Obama joke at the WH Press Corps Dinner

[jtgain]

Did anyone see Obama's speech to the WH Press Corps this weekend? I thought it was freaking hilarious, but I didn't get one of his jokes...The difference between a pit bull and a hockey mom...a pit bull is delicious.

I get the part that he's taking a shot at himself over eating dogs as a kid, but is he implying that eating Sarah Palin would NOT be delicious? I didn't get that part...

[Rhythmdvl]

Didn't Spalin make the original quip (well, make the original quip famous). Something like

Q: What's the difference between a pit bull and a hockey mom?
A: Lipstick.

[Marley23]

It does imply hockey moms aren't delicious, but the punchline is that the pit bull is delicious. You might be reading too much into it. That's a funny joke, though. Maybe it's a signal the outrage-over-stuff-the-candidates-did-to-dogs-30-years-ago phase of the campaign is over.

[jtgain]

Originally Posted by Rhythmdvl

Didn't Spalin make the original quip (well, make the original quip famous). Something like

Q: What's the difference between a pit bull and a hockey mom?
A: Lipstick.

Yes, she did...but I didn't get the "delicious" spin as it pertains to her. Was it a sexual reference? I would think not. But I don't get the joke that she is somehow not delicious.

BTW...my favorite joke of the night: In my first term, we repealed DADT. In my second term, I will institute my new secret policy: It's Raining Men.

I spit water all over the coffee table.

[zamboniracer]

The dog food bit referred to a recent bit of kerfuffle about Obama having eaten dog meat as a child and Romney's campaign use of that bit. See this ABC news story for details. Link

[Imago]

Is it a hijack to say that this is one of many reasons I went from thinking Obama was full of crap (at his inauguration etc) to admiring him as a remarkably dignified and patient individual?

[TruCelt]

I don't think it was specific to Palin, it was just a basic joke formula that she popularized. The President couldn't say "No culture considers hockey moms to be food" because that wouldn't be funny. And he could hardly say "I've never eaten a hockey Mom" because think of what all the 13-year-old boys would've done with that one!

[jtgain]

Originally Posted by Imago

Is it a hijack to say that this is one of many reasons I went from thinking Obama was full of crap (at his inauguration etc) to admiring him as a remarkably dignified and patient individual?

I've always thought that. I couldn't disagree with Obama more politically, but unlike other Democrats during my lifetime (Clinton, Gore, Kerry) I like the man personally. He seems to be a loving father and doing what he feels in his heart is the correct thing (even if I disagree with that).

Originally Posted by TruCelt

I don't think it was specific to Palin, it was just a basic joke formula that she popularized. The President couldn't say "No culture considers hockey moms to be food" because that wouldn't be funny. And he could hardly say "I've never eaten a hockey Mom" because think of what all the 13-year-old boys would've done with that one!

And maybe I'm reading too much into it, but these types of "What's the difference" jokes need to have a double meaning so that the distinction you make is funny both ways. I get that Obama was razzing himself over eating dog meat as a kid. But the joke left me wondering because the other side and how it relates to Palin (or a hockey mom) NOT being delicious was left hanging out there.

For example, old joke: What's the difference between a catfish and a (fill in an ethnic group) woman? One has whiskers and stinks and the other is a fish.

Ok, offensive, but you see how it applies. You are insulting the ethnic woman for her facial hair and hygiene while doing a misdirect because everyone thinks you are talking about the catfish first.

Obama's joke has no such element. Palin could have been left out of it entirely. It could have been just that Pit Bulls are delicious.

[Marley23]

Originally Posted by jtgain

Obama's joke has no such element. Palin could have been left out of it entirely. It could have been just that Pit Bulls are delicious.

She was was left out of it entirely. The joke plays on the "hockey mom" line because otherwise there is no setup to the joke. It's not intended to be a slam on hockey moms.

[Bill Door]

Originally Posted by Marley23

She was was left out of it entirely. The joke plays on the "hockey mom" line because otherwise there is no setup to the joke. It's not intended to be a slam on hockey moms.

Right, it's like "What's the difference between a hamster and a gerbil?" "There's more dark meat on the hamster."

