Obama said "pun intended"

[edhopper]

Why are all the media pundits siting Obama saying Summers did a "Heck of a job" as an unintended gaffe. Usually quoting Stewart saying "I wouldn't use that phrase, dude"
Obama smiled and said "pun intended". They seemed to have completely missed that.
He was joking, in acknowledgment of the setting.
He chose that phrase as a joke....on a comedy show...and no one in the media gets it.





BTW Obama, Dude, Summers was still a bad choice.

[customerserviceguy]

1. I saw Penn Gillette on a talk show last night

and he pointed out that the humor was not a pun. I think the President was taken aback that he had made a minor gaffe by using Bush's phrase for the FEMA head, who was as much of a disaster as Summers was. OK, at least Summers never refers to himself as a fashion god during a crisis.

[blondeatlast]

2. That's how I saw it too. I know it made me cringe. nt

[seabeyond]

3. i watched it. there is no reason to suggest obama made a mistake. it was all done smoothly

nothing leading one to believe it was anything but, pun intended. so to accredit it was a mistake is wrong.

[customerserviceguy]

7. Well, the President's been pretty fast on his feet

when there's a possibility of misspeaking, I certainly remember his performance during the debates of 2008. It might not have occurred to him that he was trying to defend Summers by using a Bushism, but I really don't think that any of the President's debating opponents were as sharp as Jon Stewart is.

It's not a pun. That's where you say a trite phrase in a funny way by changing one word to make the phrase ridiculous in a slightly sarcastic way. I guess I trust Penn Gillette on this, he's the professional comedian.

[seabeyond]

11. he has pulled out bushisms and used in sarcastic way. it would not be

out of character. and beyond that, you can not state as a fact this happened. there is no evidence. the pun intended should, by all integrity of media, included. simple as that

[chimpymustgo]

14. Obama realized he'd FUCKED up, then said, pun intended. Like when someone says, "that was off the

record" AFTER they say it. That dog don't hunt.

Larry Summers did a HECKUVA JOB??? It wasn't a pun, and it wasn't TRUE, either.

[seabeyond]

15. again, you cannot state that as fact. you can believe, but you dont know. medias responsibility

is to present the facts, represented event. by not adding pun intended they lack integrity. but then we already know that.

[spanone]

8. Obama said pun intended...he should know better than mr gillette who was observing.

[malaise]

4. Well they don't understand Colbert's humorso why would they

get Obama's comment. Most of them are hacks with agendas.

[BlueCheese]

5. This is a trivial matter...

First, as has been pointed out, it wasn't a pun. No big deal.

Second, whether he intended it or not, everything else he said suggests he thinks Summers did a great job. So if he did intend it, it's kind of an incongruous thing to say, because it would imply that Summers was a big screwup.

But again, whether he meant it or not, I could hardly care less.

[spanone]

9. whatever

[ZombieHorde]

10. +42 nt

[spanone]

6. he sure did. i got it.

[sally cat]

12. Because, and I love President Obama, it wasn't a pun. It was a joke, but it wasn't a pun.

[edhopper]

13. Fine, it was a joke not a pun

but "pun intended" is an idiomatic expression used when you are telling some one you meant it in fun.

Big difference between that and those who think he used the phrase unintentionally.

[HughMoran]

17. Splitting hairs is what we do best here

Welcome to DU :hi:

[HughMoran]

16. 'Cause the media are fucking a-holes

Though it also seems that many on the left who want to beat him with this phrase are doing so as well.


America is full of ass holes.

[anAustralianobserver]

18. Pretty sure he would have rather said "pun unintended", but was rocked when JS called him "dude"

at that point. Not a huge deal but it was a slip that I think reveals John Stewart had put him on the defensive at that point. After that he was in recovery mode for a bit.

Generally I think the interview was good for Obama and Dems though I think it confirmed that Obama has been shying away from scrutiny on the issues DU hashes over.