston's dirt-poor Third Ward. (In another new book, reporter Bill Minutaglio, writes that the year of community service was arranged by the Governor's father, ex-president Bush, after he caught Bush Jr. driving drunk.)

That year certainly is out of character with the rest of Bush Jr.'s life. Before and after 1972, he was a rich, hard drinking playboy. Suddenly, and only that one time in his life, he worked for a liberal charity in an inner city ghetto. As soon as the year was over, he resumed his previous pattern and has done no charity work since.

Brodad Unkabuddy said...

I've got one thing to say - show me Bush's "criminal" record. Doesn't exist. Secondly, he's a recovered alcoholic and a born again Christian. I'll take that over "blurred memory". The fact is this post is about a stupid, tasteless comic who crossed the line and won't apologize for her comments. Why? The President thought they were funny. And that says a lot about the man.

vwatt said...

And more...(At least Obama fessed up-and was still elected!!)

"Bush has essentially admitted that he used cocaine in his Clintonesque, carefully worded partial denials. He won't deny using cocaine or marijuana, though under persistent questioning he said that he hadn't used cocaine in the last 7 years. Most newspapers report that he denies using cocaine since 1974, but that's not exactly true.

That is the most favorable interpretation of what Bush said, but since Bush and his campaign have already made Clintonesque denials on other issues, we need to look at his words carefully.

What Bush actually said was ""I could have passed the [FBI] background check on the standards applied on the most stringent conditions when my dad was president of the United States - a 15-year period," Mr. Bush said. This is ambiguous because background forms ask slightly different questions, depending on the position. Drug questions can go back one year, seven years or 10 years. Bush Jr. didn't have any formal position in his father's administration, so which one applies is unclear. And 15-years is not one of the choices.

Since Bush Sr.'s presidency began in January 1989, reporters assumed that Jr. was denying drug use for 15 years before that, to 1974. But that is not at all clear. His only direct statement was for seven years before today. He could easily have been denying drug use only for 15 years before today, based on 7 or 10 years dating back from the END of his dad's term. 10 years before 1993, the end of Bush Sr.'s term, is pretty close to 15 years before today.

The Clinton administration actually has a stricter standard than Bush did -- the FBI now asks about any drug use after age 18. But Governor Bush has refused to say whether he would pass that standard, even though that is what he will be asked if he wins. Bush also has refused to answer whether he could have passed the FBI test when his father was vice president, during the 8 years from 1981-1989.

As for the arrest and diversion charge, Governor Bush admits working at the center in 1972. When asked for comment, Bush's campaign spokesman reportedly said "Oh shit... no comment." McLellan denies saying that.

Bush's father, ex-president George Bush, denies the cocaine arrest charge, and in yet another carefully worded denial, Bush said ""It's totally ridiculous what he suggested and it's not true."

You'll recall that President Clinton made a very similar statement about Gennifer Flower's allegations of an affair, during the 1992 campaign. Later, when he had to testify under oath, it turned out that he was denying that all of the details of the story were true, not whether an affair had occurred or any specific details (many of which were accurate).

Similarly, Bush himself does not deny being caught with cocaine, or having performed community service. Bush's campaign spokesman has now denied that Bush was ever arrested on any drug charge.

The director of the center, Madgelean Bush (no relation), also denies the reports. However, her center is dependent on Texas state money, and the director, who grew up poor but has amassed several houses around the center while running it, allowed Governor Bush to use the center for a photo opportunity earlier this year.

Brodad Unkabuddy said...

Weak, weak, weak. So he's lying BECAUSE CLINTON LIED? Sorry buddy, not buying it. Sounds like a lot of wishful thinking on the left. Show me the arrest record w/said charges.

vwatt said...

No records will ever be found...with a Dad who was a former CIA chief, what would you expect? but there's always more-Bush is the gift that keeps on giving:

"Deal #3: A Big Slice of the Texas Rangers for a Little Money (and a Big Profit)

The third unusually easy deal for George Bush Junior was his involvement in the Texas Rangers baseball team. In a nutshell, he was offered a piece of this valuable franchise for only $600,000, by supporters of his dad who also bailed out his failing oil company. He sold his stake for $14 million - while Texas governor -- to a Texas millionaire with lots of businesses regulated by his administration. "When all it is all said and done, I will have made more money than I ever dreamed I would make," Bush told the Forth Worth Star-Telegram.

