White House not laughing about Sept. 11 joke

[masuki bance]

I knew Obama wouldn't be down with that.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House is keeping its distance from an entertainer's joke comparing commentator Rush Limbaugh to a terrorist.

Presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs on Monday was asked for President Barack Obama's reaction to the joke by comic actress Wanda Sykes at Saturday's White House Correspondents' Association dinner. Obama took part in the event.

Sykes jabbed at Limbaugh for suggesting that he wants Obama to fail. She said Limbaugh's view was essentially the same as al-Qaida terrorist leader Osama bin Laden's. She suggested Obama might want to look into the matter "because I think Rush Limbaugh was the 20th hijacker."

Gibbs said the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks is a topic "better left for serious reflection than comedy."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ii4DQmASO9yKkiT_30Y5XyH548dgD9846NO03

*edit to add better link

[peace13]

1. Maybe Obama should open up a 911 commission of his own

if he is so touchy about the subject. Let's get the facts out and then all of us will know. IMO Rush and 911 belong in the same sentence together.

[Thrill]

5. Did you read what Gibbs said? He didn't say Obama said anything

[peace13]

17. Gibbs speaks for the administration. n/t

[Thrill]

20. He was speaking for himself. He said he hadn't spoke to Obama about it.

[Cha]

18. "Touchy on the subject"..

we're all touchy on the subject.

Gibbs answered exactly right. When Wanda Sykes was doing her routine in a comedy situation..President Obama was laughing and now it's time to get back to the business of the country.

[damntexdem]

2. Limbaugh is no 20th hijacker -- they were one-off terrorists.

Limbaugh's hijacking goes on and on and on.

[nichomachus]

3. He couldn't have made it through the monkey bar drill

[firedupdem]

4. Now they have to answer to jokes? With all the shit going on in

this world...they are answering to jokes? Journalists my ass...why don't they ask Wanda that question?

[madamesilverspurs]

6. Dare we ask

who asked the question?

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[lynne]

8. For referencing an AP article that's all over the place??

I don't understand why you would refer to someone as "Usually your ilk . . . " because they brought up a legit subject from a credible source. Quite honestly, I don't think that 9/11 references are comedy material, either. Maybe it's because I'm near DC, maybe because I have friends who lost loved ones in the attacks, for whatever reasons I don't think it's funny. I also don't think dead baby, Helen Keller, or racist jokes are funny, either.

I guess I'll be the first to say it - I do think that she went from funny to tasteless. I thought tasteless was a Repuglican trademark. I would prefer that we not stoop to their level.

[Name removed]

13. Deleted sub-thread

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[Bluenorthwest]

9. Altert half of show biz if tragedy is not fodder for comedy

Nazis not funny. The Producers, funny. See how that works? The topic has yet to occur that is not fit for comedy. Sorry.
Aside from that, her line was not a 9-11 joke. It was a Limbaugh joke, and those are always funny.

[jenmito]

10. But the RWers are all over it because Obama dared to laugh at it.

That's all they have. Sykes is a comedian. Rush is an "entertainer." No foul.

[jenmito]

11. Cross-eyed Ron Christie just said it was disgusting and not a laughing matter that 3,000

people died on 9/11. :eyes:

[Fire1]

12. He wouldn't know 'funny' if it jumped up and bit him.

[jenmito]

15. That's because he can't see straight...

[MurrayDelph]

21. But the hypocrite

probably laughed his ass off when Bush looked under his desk saying "Nope, no weapons here!"

[bdamomma]

25. exactly the Bush administration exploited that whole horrible event.

[Arkana]

14. At least Gibbs didn't say Obama didn't laugh at the joke.

Because he did.

[Optical.Catalyst]

16. Unbelievable! Limbaugh gets attention when he talks trash, and Limbaugh gets attention when ignored

Leads one to wonder who the media is in the tank for.

[Cha]

19. We know who the corporatemediaWhores

are in the tank for.

[centristgrandpa]

24. tanked...

When dealing with the right wing media corp; it's a small wonder why those behind fox no-news keeps pushing Rush the albino guerrilla shock jock into a world that believes his ranting style is garbage.

[JuniperLea]

22. Why does Obama need to respond to a joke?

Come on! What a fucking joke it is to ask him about a stupid joke!

[alsame]

23. To me, it wasn't a

9/11 joke, it was a Limbaugh joke. She clearly connected his words to those of OBL and was calling him a terrorist.

And I say this as a NYer who knew 2 people who died on 9/11 - I was not at all offended by the joke.