He Said, She Said

In the last few days we have been exposed to two jokes that were both in very bad taste. One was by Golf Analyst David Feherty and the other by comedian Wanda Sykes. Both jokes were about the demise of individuals. In the case of David Feherty, he joked about troops killing Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. Wanda Sykes went on to joke about Rush Limbaugh having kidney failure.

In our hyper political world, the public reaction to these jokes are predictable. Those on the left, they are highly offended by Feherty's words, those on the right are insensed by Sykes. There was a time in America where everyone, no matter what your political stripes, would have seen both these jokes for what they are crass, tasteless and completely morbid.

I found both jokes in extremely poor taste. What is so funny about the terrible demise of someone? Nothing I can see, that's for sure. One thing I do not look forward to is the predictable selective outrage and empty apologies that follows. We all know both sides said the things they did because they intensely dislike the victims of the jokes. Lets be honest, do any of you really think Feherty (who already apologized) or Sykes (bet you she never does) are really sorry about their wise cracks? Of course not.

This is why I admired Dick Cheney when he refused to apologize to Leahy for telling Leahy to fornicate himself. Now I don't approve of a Vice President dropping the F-bomb on the senate floor. Such actions lower our culture and political discourse. I do admire Cheney for standing by his words. He meant what he said to Leahy and refused to give a bogus apology for it. What would have an apology accomplished anyway? Liberals would still hated him and berated him for what he said to Leahy anyway.

I don't believe Feherty or Sykes should not apologize for their crass jokes. They probably both meant what they said. Giving empty apologies because of "outrage" means nothing. If either were truly sorry, they would not need prodding from an outraged public, and would have offered it on their own. In the end, we are going to judge both of them for their original words anyway.

Since we are on the topic of tasteless jokes, let me ask, why did Obama laugh at Sykes' Limbaugh joke? Obama is suppose to be so thoughtful, compassionate and erudite Yet there he was, yucking it up over such lowbrow humor. This is the second time, Obama thought something crass was funny. Remember his Special Olympics crack? Are we seeing a pattern of lack of compassion here? Could be, the media steadfastly refuses to give us anything but a puppies and rainbows image of Obama and his family.