Late night comedians die for His spins

I've figured out why black comedian Wanda Sykes was booked to emcee Saturday's White House Correspondents' Dinner: sex and race allows her to skewer Barack Obama with impunity.

If he shows up. Obama skipped the traditional Gridiron dinner in March. Politico: "In some Beltway circles, Obama’s absence was viewed as a snub of the media elite, since he chose to be ensconced with his family at Camp David only a brief helicopter ride away. Obama is the first president to skip the dinner in his first year in office since Grover Cleveland in 1885, when the journalists’ club was founded."

I've concluded Obama thinks he's above gritting his teeth through good-humored, albeit barbed, skits staged by costumed members of the White House press corps. Obama's exhibiting elitism by deigning to decline rubbing elbows with (predominately white male) ink-stained scrum.

If Obama is "the new God," as late night comedian Bill Maher muses, how does one roast him and get away with it?

LA Times: Obama has cast so many political humorists into a bad spot because he lacks the obvious defining qualities -- both mentally and physically -- that transformed previous Oval Office occupants into comedic catnip. He doesn't have a strong regional accent and didn't have a strange job before his political rise (former peanut farmer Jimmy Carter). He doesn't fall down (Gerald Ford). He is not regarded as aging or forgetful (Ronald Reagan). He hasn't been dubbed a "wimp" (George H.W. Bush). He is not tainted by scandal (Clinton). He doesn't stumble over the English language (George W. Bush).The 44th president's elusiveness as a comic target is more than just superficial, however, and reveals deep national reluctance toward mocking a leader in crisis and toward discussing race.

Me: But he's got elephant ears, manboobs he proudly displays in shirtless photo-ops, a dubious American birth certificate, an illegal alien aunt. A wife who wears $540 French designer running shoes to hand out food to the poor. Not "tainted by scandal?" Bill Ayers, Rev. Wright, Blago, Tony Rezko. Broken promises of a transparent administration. Obama's not tainted because nothing sticks. Obama cannot make a speech off-the-cuff without stepping on his tongue or peppering it with tentative "uhs." There's a new job in the Obama White House: Special Assistant To The President For The Teleprompter. 100 days plus and Obama's teleprompter screw-ups are already legendary.

LA Times blathers on: But it's Obama's African American heritage more than any other single factor that has perhaps frozen comics' pens and keyboards. Political humorists, most of whom are white, have never dealt with a black president and aren't sure how their material will be received. Is an Obama joke truly aimed at the office and its policies, or is it merely a smokescreen for racial prejudice?"You don't want to appear racist," said Buddy Winston, a former writer for the "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno." "You can't do the stereotypical thing. Someone who's a Texan or an elite is much easier to attack."Black comedians encounter similar difficulties in crafting humor at the new president's expense, said David Alan Grier, star of Comedy Central's short-lived "Chocolate News." "Some people in the black community see any sort of criticism of Obama as a betrayal," said Grier. "But my thing is, it's not a betrayal. It's just jokes. That's what comedy is."Much of the humor in the last few weeks on "The Tonight Show" has taken a safe comic route by centering on the first family's new dog and Obama's mother-in-law, who lives in the White House.

Meanwhile David Letterman, who regularly bashed Bush, has repeatedly praised the new president ("You gotta like this guy . . . by God, this guy is out there, doing stuff. He's always got stuff going on")..."Writers and producers for "Late Show With David Letterman," "The Tonight Show," "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart" and "The Colbert Report" declined comment for this story. Even "Saturday Night Live," which is renowned for its politically biting humor, has been mostly soft on Obama....

Contributing to Obama's kid-glove treatment, too, are the political leanings of many comedy writers. Although it didn't ultimately help Bill Clinton or Jimmy Carter, Winston, who wrote for Leno for six years, argues there's little doubt many joke writers are Democrats... It's also important to remember that television audiences aren't a scientific sample of the nation and might be distorting the true appetite for Obama humor, said Maher. He contends most of his TV audiences are "limousine liberals" who are overly sensitive, particularly about race... More than 100 days into the new administration, Ian Cameron, executive producer of ABC's "This Week With George Stephanopoulos," said that it may still be too early for Obama-based material to emerge. The show's regular segment "The Sunday Funnies," which offers a roundup of national political humor, has been light on Obama jokes."There also has been more of a track record with Bush, when there were eight years," said Cameron. "A lot of comedians are still feeling their way. There's still the 'Obama walking on water' jokes."Obama will fall into the water somehow, and when he does the comedians will be there, said Malcolm Kushner, a scholar of presidential humor who co-created the humor exhibit at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

Don't hold your breath...