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Comedy Is Not Pretty
July 17, 2008 10:32 AM
He has told some offensive jokes, he has told some funny jokes, and now Sen. John McCain -- a favorite on The Daily Show, a one-time guest host on Saturday Night Live -- finds his sense of humor under the microscope.
"Rooted in a time before there was political correctness, and before there was the South Park backlash against political correctness, McCain's wisecracking persona is cutting at times, self-deprecating at others, and always amused by the political process swirling around him," writes Ben Smith in the Politico this morning. "Even in his pursuit of the White House, the candidate has - sometimes to the dismay of his handlers - managed to keep his sense of humor."
Smith turns to former Sen. Bob Kerrey, D-Neb., for insight without mentioning Kerrey's struggles as a 1992 presidential candidate because of a racy joke he once told (Punchline: "and then Jerry Brown says, 'I like [performing a certain sexual act], does that make me a lesbian, too?'") Kerrey had told his joke to then-Gov. Bill Clinton, after Clinton told him a lesbian joke first, Kerrey told the New York Times about a decade later. But the C-SPAN microphone only picked up Kerrey.
In any case, back to McCain. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee got some heat last month for a joke he told referring to the age-old loaded question, "When did you stop beating your wife, senator?" In April 2007, a joke he made to Jon Stewart about an IED was criticized on the House floor by Rep. John Murtha, D-Penn., McCain told Diane Sawyer that Murtha and other critics should "lighten up and get a life."
- jpt
July 17, 2008 in 2008: Republicans, John McCain, McCain, John | Permalink | Share | User Comments (27)
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"It's alright for a presidental candidate to have a sense of humor, but there must be a limitation."
That's a shot you don't get to call. You'll discover you don't have that kind of control over your humor and neither does he.
Fist bumps aren't funny. Bernie Mac wasn't funny (and it is his job to be). Giving your opponent the finger or the brush off isn't funny.
Funny is based on point of view and like it or not, based on pain for the other guy. See The Aristocrats.
That said, this is emotional vectoring and just press distractions. Chill out or they really will be messin' with ya.
Posted by: len | Jul 17, 2008 11:08:07 AM
obama does have a sense of humor like when he said america already has one dr phil thats funny but mccain bomb iran kill them with cigarettes wife beating those are not funny but sick minded the man is sick sick i dont know for the life of me why anyone would want hin potus and agrees with his sick sense of humor bye bye mccain!!!
Posted by: angie | Jul 17, 2008 11:07:24 AM
Folks, Senator Obama does not possess a "funny bone". He has no sense of humor, just a sense of poor judgment.
Posted by: Mary | Jul 17, 2008 11:01:13 AM
It's alright for a presidental candidate to have a sense of humor, but there must be a limitation.
"Bomb bomb bomb Iran" is not humorous.
Laughing at a supporter calling Hillary a b!tch (someone whom he calls a friend) is not humorous.
Calling Chelsea Clinton ugly is not humorous.
Posted by: Vanessa | Jul 17, 2008 10:57:28 AM
To the tune of "Bomb Bomb Iran":
BYE BYE BYE
BYE BYE McROVE!
BYE BYE BYE
BYE BYE McROVE!
BY BYE McROOOOVVVE ...
LOL
Posted by: Snarxon | Jul 17, 2008 10:57:17 AM
Agree with McCain. We're being feminized and lobotomized. Go cold.
Ever watch an Eddie Griffin movie? There is good taste then there is funny. We need more laughter and less posturing for polls.
The point of 'hurrah' is to control the news cycle and create emotional emphasis. The content is secondary as long as it generates air time. The press seizes on the bits fed to them from the usual sources and spin up whirlpools of attention getters. They do not affect the state of the nation; they spin the dynamic.
This is all simply emotional vectoring. It is only as important as it reveals hypocrisy in character. It's better to let it go than to react and then be forced to hold to that position later. The whole point of hurrah is to trap the opponent three moves ahead.
Posted by: len | Jul 17, 2008 10:47:57 AM
McCain's main problem is that he a 20th century guy running for POTUS in the 21st century. Things that were funny in that "old boys club" frat boy way, are no longer funny.
His "joke" about killing Iranians with American cigarettes was offensive. And I for one am sick of having an offensive President.
Posted by: Jane Hussein | Jul 17, 2008 10:41:50 AM
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