Is it just me, or is this a horrible time for President Obama to be

[rzemanfl]

going to the White House Correspondent's Dinner?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. In what way would anything change if he didn't go?

[Duer 157099]

2. I agree, it's a tough time to be festive

No doubt there will be shots of him laughing juxtaposed with the gulf oil disaster, the wall street disaster, etc.

It will be his version of Bush at McCain's birthday party, unfortunately.

[rzemanfl]

4. Took the words right off my keyboard....

[rzemanfl]

6. Correction, it didn't take you two tries to spell "birthday." n/t

[Hippo_Tron]

10. The two are not comparable at all

Bush at McCain's birthday was his undoing because the man LITERALLY had no fucking clue what was going on in the Gulf Coast and that photo was symbolic of that. Obama is fully aware of what is going on and taking an appropriate response. Sure he'll get some flak for he symbolism but with Bush it was way more than symbolic.

[rzemanfl]

14. Let's hope the low information voters can get that. I think the

mouth breathers will compare "just a piece of cake" and "a whole dinner."

[gateley]

13. Well of course he'll be laughing -- his dastardly plan to put the kibosh on off-shore

drilling was a success!

[Arkana]

31. Considering that every President in modern history has done the Correspondents' Dinner

and I don't think Obama will be so crass as to make WMD jokes, I think by the grace of God we'll be OK.

[rzemanfl]

3. It just doesn't seem to me to be a good time to be joking aroung

when the Gulf Coast is suffering an unprecedented disaster. Sort of like * and McCain's birthday cake and the guitar and such during Katrina.

[ProSense]

7. "Sort of like * and McCain's birthday cake and the guitar and such during Katrina." What?

Seriously, are people searching for a way to make this ludicrous analogy work?

[rzemanfl]

11. I bet Roger Ailes has people working on it right now. n/t

[ProSense]

15. Who cares? n/t

[Cha]

22. Exactly...they don't rule the President or

you and me. We live in an alternate Universe where the air is cleaner and we think our own thoughts.

[jenmito]

24. I bet Roger Ailes and/or people from Faux will be there tomorrow night. n/t

[FrenchieCat]

25. Won't Ailes be at the dinner too?

Or is he too serious for that?

[goclark]

35. I'm sure this will not be the first time that a sad event has happened

One thing for sure -- he is headed for a visit to the area today and GW did a fly over for Katrina.

I'll take Obama

[Cha]

5. Just because parts of the world are

in a tragic mess right now doesn't mean we have to shut down. We can be aware and do what we can to help but again..that doesn't mean we can't have moments of laughter.

The freaking corporatemediawhores will find something wrong with Pres Obama no matter what he does..

[rzemanfl]

9. That doesn't mean it is a good idea to give the whores a

photo op.

[salguine]

8. I don't think the White House Correspondents' Dinner is a good thing to have in the first place, and

I've never thought so. I don't think it's a good idea for journalists to be feted by the White House that they're supposed to be covering as journalists. I thought it was a bad idea under Bush and all the previous Presidents, and I think it's a bad idea now.

[jillan]

12. Agreed - he is just asking for smears smear and more smears.

But - let's see how he handles it first. Maybe he will just go there to talk, not be funny.

[rzemanfl]

16. Yes, sometimes I forget he is a lot smarter than I am. I think it

is a hangover from eight years of idiot.

[Bluenorthwest]

17. This President often says he can not keep his word because

his plate it too full, he's just too busy. And yet, in a week like this, there is always time for a huge joke fest and lavish dinner in Beltway world. Is Donnie McClurkin doing the opening song or is this a Rick Warren sort of night?

[jenmito]

19. Lame attempt to smear Obama. n/t

[Arkana]

32. Wow, this isn't a lame attempt to smear the President at all.

[napi21]

18. No matter how bad things are or may get, it's importana w keep

laughter in our lives. Haven't you ver noticed how you feel better when you laughed, especially at your self or something you did? If this or any President took everything that confronted him so seriously that he couldnt take a little time out to laugh a little, they're all go crazy or have a heart attack & die.

I kow things are horrible in the Gulf, as they are with the economy, Afghanistan, Iraq, etc. but you have to learn to lightenup a little ans find some humor in your life.

[Clio the Leo]

20. Would not surprise me one bit if he skipped it....

... I doubt he was exactly looking forward to it and this gives him an out.

Beltway chatter is the odds are very high that he'll go to the gulf coast some time during the next 48 hours.

[jillan]

27. It would be a good move if he went to the Gulf coast first before the dinner.

Then the wackos wouldn't have ...wait - they will find something no matter what he does... what was I thinking?

[Phx_Dem]

21. This spill is not going to be cleaned up any time real soon so does

that mean no can smile or engage in social activities until then? It could take weeks (or months) to stop the oil from leaking. It's at the bottom of the ocean and the oil is pouring out without a pump and they can't stop it. If they have to drill another well next to it to relieve the pressure (or something), it will take MONTHS.

The comparison to Bush at McCain's birthday celebration is ludicris. I sure haven't seen any people on my TV screen the last few days drowning, cradling dehydrated or dying babies, crying and begging for someone, anyone, to help them. And I haven't seen any dead bodies floating by either.

