White House Correspondents' Dinner Video Takes on New Context

The White House Correspondents' Dinner video was studied for jokes, and Donald Trump bashing, on Saturday and early Sunday. But after Sunday night, the Correspondents' Dinner had an entirely different context. After that, the video of President Obama laughing at an Osama bin Laden joke took on a far different meaning, as did all of the other one-liners. While those working in the White House were all smiles Saturday night, it hid how on-edge they must have been for the next day's event.

The big headlines immediately after Saturday night's show were about Donald Trump and how he was a big target of two comedic speeches. Both President Obama and Seth Meyers took aim at Trump, which helped pile things on after he lost the ability to complain about the president's birth certificate.

However, following Sunday night, the most popular video clip involved a joke about bin Laden. When Meyers joked that a good place for him to hide would be on C-Span, the president gave a notable laugh -- or at least that's how everyone interpreted it.

Since Obama knew full well where bin Laden really was, and that the White House would order a raid on his compound just hours later, it added a huge dose of irony to the dinner. In fact, his laughter over Meyer's one-liner was later studied for clues to see if he actually gave any tells to what was really going on. But since the president kept the operation a secret for that long, he likely knew how not to give anything away by then.

The focus on that bit after bin Laden's death was rather symbolic, in many ways. Before Sunday night, the big talking point of the dinner was Donald Trump, just as he was the big talking point across the country. But for the first time in weeks, Trump and his antics -- and the jokes about them -- were knocked from the headlines, which not even the birth certificate revelation could do.

The White House found a significant way to change the headlines, which may be why Obama was more free to laugh at Trump and bin Laden. But considering the pressure-packed situation he would be in the next day, he had to relax anyway he could. If the raid failed and bin Laden got away, the video clip of Saturday night's joke would have taken on a more infamous context.

Even by recent standards, the aftermath of the Correspondents' Dinner is unprecedented. The event has been criticized for its often too close relationship between the president and the press, and faced a firestorm when Stephen Colbert roasted President Bush in 2006. Yet this year's event has found a new level of fame, irony and history, achieving the mix 24 hours after the event was over.

Sources

YouTube- "Seth Meyers remarks at the 2011 White House Correspondents Dinner"

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette- "Obama's sense of timing hits a new high"

http://seeebook.com/

Obama jokes about Bachmann and Pawlenty at 2011 White House Correspondents' Dinner | MinnClips

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The best jokes at the White House Correspondents' Dinner

Many years ago, there was a cricket match between the West Indies and England. (Cricket's a little like baseball, only takes longer and often no one wins.)

The radio commentators were talking about a bowler (pitcher) called Michael Holding. The batsman (hitter) was Peter Willey. One of the commentators then said, quite naturally: "The bowler's Holding, the batsman's Willey."

Donald Trump not amused by jokes at White House Correspondents Dinner

 Donald Trump was the target of many of President Obama and Seth Meyers' jokes at the White House Correspondent Dinner.

The Donald was not amused.

Donald Trump, who sat stonefaced as he was roasted unmercifully at the White House Correspondents Dinner, had little good to say Sunday about the shindig.

"The content I understand, but the amount of jokes? I was amazed at the number," Trump said.

He said he didn't think any of the jokes were particularly funny, but assumed the mockery Saturday night was a sign of his growing political clout.

"When you're leading the polls, I guess that's the one you shoot at," he said. "I was honored by the fact that they devoted most of their speeches to me."

President Obama and the headlining comedian, Saturday Night Live's Seth Meyers, sent up birth certificate conspiracies and unleashed a barrage of ridicule at Trump's hair, accent, ties, taste and TV show.

"I thought Seth's delivery was terrible. He had marbles in his mouth," Trump said. "His presentation was not good. The president was far superior."

Frequent C-Span cutaways to Trump, who was sitting at the Washington Post's table, showed the eccentrically-coiffed mogul never even pretended to be laughing along.

He stared straight at the stage, gimlet-eyed, as the ribbing mounted and his dining companions squirmed.

The whole thing "was so awkward that some folks at his table stopped laughing and applauding," according to Politico's Mike Allen.

The rest of the room, however, roared at each new joke.

"Donald Trump has been saying he will run for president as a Republican, which is surprising because I just assumed that he was running as a joke," Meyers said.

"Donald Trump often appears on Fox, which is ironic, because a fox often appears on Donald Trump's head."

In particular, Obama doubled over when Meyers theorized that Trump's comment about his "great relationship with the Blacks" must have been about a white family called the Blacks.

Trump said he thought the biggest laugh went to Obama's cartoon mock up of what the White House would look like if Trump won office: a garish pink neon sign advertising the "Trump White House: hotel, casino, golf course and Presidential Suite" with bikini babes frolicking in a hot tub on the north lawn and the stately portico columns repainted gold.

For the record, Trump said President The Donald would not be redecorating.

"We have much more important problems," he said.

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Obama's Funniest Jokes From The White House Correspondents' Dinner

May. 1 2011 - 11:56 am | 5,318 views | 1 recommendation |  Image via Wikipedia

President Obama came out swinging at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday, taking shots at Donald Trump, Michelle Bachman, Fox News and even Matt Damon. Here are a few of his funniest quips:

1. He took the podium to a song usually reserved for Hulk Hogan’s WWE entrances: Rick Derringer’s “I am a real American.”

2. “What a week. As some of you heard the state of Hawaii released my official long-form birth certificate. Hopefully, this puts all doubts to rest. But just in case they’re any lingering questions, tonight I’m prepared to go a step further. Tonight, for the first time, I am releasing my official birth video.” The screens then plays the scene from Disney’s The Lion King when Mufasa, atop a cliff, lifts Simba up as the other animals in the savannah look on. Afterward, Obama said, “I want to make clear to the Fox News table that was a joke. That was not my real birth video. That was a children’s cartoon. Call Disney if you don’t believe me, they have the original long-form version.”

3. “Now, I know that he’s taken some flak lately but no one is prouder to put this birth certificate matter to rest than The Donald. And that’s because he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter, like, did we fake the moon landing? What really happened in Roswell? And where are Biggie and Tupac?

4. “All kidding aside, we all know about your credentials, and your breadth of experience. For example, on a recent episode of Celebrity Apprentice, at the steakhouse, the men’s cooking team did not impress the judges from Omaha Steaks. And there was a lot of blame to go around, but you, Mr. Trump, recognized that the real problem was a lack of leadership. And so ultimately, you didn’t blame Lil Jon or Meatloaf, you fired Gary Busey. These are the kinds of decisions that would keep me up at night. Well handled, sir! Well handled.”

5. “I’m very much looking forward to hearing Seth Meyer tonight. He is a young fresh face who can do no wrong in the eyes of his fans. Seth, enjoy it while it lasts.”

6. I even let down my key core constituency: movie stars. Just the other day, Matt Damon–I love Matt Damon, love the guy–Matt Damon said he was disappointed in my performance. Well Matt, I just saw the Adjustment Bureau so right back at you buddy.

7. “Michele Bachmann is here. She is thinking about running for president, which is weird because I hear she was born in Canada. Yes, Michele, this is how it starts.”

8. Where’s the National Public Radio table? [NPR cheers] You guys are still here, that’s good. I couldn’t remember where we landed on that.

9. Obama screened the? trailer for “The President’s Speech,” a “King’s Speech” parody based on the premise that GOP budgets cuts reduced funding for the president’s teleprompter and making Obama’s public addresses extremely difficult. In the trailer, Obama, of course, turns to the gaffe-proned Joe Biden to help him overcome his public speech impediment.

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