Bush was allowed to buy 1.8% of the team for $600,000 of borrowed money, and was even made one of the two general managers. His qualifications for partial ownership? Several years working at failing oil companies, and his political connections through his father. It's hard to be sure, but we're guessing that latter was probably more important.
Junior tripled his investment, like the other owners, with the help of massive government intervention and subsidies. But his real wealth came from simply being given 10% of the team as a "bonus" for "putting together the investment team."

Even if he really had done that work, it's an absurd bonus ($12.2 million), but the fact is that he didn't add much. Cincinatti financier William DeWitt brought Bush in, not vice versa, shortly after George Bush Sr. was elected president. (DeWitt had also invested in Junior's oil companies.). The only investor Bush actually brought in was Roland Betts, a Yale fraternity brother, and that wasn't good enough.

Under Junior's management, the deal was about to fall apart until baseball commissioner Peter Uebberoth brought in another investment group led by Fort Worth Billionaire Richard Rainwater and Dallas investor "Rusty" Rose. Since the deal, both men have profited greatly from business with the Texas administration of George Bush, Jr. Rose personally invested $3.2 million and became the other general manager of the team. Under the team partnership agreement, Bush Junior couldn't take any "material actions" wihtout Rose's prior approval. There was also a method for removing Junior as a general partner, but no way to remove Rose. Yet Rose's "bonus" for his role in setting up the deal was less than half of Junior's.

What kind of owners would approve such a big payoff to Bush? In addition to Rose and Rainwater, men with business pending before Texas government, the owners included William DeWitt and Mercer Reynolds, major contributors to President Bush who had also purchased Junior's failing oil company through their Spectrum 7 Energy company.

If this deal doesn't smell bad enough already, consider Bush's blatant hypocrisy. The main value of the team is its new stadium (ranked by Financial World as the most profitable in baseball) and 300 acres of vacant land the team owns between the stadium and 6 Flags of Texas, which is next door.

Putting Tax Money into Bush's Pocket:

The hypocritical part is, the private owners of this very valuable land didn't want to sell. Bush and his partners gave them only a lowball offer, and when it was rejected they arranged for a new government agency (the Arlington Sports Facility Development Authority, or ASFDA) to condemn it for them.

The agency foreclosed the land and paid the owners a very low price, later judged by a jury to be only 1/6th of its actual value. The agency also floated bonds, guaranteed and repaid by taxpayers, to finance the purchase. This amounted to a $135 million subsidy for Bush and partners, compared with the $80 million they paid for the franchise. Since they sold the entire franchise for $250 million, it's easy to see whose money Bush and friends pocketed.

The next time Junior talks about tax cuts, remember this: Arlinton had to impose a new 1/2 cent sales tax just to pay for the subsidy Bush and his partners received.

To add insult to injury, Bush and his partners continue to stiff the taxpayers for $7.5 million they owe under the terms of the agreement. It held that the team would pay all expenses over $135 million. The original owners of just 13 of the acres sued the City of Arlington, saying that the ASFDA had not paid a fair price for the land. The jury awarded them $7.5 million, but even though the project exceeded the $135 million limit, the partners have refused to pay. Given their huge taxpayer subsidy and $170 million profits, it seems absurdly selfish.

George Bush, Jr. has said in campaign speeches "I will do everything I can to defend the power of private property and private property rights when I am the governor of this state." Apparently this deal was not covered by that statement, since he wasn't governor yet.

He claims that he "wasn't aware of the details" of the land condemnations, even though he was the team's managing general partner and has bragged about personally getting the stadium built. But he told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in October 1990 that "The idea of making a land play, absolutely, to plunk the field down in the middle of a big piece of land, that's kind of always been the strategy."

And the key to their land play was always the strong arm of government. A memo from Arlington real estate broker Mike Reilly to Rangers President Tom Schieffer dated October 26, 1990 - the day before Bush's comment about the land play - said "In this particular situation our first offer should be our final offer ... If this fails, we will probably have to initiate condemnation proceedings after the bond election passes."

On the first day of the 1993 campaign, Bush said "The best way to allocate resources in our society is through the marketplace. Not through a governing elite." Not through a private sports team buying in the President's son cheap, and then getting the government to hand them extremely valuable land.

Brodad Unkabuddy said...

Geez, gotta love that OLD 1999 campaign trash the Gore folks dug up. Should we get into HIS finances? That could be fun. By the way, why won't Obama show us his original birth certificate? Oh that's right. That's history, water over the dam . . .

vwatt said...

The birth cert. issue was addressed on a previous blog post!! We already know Obama is a Muslim and part of a sleeper cell.