LAST LAUGH...

[Cliffenstein]

On the Daily Show, Obama is the last laugh
Dana Milbank / The Washington Post / October 27, 2010

On Comedy Central, the joke was on President Obama Wednesday night.

The president had come, on the eve of what will almost certainly be the loss of his governing majority, to plead his case before Jon Stewart, gatekeeper of the disillusioned left. But instead of displaying the sizzle that won him an army of youthful supporters two years ago, Obama had a Brownie moment.

The Daily Show host was giving Obama a tough time about hiring the conventional and Clintonian Larry Summers as his top economic advisor.

"In fairness," the president replied defensively, "Larry Summers did a heckuva job."

"You don't want to use that phrase, dude," Stewart recommended with a laugh.

Dude. The indignity of a comedy show host calling the commander in chief "dude" pretty well captured the moment for Obama. He was making this first-ever appearance by a president on the Daily Show as part of a long-shot effort to rekindle the spirit of '08. In the Daily Show, Obama had a friendly host and an even friendlier crowd.

But, as in his MTV appearance a couple of weeks ago, Obama didn't try to connect with his youthful audience. He was serious and defensive, pointing a finger at his host several times as he quarreled with the premise of a question.

Stewart, who struggled to suppress a laugh as Obama defended Summers, turned out to be an able inquisitor on behalf of aggrieved liberals. He spoke for the millions who had been led to believe that Obama was some sort of a messianic figure. Obama has only himself to blame for their letdown. By raising expectations impossibly high, playing the transformational figure to Hillary Clinton's status-quo drone, he gave his followers an unrealistic hope.

"You're coming from a place, you ran on a very high rhetoric: 'hope' and 'change.' And the Democrats this year seem to be running on 'Please, baby, one more chance.'" Stewart observed. "Are you disappointed in how it's gone?"

Obama replied that he was advised after the election that "two years from now, folks are going to be frustrated" -- a prediction he did not make public to his starry-eyed suporters at the time.

"We have done things that some folks don't even know about," Obama ventured.

Oh? "Are you planning a surprise party for us?" the host inquired. In response, Obama recited his well-known, if under-appreciated, list of accomplishments.

"Is the difficulty," Stewart asked, "that you have here the distance between what you ran on and what you delivered? You ran with such, if I may, audacity...yet legislatively it has felt timid at times."

Stewart had found the sore point between Obama and his base -- and Obama was irritable. "Jon, I love your show, but this is something where I have a profound disagreement with you," he said. "What happens," he added, "is it gets discounted because the presumption is, well, we didn't get 100 percent of what we wanted, we got 90 percent of what we wanted -- so let's focus on the 10 percent we didn't get." He said that a cancer patient in New Hampshire helped by the bill "doesn't think it's inconsequential."

"The suggestion was not that it's inconsequential," the comedian pointed out.

Obama leaned in and pointed at the host. "Your suggestion was that it was timid."

Still, the president did not really quarrel with Stewart's notion that Obama has done some of his work in a "political manner that has papered over a foundation that is corrupt."

"I think that is fair," Obama granted.

But when Stewart moved, politely, to point out weaknesses in the health-care legislation, Obama pointed at him again. "Not true!" the president argued.

Obama wore a displeased grin as Stewart diagnosed, with high accuracy, the administration's condition: "The expectation, I think, was audacity going in there and really rooting out a corrupt system, and so the sense is, has [the] reality of what hit you in the face when you first stepped in caused you to back down from some of the more visionary things?"

"My attitude is if we're making progress, step by step, inch by inch, day by day," Obama said, "that we are being true to the spirit of that campaign."

"You wouldn't say you'd run this time as a pragmatist? It wouldn't be, 'Yes we can, given certain conditions?'"

"I think what I would say is yes we can, but -- "

Stewart, and the audience, laughed at the "but."

Obama didn't laugh. "But it's not going to happen overnight," he finished.

Try shouting that slogan at a campaign rally, dude.