Unlike Bush, who waiting days to even acknowledge the "problem," Obama had the Coast Guard there immediately, and Dep. Secretary of the Interio on site the next day. Today 3 cabinet secretaries were on Lousiana. Give me a fucking break.

[rzemanfl]

23. I am taking a fucking break myself, literally I hope. n/t

[FrenchieCat]

26. Since there is always a tragedy occuring somewhere.....

I suggest that he just padlocks his feet to his desk in the Oval,
and not come out or say anything until the world is perfect!

That will teach all of those mediawhores, who themselves will be at the dinner
taking pictures with each other, doing big loud hardy-har-hars!

[donheld]

46. He also needs to be seen as weep incessantly as

any sign of levity may show lack of concern that there is still problems in the USA.

[Politicalboi]

28. Aren't lives in Iraq being lost?

And that we CAN stop tomorrow if we really wanted too.

[impik]

29. Seriously?

People die every day. This is not Katrina and this site should be the last one to adopt those stupid talking points. AT least that what i would thought before realizing that this site is frequently as bad as any right wing site.

[Jennicut]

30. Sounds like he is going to the gulf in the next 48 hours so how does

he fit this in now too? Maybe he can just send the VP?

[Hippo_Tron]

38. It's pretty easy when you have your own 747

And a motorcade with a police entourage that shuts down the roads for you.

[marshall]

33. He's making plans for a visit to New Orleans

Hopefully more than a flyover. His team seems savvy about public opinion, so I think it will be handled well.

[saltpoint]

34. Seems like he could show up for the dinner and the next morning land

in Louisiana.

[Whisp]

36. no, it's not just you

I'm sure a lot of other teabaggin' foxers think that as well.

:(

some DUers need massive doses of Tylenol 3 to constipate their 'concerns'.

[Dappleganger]

37. No, I'm quite certain

that you'll be in the company of other fools.

[ClarkUSA]

39. Who cares? He's going to the Gulf tomorrow. What's the big fucking deal?

I recall the whiny bellyaching during President Obama's inauguration. That was ridiculous, too.

How dare the leader of the free world multi-task and have a few laughs before returning to the damned hard and serious work of leading this country, eh?

:sarcasm:

[BlooInBloo]

40. (shrug) According to DUers it's pretty much never a good time to do anything he does.

(shrug)

[harkadog]

41. World War II didn't stop FDR from having fun at the dinner

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1298&dat=19450323&id=RQIUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VooDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4863,6386564

[fadedrose]

42. So many people spent fortunes..

Traveling across the country, spending on clothing, hotels, taking off from work, etc, hiring people to take care of parents, kids, grandparents, and the networks are all set to go.

If he were to go to the Gulf tonight, what would he see...it's dark.

He's not going to watch Mornin Joe tomorrow morning, he's going to see the oil spill in the gulf - in the daylight.

And besides, he's made all kinds of arrangements for the Navy to get involved trying to get the spill stopped and break up the oil on the surface and getting the vessels to suck up some of the oil. It'll take time..

I'm all for his going, even though this spill must be heavy on his heart.

[ShortnFiery]

43. It's not just you. Damn Elites of every stripe are "fiddling like Nero" while the Gulf Coast ...

figuratively BURNS, i.e., completely TRASHED by oil slicks.

I'm so damn disgusted by this advertizement of all that is CORRUPT within our politics. Hell! A celebration of the "love affair" between "The Ministry of Truth" and "Big Brother." :grr: :puke:

[NoPasaran]

44. If he went at any other time, it would be silly

No one else would be there.

[The Damned]

45. It's Just You

Good night.

[DebJ]

47. It's just you.

[Hekate]

48. Sackcloth and ashes, sackcloth and ashes. He should eat beans off a plastic plate...

... in solidarity with the poor, and he should beat his breast in the public square. He should sleep on the floor with only a thin blanket for cover. His daughters should be sent to the lowliest public school in DC and let the Secret Service keep all those other kids and their parents in lockdown every day. He should never take the presidential airplane, helicopter or car anyplace because to do so would be a waste of precious resources. Instead he should bicycle, or in the case of overseas summits, he should paddle a canoe. He should never enjoy for one moment the pleasures of life or the perks of his office, because with the weight of the world on his shoulders, he should never have respite from it. To behave in any other fashion shows a lack of proper feeling and demonstrates hypocrisy.

:eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes: :eyes:

:rant:

[Tarheel_Dem]

49. I swear, sometimes this place so resembles FR. I think a lot of DU'ers

have dual memberships. The same assholes who jump to criticize anything this president does, will always find a way to dump their negativity on the rest of us.

[Vinca]

50. If we all sit around and cry 24/7, the only thing that will change is the suicide rate.

Laughter is therapeutic.

[CBR]

51. I hope you never enjoy life because there is always suffering. nt

[stevietheman]

52. This is an annual ritual - we shouldn't stop the these things for anything...

except extreme crises. And comedy is something we should never drop from our lives, if we wish to survive.

[mariawr]

53. It's just you. nt

[MadMaddie]

54. Would it have been a bad time for him to go to bed?

He has met all of his committments and more.

Always something!

[geek tragedy]

55. There is only one correct time to attend an annual event. nt