Hope and Fail

Laughing with Wanda Sykes at the Correspondents’ Dinner

Comedian Wanda Sykes hosted the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner on May 9, where she called Rush Limbaugh the "20th hijacker" and said she hopes his kidneys fail.

Typically, the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner is a roast — mainly poking fun at the president and the press. It’s supposed to be a light-hearted evening in which the attendees make fun of themselves. Think Dean Martin, Lucille Ball, Bill Cosby.

Well, not in this White House. Wanda Sykes was this year’s host, and not only did she not bring the funny, the president laughed at her jokes. Even the ones about Rush Limbaugh being the 20th hijacker and hoping he succumbs to kidney failure.

Here’s Sykes, according to Fox News:

“Rush Limbaugh said he hopes this administration fails, so you’re saying, ‘I hope America fails,’ you’re like, ‘I don’t care about people losing their homes, their jobs, our soldiers in Iraq.’ He just wants the country to fail. To me, that’s treason,” Sykes said.

“He’s not saying anything differently than what Usama bin Laden is saying,” she continued, before addressing the guest of honor, President Obama. “You know, you might want to look into this, sir, because I think maybe Rush Limbaugh was the 20th hijacker. But he was just so strung out on OxyContin he missed his flight.”

The crowd groaned, Obama smiled and Sykes may have noticed a little discomfort in the room.

“Too much?” she asked.

But then she piled it on:

“Rush Limbaugh, ‘I hope the country fails’ — I hope his kidneys fail, how about that? … He needs a good waterboarding, that’s what he needs.”

Obama joined the crowd in laughing at the crack about Limbaugh’s “kidneys.”

So much for putting an end to the petty greivances and worn-out dogmas that have strangled our politics.

The choice of the host for the annual event is left to the correspondents’ association, but one can only imagine what the reaction would have have been had a similar joke and ensuing presidential laughter had taken place during the Bush administration.

Update

The White House is attempting to walk some of this back. According to Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, jokes about Sept. 11 aren’t appropriate. Then why did the president laugh?

Here’s Gibbs:

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