[pulsar0510]

Sounds like that guy wrote the article after hearing Rush talk about it rather than watching it himself.

[Luminiferous]

Wow what an unbiased review of the show...

[Cliffenstein]

The writer is a liberal who, along with the rest of The Washington Post staff, has written many fawning articles about President Obama.

[pulsar0510]

Bitter, disillusioned liberal anyway.
I have no love for Obama although I am pretty liberal, but that article had nothing to do with the show that aired.

[Skate4RnR]

What? Jon Stewart challenged one of his guests and that guest was a liberal?

[Luminiferous]

Bitter, disillusioned liberal anyway.
I have no love for Obama although I am pretty liberal, but that article had nothing to do with the show that aired.

Exactly. But it was someone bagging on Obama, that's all Cliffy cared..

[Cliffenstein]

Exactly. But it was someone bagging on Obama, that's all Cliffy cared...

How'd you feel when Bush was president?

But...that...was...d-i-f-f-e-r-e-n-t...thought...right?

[Luminiferous]

Exactly. But it was someone bagging on Obama, that's all Cliffy cared...

How'd you feel when Bush was president?

But...that...was...d-i-f-f-e-r-e-n-t...thought...right?

How is that relevant to this article you posted again? Ahh right. It isn't. You do nothing but post anti-Obama propaganda on here. I pointed out the obvious..

Sorry to spoil it for ya Cliffy.. I voted for Bush in 2000... Didn't vote for him in 2004 because I thought he was a shitty president and thought he sucked..(also thought Kerry was pretty lame)

And even though I thought he sucked, I also didn't peruse news and Democratic sites looking for articles to shit talk him on here either..

(psssst.. I do not consider myself a Democrat or Republican.. I just love to laugh at Republitards like you..)

[Cliffenstein]

Just keep on movin' back the proverbial line in the sand, buddy.

Look back at this thread and you'll see that your complaint was that this was some sort of biased, anti-Obama article. I then pointed out that it was written by an author who was written many glowing articles about the President and your response was, "yeah, well...you just want to talk crap about the President!"

[Pill]

Here's Milbank's latest piece, "The Republican Party could use some adults."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... on/columns

There goes Cliffy no longer liking Milbank.

Also, Cliff, you'll be happy to know that I downloaded a couple of the Huntingtons albums. I then deleted them because they were fucking terrible, like a broke-ass MxPx.

[Cliffenstein]

Here's Milbank's latest piece, "The Republican Party could use some adults."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... on/columns

There goes Cliffy no longer liking Milbank.

Also, Cliff, you'll be happy to know that I downloaded a couple of the Huntingtons albums. I then deleted them because they were fucking terrible, like a broke-ass MxPx.

I'm not now, nor have I ever been a fan of Milbank.

If you knew a thing or two about music you would realize that Huntingtons have zero in common with MxPx. We do have lots in common with the Ramones, the Queers, Riverdales and Screeching Weasel.

Lesson over.

[Pill]

We do have lots in common with the Ramones, the Queers, Riverdales and Screeching Weasel.

I've never heard the Riverdales, but I used to listen religiously to the Ramones, Queers and Screeching Weasel. Those bands are good. The Huntingtons are not. It's easy to see why you guys are largely forgotten. You sucked.

[Cliffenstein]

We do have lots in common with the Ramones, the Queers, Riverdales and Screeching Weasel.

I've never heard the Riverdales, but I used to listen religiously to the Ramones, Queers and Screeching Weasel. Those bands are good. The Huntingtons are not. It's easy to see why you guys are largely forgotten. You sucked.

I'll remember that you said that as I watch video of myself and my Huntingtons boys playing live on stage with Joey Ramone at CBGB's.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oTOnuXhkZ0

[Luminiferous]

Just keep on movin' back the proverbial line in the sand, buddy.

Look back at this thread and you'll see that your complaint was that this was some sort of biased, anti-Obama article. I then pointed out that it was written by an author who was written many glowing articles about the President and your response was, "yeah, well...you just want to talk crap about the President!"