It's not about the hamster, it's about the amusing juxtaposition of animals considered pets and food.

[BrainGlutton]

Originally Posted by Marley23

It does imply hockey moms aren't delicious, but the punchline is that the pit bull is delicious. You might be reading too much into it. That's a funny joke, though. Maybe it's a signal the outrage-over-stuff-the-candidates-did-to-dogs-30-years-ago phase of the campaign is over.

Right! It's time to start asking what they're gonna do to dogs now!

[RTFirefly]

Originally Posted by BrainGlutton

Right! It's time to start asking what they're gonna do to dogs now!

They burning your dog!

[MrDibble]

Am I the only one who thinks it less just self-deprecating humour, but also a dig back at Romney?

[Lamar Mundane]

I thought the whole thing was really flat, especially compared to last year. Last year he just killed it, and he had just sent Seal Team Six on a mission to get OBL. Maybe he just had better material last year - the birther thing was in full swing and Donald Trump was in the audience. Seth Myers was also 100X better than Jimmy Kimmell.

[John Mace]

Originally Posted by zamboniracer

The dog food bit referred to a recent bit of kerfuffle about Obama having eaten dog meat as a child and Romney's campaign use of that bit. See this ABC news story for details. Link

This is it. The jab at Palin is secondary to the jab at the "outrage" over Obama having eaten dog as a child. You probably had to be there...

I didn't see the whole thing, but of the jokes I heard, I thought this was the weakest. The one I thought was the funniest was about Trump.

“Last year at this time, this very weekend, we finally delivered justice to one of the world’s most notorious individuals,” Obama said, a seeming reference to the capture and killing of Osama bin Laden.

Instead, a picture of Trump appeared on the room’s television monitors. Obama last year delivered a scathing roast of Donald Trump, the real estate mogul who flirted with running for the Republican nomination and claimed he has solved the “mystery” of Obama’s birth certificate.

[Miller]

Here's a link to the speech, for those who haven't seen it yet.

[Chronos]

I don't know, I thought the bit about the Man Show ("In Washington, that's what we call a Congressional commission on contraception") was pretty good.

[etv78]

He WILL look like Morgan Freeman as an old man!

[Oy!]

Morgan Freeman has very conspicuous freckles, and Obama doesn't. Believe it or not, that was all I could think when he made that joke. But I will say if looking like Morgan Freeman at the end of his second term is the worst thing that happens to Obama, he'll be a lucky man. Freeman's pretty darned good looking (although, admittedly, he does look considerably older than the President - but I'm not convinced Obama will look quite that good when he is same age Freeman is now).

[etv78]

I absolutely agree Freeman is aging wonderfully.

[YogSosoth]

I thought this year was hilarious as well, but Kimmel sorta rushed some of the jokes.

[John Mace]

Originally Posted by etv78

I absolutely agree Freeman is aging wonderfully.

His step-grandaughter seems to agree!

[Marley23]

Originally Posted by etv78

I absolutely agree Freeman is aging wonderfully.

Originally Posted by John Mace

His step-grandaughter seems to agree!

[Woody Allen]

Why didn't I think of that?

[/Woody Allen]

[jtgain]

Originally Posted by Bill Door

Right, it's like "What's the difference between a hamster and a gerbil?" "There's more dark meat on the hamster."

It's not about the hamster, it's about the amusing juxtaposition of animals considered pets and food.

But still the hamster and gerbil have a part in the joke. The joke is that the teller eats both animals (and both are the type that aren't normally eaten).

There is no comparable meaning for the hockey mom in Obama's joke.

[Rhythmdvl]

I've learned a lot in this thread.


Poor frog.

[BobLibDem]

Originally Posted by jtgain

Did anyone see Obama's speech to the WH Press Corps this weekend? I thought it was freaking hilarious, but I didn't get one of his jokes...The difference between a pit bull and a hockey mom...a pit bull is delicious.

I get the part that he's taking a shot at himself over eating dogs as a kid, but is he implying that eating Sarah Palin would NOT be delicious? I didn't get that part...

I don't think he meant any reference to Palin, it's just a riff on her pit bull-hockey mom joke and self deprecating humor about his experience eating dog meat.