Not even funny

Even worse than the joke of a pResidency that this has been is the "joke" the fGoT tried to pull off at the Correspondent's Dinner.

"Ha-ha, people died for my ineptitude! Ha-ha, people died for my arrogance! Ha-ha, people died because I don't give a rat's ass for anyone but myself and anyone rich enough to offer me more wealth!"

From The Comedic Styling of George W. Bush.

I must admit, the times George W. Bush has made me laugh, I was laughing at him, not with him. I try to make it a habit to hit Slate.com to read the latest Bushism, as collected by Jacob Weisberg. A Bushism is something said by our President where he makes a verbal gaffe while speaking extemporaneously. You see, Bush is a great speaker when the lines are provided for him. On his own, he says things like "Now there are some who would like to rewrite history - revisionist historians is what I like to call them." (Said in Elizabeth, New Jersey on June 16, 2003). See? That's funny.

At last week's Radio and Television Correspondent's dinner, Bush delivered a self-deprecating speech which provided many laughs to the Beltway crowd.

The Correspondent's dinner is a big deal in Washington, and some of the featured speakers have been comedian Al Franken and radio personality Don Imus. Usually the President delivers humorous remarks as well. A classic example of this is the 2000 Correspondent's dinner, where the Bill Clinton "final days" video was played. In the video, a bored Clinton wanders the halls of the White House, alone, doing things like answering the White House telephone, mowing the yard, and hooking up with a Gen-X staffer who teaches Clinton how to "surf the 'net." It was very funny, and Clinton was a great sport to poke fun at himself.



At last week's affair, George W. Bush had the opportunity as well to poke fun at himself. His presentation was a slide show as Bush delivered funny quips, a "year in review" theme. At one point in the slide show, a slide is shown of Bush looking under furniture. And Bush delivered the line:

"Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be somewhere."

Incredibly, there were two more slides of Bush searching his office. "Nope, no weapons over there. Maybe over here."

The next day, in Iraq, three soldiers were killed. Bringing the total to nearly 600 of our troops killed, sent to Iraq to hunt for non-existent weapons of mass destruction.

That Bush could make a joke of Operation Iraqi Freedom boggles the mind. He's effectively spitting on the graves of those brave men and women, sent into harms way on a snipe hunt. In addition to the war dead, several thousand have been injured. Many of these soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines are recuperating at Walter Reed hospital. Lots are now disabled for life, injured in a hunt for weapons that are not anywhere to be found.

I wonder how "funny" those men and women found it when their leg was blown off, or their arm. But Bush, safe at the White House, can make a joke of the conflict in Iraq.

What the hell was Bush thinking? He had to approve the script. I've tried to imagine the exchange that may have taken place between the scriptwriter and Bush.

"Sir, I've got an idea - it's pretty risky, but I think the crowd will love it."

"Okay, shoot."

"How about we get some shots of you looking around your office - you know, under the desk, maybe, and you can say 'Those weapons of mass destruction have got to be here somewhere.' What do you think?"

"Hilarious! That's the funniest thing I've heard in a long time! Good job!"

Not surprisingly, right-wingers have said nothing about Bush's arrogant, disgusting remarks. Imagine if it had been Bill Clinton, speaking of the bombing at the Federal building in Oklahoma City. What if Clinton had said, "You know, I had no idea fertilizer had so many uses!" or "Finally, we've put Oklahoma City on the map." Republicans would have had collective heart attacks, and surely would have demanded Clinton's resignation.

Even now, Bush has not apologized for his remarks. It's doubtful he will. To Bush, the nearly-600 dead soldiers in Iraq are merely the punch line to a stupid joke. Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie dismissed the criticism. "The Democrats will go after anything," he told ABC news. "The fact is that this is the custom in these things. Presidents have made jokes about very serious matters at these dinners. You can hear the laughter, the people in the room obviously saw the humor in it at that moment, and to play it back now in a different context is unfair."

A different context? Unfair? Remember, now, this is the political party that considers itself pro-military. It's also the political party that finds the death of U.S. soldiers funny.

I'm not laughing.

And neither should anyone else.