John Hodgman’s roast of barry
barry “roasts” press
June 20, 2009
barry humiliated the tv/radio correspondents at their little roast last night but what are the chances any of them will admit it? There’s no way around it. It’s there in his words, his intonation, his laughter (when no one else found his “jokes” funny), the pleasure he took in saying them, the audience’s non laughter and their faces on camera. He joked that they were second stringers, that he’s a celebrity and they’re not and then about them potentially losing their jobs. None of his comments were meant in the spirit of a roast. Then there’s the Larry Summers fat boy joke and the Brian Williams clogged the toilet joke and the unbelievable joke about Gitmo detainees involving world leaders.
And how will they report on it?
Depends on if they mind being humiliated. They haven’t minded looking foolish, ignorant or embarrassed. Depends on whether they feel they deserve a bare minimum of respect from the man they made president. But mainly it depends on how well they can convince themselves that he wasn’t enjoying it as much as he clearly was.
I would like to believe it was enough for them to find a spine (and a conscience) but I have a feeling it will be:
JON JON ALTER: “Obama’s boyish charm on display as he took on his toughest critics”
BOB HERBERT: “None of the white people laughed at Obama’s jokes”
RICHARD WOLFFE: “Obama wit a hit!”
JOHN HARDWOOD: “He looked like Mr Kool up there, didn’t he?”
EUGENE ROBINSON: “Funniest president in history”
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: “Joe, he mentioned Mommy!”
RACHEL MADDOW: “President Obama took insults in stride”
LEE COWAN: “He totally killed it!”
NEW TORK TIMES: “President Obama tailors jokes, makes evening more memorable”
TAMRON HALL: “What a smile!”
BRIAN WILLIAMS: “Following night of good-natured ribbing, President brokers peace in Middle East”
CONTESSA BREWER: “It was a kind of intelligent humor”
CHUCK TODD: “Wow! Obama dug my beard!!!”
NORAH O’DONNELL: “I’ve watched it 50 times”
ANDREA MITCHELL: “President finds time to banter with press”
CHRIS MATTHEWS: “barama was so funny, he made me cry“
HERR OLBERMANN: “Obama issues zingers with unprecendented presidential precision!”
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