Agreed. Watching events like these sober and from a hearty distance makes me remember why I started to drink my way through them in the first place.
Meanwhile, my colleague Jon Swaine did some great, important reporting from the protests in Baltimore. If you took the time to read this, spend the time to read that. It’s more important, anyway.
1. Clinton’s been the best overall presidential speaker in my lifetime (although Obama’s Selma speech was incredibly emotional and verbally masterful), but Obama’s had the best timing by far. Even though some of his material was really lightweight tonight, he’s always been quick to read the room or his antagonist and weighed beats really well and sold the gag, whatever it was. And he sold Cecily Strong’s really well. He was engaged with her, and even if some of those smiles and nods and theatrical mutterings were insincere and just playing off the material, he did it right, and it was a pleasure to watch. Even if I strongly disapprove of things he’s done or failed to do, even if he’s been disappointing, it is really reassuring to see a mentally agile and attentive person on the other end of American power structure, with the wit to pay attention and the humility to laugh even at his own expense. There’s a human being at the controls, more so than “some guy I can drink a beer with” or some other campaign artifice. That’s fun. Obama, and especially the Luther routine, were the best part of the night.
2. We came six hours for all this: agonizing delayed prep, staged photographs, a bunch of rich assholes being fawned over and lavishly served as they delighted in themselves and the mutual act of recognition and applause … ultimately so they no-sell something as tame as a semi-sharp joke about racism and the objectification and control of women. Meanwhile, a short drive down the road, a major American city threatened to erupt in outrage at oppression. If that doesn’t get you ready for the endless hellride of 2016, nothing will. Let’s get out of here.
Also making the audience to put up their hands and say, “I solemnly swear to not talk about Hillary’s appearance, because that is not journalism” was very welcome. Visibly not taking the pledge: Wolf Blitzer.
Agreed. That said, the format for all roasts is basically “burns by taking roll call”, but Cecily Strong is delivering this like a frantic death race. It’s stepping on even the half-hearted laughter.
I don’t expect everyone to come out and Stephen Colbert this sort of thing, but they could! As Ben Schwartz pointed out in The Baffler, that kind of satire really isn’t that dangerous. Colbert made those shots a decade ago and changed… nothing! They just seem dangerous because these audiences are so accustomed to formal events where critics preemptively apologize for the slightest shots, like, aw shucks, we didn’t mean it. (I mean, CNN winced at a tepid slight from Obama.) So why all the softballs? I mean, not to co-opt Washington language for an Arab wedding or an Arab birthday party, but THIS IS A TARGET-RICH ENVIRONMENT.
To recap Strong’s act so far: C-SPAN jokes kill in a Washington crowd, but jokes about white cops shooting black people and politicians trying to pass laws to limit women’s bodily autonomy are a step too far.
A genuinely touching toast to journalists as essential to liberty at the end from Obama. That said, if the emotion he showed was genuine, the natural response is: TALK TO THE PRESS MORE AND STOP FIGHTING A WAR ON WHISTLEBLOWERS.
Also, every shot of Wolf Blitzer through Obama’s jokes was of him stonefacing through this. Now, I’m not gonna say this entire routine was great, but it should have engendered some smirks. Basically this confirms my years-long supposition that Wolf Blitzer has no sense of humor because otherwise every mirror in his house would be broken in horror.
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