QUOTE OF THE DAY…. At the Gridiron Club Dinner over the weekend, President Obama jested, “I’ve made a few jokes over the years about John’s unusual coloring. I used to think that it was a tan. But after seeing how often he tears up, I’ve come to realize: That’s not a tan. That’s rust!”
Former Bush press secretary Dana Perino, now an increasingly-caustic Fox News media personality, was not amused. “Yeah, hardy har har,” Perino said with indignation this morning. “The one thing that’s interesting to me? With all the speechwriters that they have, they can’t come up with any new material. They keep going back to the same well and making fun of John Boehner’s skin color. Really? This White House? Of all White Houses?”
Maybe Perino could elaborate on this, because she seems to be saying that a White House led by a black president shouldn’t make jokes about Boehner’s orange hue, as compared to a White House led by a white president.
And if so, I’ll look forward to the Perino walkback.
It’s also worth noting that presidents recycle jokes all the time. Any time Perino’s old boss was in the same room as someone with a post-graduate degree, Bush would tell the same anti-intellectual joke. “I remind people that, like when I’m with Condi I say, she’s the Ph.D. and I’m the C-student, and just look at who’s the President and who’s the advisor,” the failed former president used to say.
Bush repeated this ad nauseum. With all the speechwriters he had, Bushies couldn’t come up with any new material.
Besides, jokes can be funny more than once. I’ve heard people mock Dana Perino for years because she didn’t know what the Cuban Missile Crisis is, even during her tenure as White House press secretary. It’s not new material, but the mockery continues to resonate.
