Taking On Issues - Political Issues and Government Policies

A Hot Discussion Forum on Government Policies and Political Issues

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Election 2016
  • Big Government
  • Healthcare
  • The Other Side
  • What’s New
  • Your Freedom

America is (almost) great again: No comedian at this year’s White House Correspondents Dinner; Update: “The WHCA are cowards,” says Wolf

November 19, 2018 By Takingonissues

True greatness would require the cancellation of this repulsive elitist spectacle but eliminating the annual “clapter” feature in which Republicans and Democrats and Republicans and Republicans and Republicans are flayed for the enjoyment of like-minded journalists is a good start.

Now the event can be a pure expression of its true purpose, letting media people congratulate themselves on how important their jobs are.

Stern words will be spoken about Trump’s “enemy of the people” blather, fewer about his predecessor’s habit of spying on journalists to sniff out leaks. Why not let a comedian handle that? WHCA President Olivier Knox spoke to CNN about it this past spring, after the grousing about Michelle Wolf’s set at the last dinner:

Historically, Knox said, “when the president comes, the program’s center of gravity naturally tilts toward the president.” After he speaks and ribs the press corps, the featured comedian serves as the counter-balance.

With the president absent — and holding a counter-programming rally — the dinner has a different feel.

Wolf’s performance has become an object for partisan warfare, with conservatives claiming it proves the press corps’ hatred of Trump. The president himself tweeted on Monday that the dinner was “embarrassing” and the event is “dead” — indicating he won’t be attending next year either.

The core problem is that neither side wants to “rib” the other, they want to wound. I can’t even imagine what a Trump speech at the WHCD dinner would look like; you could write a thousand light-hearted jokes for him and after five minutes he would start rambling in earnest about his many grievances against the press. And no comedian with any sort of cultural cachet, i.e. no comedian under the age of 70, could show up at the WHCD and do anything less than savage Trump if they valued their career, particularly if Trump made the mistake of attending and was seated right there. Colbert’s turn at the WHCD a decade ago established that precedent; when you get a chance to slash a Republican president in a big spot, you take it. If you don’t, your mostly liberal fans will question your guts or your devotion to the cause, or both.

Which is to say, you can’t have a night of “good-natured” comedy between the two sides when good nature doesn’t exist on either side towards the other. It’s high time to acknowledge that. Inviting in Chernow to speak seriously about the First Amendment is obviously preferable to maintaining a toxic charade.

Exit question: Now that Jim Acosta is a First Amendment cause celebre for the stupidest of reasons, will the WHCA make the mistake of acknowledging him somehow at the dinner? If I were staging an event devoted to celebrating the virtues of a free press, I’d probably shy away from further elevating a guy who’s convinced lots of Trump fans that the highest purpose of journalism is grandstanding.

Update: Revealing.

The @whca are cowards. The media is complicit. And I couldn’t be prouder. https://t.co/OOIFGuZ731

— Michelle Wolf (@michelleisawolf) November 19, 2018

Chernow’s an eminent historian and his First Amendment speech will obviously be aimed at Trump, explicitly or implicitly, but because the topic is about something larger than just slashing the guy and his supporters, it’s a sellout somehow.

The post America is (almost) great again: No comedian at this year’s White House Correspondents Dinner; Update: “The WHCA are cowards,” says Wolf appeared first on Hot Air.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Email, RSS Follow

Related

Subscribe to Taking on Issues

Enter your email address to subscribe to our site and receive notifications of new posts by email.

RSS Political News

  • 5 House Democrats took $60,000 trip to South Africa for Beyoncé concert, records show February 23, 2019
  • Robert Mueller's 'Collusion' Case So Far February 23, 2019
  • Dianne Feinstein scolds kids who pushed her to back Green New Deal: 'I know what I'm doing' February 23, 2019
  • U.S. Farmers Receive $7.7 Billion in Trade Aid to Date February 23, 2019
  • Trump Aides Worry he'll get Outfoxed in North Korea Talks February 23, 2019
  • Tax Law Helped Boost 2018 Bank Profits to Record Level February 23, 2019
  • 'I Believe in White Supremacy': John Wayne's 1971 Playboy Interview February 22, 2019
  • Voter fraud means new election in North Carolina February 22, 2019
  • Trump announces Kelly Knight Craft as nominee for UN ambassador February 22, 2019

Archives

New Featured Articles

  • Don Lemon: Let’s face it, Trump is to blame for that nut who threatened to shoot CNN employees
    January 24, 2018

    As a matter of basic fact, Trump *will* be blamed by many Americans if, God forbid, some degenerate takes a shot at a journalist. Especially if that journalist works at CNN: They’re POTUS’s favorite whipping boy and he’s occasionally strayed beyond “fake news” invective towards them, once tweeting a cartoonish wrestling GIF of him physically […]

    Email, RSS Follow
    […]
  • White House comms aide Bill Shine on banned CNN reporter: Ask her if we ever used the word “ban”
    July 26, 2018
    What is he suggesting? That the yesterday’s […]
  • Eric Foner’s Artful Finesse on Lee Statues
    September 20, 2017
    In a penetrating essay in Sunday’s New York […]
  • Live blog: Will the Veep debate offer a moment of normalcy?
    October 4, 2016
    posted at 8:01 pm on October 4, 2016 by Ed Morrissey […]
  • After 72 years, wreckage of stunning U.S. Navy loss found 18,000 feet down
    August 20, 2017
    One of the more intriguing and lesser-known stories of […]
  • I Fought a War Against Iran—and It Ended Badly
    October 25, 2017
    Is war with Iran inevitable? Camped out here in […]
  • Is Tulsi Gabbard the latest 2020 Democrat hopeful?
    October 20, 2018
    Is Rep. Tulsi Gabbard preparing for a run in the 2020 […]
  • Emails: Woman who replaced disgraced DNC chair was also helping undermine Sanders
    October 11, 2016
    posted at 9:31 am on October 11, 2016 by Jazz Shaw […]
  • GOP Senate cuts it close on initial vote to defund Planned Parenthood
    March 30, 2017
    posted at 2:41 pm on March 30, 2017 by Andrew Malcolm […]
  • CNN: Hell no, we won’t run Trump’s new ad
    August 15, 2017
    This is the second time this year they’ve […]
  • Too good to check: Hillary catches Bill staring at…someone
    January 20, 2017
    posted at 4:41 pm on January 20, 2017 by John Sexton […]
  • Booker testimony against Sessions: Let the 2020 games begin; Update: Video of Code Pink ejections
    January 10, 2017
    posted at 10:01 am on January 10, 2017 by Ed Morrissey […]
  • Free Speech In Islamizing Germany
    January 13, 2017
    Unbelievable: A German regional court in the city of […]
  • A new era of safety and peace for Syria, Iraq, brought to you by… Turkey?
    August 27, 2018
    If you think we have politicians in the United States […]
  • Iraq veteran escapes prison time under NY gun grabbing law
    October 31, 2017
    Simeon D. Mokhiber, 42, of upstate New York had a […]
Copyright © 2019 TakingOnIssues.com

Contact Us | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Advertise | About Us