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Are you old enough to remember roasts like The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast? I am.
The tradition of roasting celebrities endures. Comedy Central does them.
Being roasted is a mark of honor. It's one's peers, friends, associates and colleagues acknowledging that while they are not oblivious to one's flaws and foibles, they appreciate and respect one as a human being by dint of their knowing they too are flawed. What all involved share is owning their flaws. Doing so shows one as not only human, but also humbly and honorably so.
Last night, the political journalists held their annual awards ceremony, the White House Correspondents Dinner, the entertainment portion of which is a roast of all things and all folks "Political Washington." (Yes, Mathilda, there are people in D.C. who don't have a darn thing to do with the federal government or politics.) The keynote roaster was Michelle Wolf. While the press and most politicians alike hold the "business" part of the event -- giving out awards and recognizing scholarship -- in high regard and as worthy, that's not the big draw, especially for non-journalists. The jokes, especially those delivered by a POTUS and the keynote comedian are the highlight.
Wolf spoke for about twenty minutes.
Donald Trump and his conservative echo chamber have long been on about the press being calumniously biased against him. Perspicacious observers know better, of course, but there's no telling a Trumpkin that for in their eyes it's all about the ad hominem, and not about the fact that Trump's words and deeds giving rise to editorialists' recriminations of his character and policy are indeed reprobate and deserve the ridicule they attract. I suppose some folks were "raised in a barn," but most of us were taught far better manners and given educations that allow us to express ourselves with far more articulateness than does Trump. Moreover, we all were taught to tell the truth; who doesn't know the "Cherry Tree" myth?
Even as Trump deserves all the chiding he gets for lying and so on, Wolf last night went too far. If the press' stolid quiescence (watch the video) be an inadequately poignant indicator that for all the ridicule they levy at Trump and his cohorts, none of it is personal, ad hominem, the post-event commentary about Wolf's remarks sure should. More than a few odiously ribald the jibes of Sarah Sanders.
This isn't the 1930s or 1960s, Donald. The "gentleman's agreement" between the WH and the press is defunct. The press will tell what it discovers, which is what it's supposed to do. Don't do things that will reflect poorly on you and won't get "bad" press.
The tradition of roasting celebrities endures. Comedy Central does them.
Being roasted is a mark of honor. It's one's peers, friends, associates and colleagues acknowledging that while they are not oblivious to one's flaws and foibles, they appreciate and respect one as a human being by dint of their knowing they too are flawed. What all involved share is owning their flaws. Doing so shows one as not only human, but also humbly and honorably so.
Last night, the political journalists held their annual awards ceremony, the White House Correspondents Dinner, the entertainment portion of which is a roast of all things and all folks "Political Washington." (Yes, Mathilda, there are people in D.C. who don't have a darn thing to do with the federal government or politics.) The keynote roaster was Michelle Wolf. While the press and most politicians alike hold the "business" part of the event -- giving out awards and recognizing scholarship -- in high regard and as worthy, that's not the big draw, especially for non-journalists. The jokes, especially those delivered by a POTUS and the keynote comedian are the highlight.
Wolf spoke for about twenty minutes.
Donald Trump and his conservative echo chamber have long been on about the press being calumniously biased against him. Perspicacious observers know better, of course, but there's no telling a Trumpkin that for in their eyes it's all about the ad hominem, and not about the fact that Trump's words and deeds giving rise to editorialists' recriminations of his character and policy are indeed reprobate and deserve the ridicule they attract. I suppose some folks were "raised in a barn," but most of us were taught far better manners and given educations that allow us to express ourselves with far more articulateness than does Trump. Moreover, we all were taught to tell the truth; who doesn't know the "Cherry Tree" myth?
Even as Trump deserves all the chiding he gets for lying and so on, Wolf last night went too far. If the press' stolid quiescence (watch the video) be an inadequately poignant indicator that for all the ridicule they levy at Trump and his cohorts, none of it is personal, ad hominem, the post-event commentary about Wolf's remarks sure should. More than a few odiously ribald the jibes of Sarah Sanders.
- https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/28/politics/white-house-correspondents-dinner-trump/index.html
"Jokes moved into more controversial territory, drawing a mixture of laughs and uncomfortable silence from the crowd." - NY Times reporter Maggie Haberman wrote:
"That @PressSec sat and absorbed intense criticism of her physical appearance, her job performance, and so forth, instead of walking out, on national television, was impressive.
This isn't the 1930s or 1960s, Donald. The "gentleman's agreement" between the WH and the press is defunct. The press will tell what it discovers, which is what it's supposed to do. Don't do things that will reflect poorly on you and won't get "bad" press.