Yes Cliffy we've established the fact I pointed out the obvious reason for your posting the article.. There was no complaint about it. Just laughter.

Funny. I noticed you've NEVER posted any of those "glowing articles" he wrote though, just the one that you happen to agree with since it bashes Obama..

[Cliffenstein]

I noticed you've NEVER posted any of those "glowing articles" he wrote though, just the one that you happen to agree with since it bashes Obama..

Why would I post an article about a president who I believe is not a good man doing terrible things to this country? Other than the fact that he's continuing Bush's war policy, I hate everything he stands for.

[MasterOfMeatPuppets]

We do have lots in common with the Ramones, the Queers, Riverdales and Screeching Weasel.

I've never heard the Riverdales, but I used to listen religiously to the Ramones, Queers and Screeching Weasel. Those bands are good. The Huntingtons are not. It's easy to see why you guys are largely forgotten. You sucked.

I'll remember that you said that as I watch video of myself and my Huntingtons boys playing live on stage with Joey Ramone at CBGB's.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oTOnuXhkZ0

Am I the only one having flashbacks to RockNRev paying-to-play on the same stage as the greats in Lovin' Kry?

[Luminiferous]

I noticed you've NEVER posted any of those "glowing articles" he wrote though, just the one that you happen to agree with since it bashes Obama..

Why would I post an article about a president who I believe is not a good man doing terrible things to this country? Other than the fact that he's continuing Bush's war policy, I hate everything he stands for.

Exactly. Why would you?

[Cliffenstein]

Am I the only one having flashbacks to RockNRev paying-to-play on the same stage as the greats in Lovin' Kry?

Paying to play? No way.

And we didn't just play the same stage. We were his band for two shows.

[MasterOfMeatPuppets]

Am I the only one having flashbacks to RockNRev paying-to-play on the same stage as the greats in Lovin' Kry?

Paying to play? No way.

And we didn't just play the same stage. We were his band for two shows.

Scab Ramones?

[Pill]

I'll remember that you said that as I watch video of myself and my Huntingtons boys playing live on stage with Joey Ramone at CBGB's.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oTOnuXhkZ0

Joey looks bored. He's probably thinking, "Why did I hire these untalented cunts, especially the douche who keeps mouthing the words?"

[Cliffenstein]

I'll remember that you said that as I watch video of myself and my Huntingtons boys playing live on stage with Joey Ramone at CBGB's.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oTOnuXhkZ0

Joey looks bored. He's probably thinking, "Why did I hire these untalented cunts, especially the douche who keeps mouthing the words?"

You mean, exactly like C.J. used to do?

And Joey didn't "hire" us...he asked us to play with him because he liked us.

Get Lost and File Under Ramones were his favorite albums of ours.

[Cliffenstein]

Scab Ramones?

For two nights? You better believe it...had he been healthy enough we woulda done a whole tour!

[Pill]

he asked us to play with him because he liked us.

I'm sure Joey will back you up as soon as he's resurrected.

[CrouchingStonerHiddenBong]

I'm sure Joey will back you up as soon as he's remastered.

[Cliffenstein]

I'm sure Joey will back you up as soon as he's resurrected.

Well, sure, Joey is no longer here to confirm my claims, but you could always hit up the Ramones long time tour manager, Arturo Vega, to confirm...or read the liner notes he wrote for our "Growing Up Is No Fun: The Standards 1995-2005" release.

Both Marky and C.J. are still around, too...you could always ask them if you don't wanna take Arturo's word for it.

[CrouchingStonerHiddenBong]

Are we supposed to be impressed or something?

[Cliffenstein]

Are we supposed to be impressed or something?

I'm sorry...am I not supposed to defend myself from an unwarranted attack that is completely off topic from the one at hand?

[MasterOfMeatPuppets]

Are we supposed to be impressed or something?

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=211751
How could you not?

[Cliffenstein]

How could you not?

Exactly