# Post Barack Obamaa Jokes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 17, 2008, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-barack-obamaa-jokes/456805 "2008-07-17T08:04:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Sinaijon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Sinaijon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinaijon)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-barack-obamaa-jokes/456805/61 "2008-07-18T18:20:32Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] McCain’s grumpiness has some truth value too. It’s hard to find a good handle like that for obama, but something will probably emerge sooner or later. [/QUOTE] I’ve just been a bit surprised at the McCain Gaffe thread in the pit that no one has mentioned that he is indeed a gaffer. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-barack-obamaa-jokes/456805/62 "2008-07-18T18:26:00Z")
Also funny, this from above: > [@](#): > > What’s the difference between a bum and Barack Obama? > > One is a hustler asking you for change and the other is a homeless guy. Not even close to funny: > [@](#): > > “One is a shameless hustler who never worked a day in his life who pesters you for change. The other is homeless.” . The idea of Obama as being “all talk” (and hence, in a sense, a hustler) is accessible to people of all political stripes. The idea of either him or a homeless person necessarily being “shameless” and “never having worked a day in their life” is not accessible except to a certain political viewpoint, and the latter point about work is only accessible from a demonstrably ignorant viewpoint. Also, the parallelism is ruined by saying “homeless” instead of “a homeless guy.” -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-barack-obamaa-jokes/456805/63 "2008-07-18T18:29:45Z")
[QUOTE=Shodan] That’s pretty good! You can also try “One is a shameless hustler who never worked a day in his life who pesters you for change. The other is homeless.” Dropping the “guy” on the end shortens up the punch line and gives it more impact, and adding more perjorative stuff at the beginning builds up tension. [/QUOTE] Buh? I agree about dropping the ‘guy’ to improve the rhythm, but whence comes the ‘never worked a day in his life’? Even setting aside Obama, about whom it’s patently false, it’s not necessarily true of homeless guys either. The reason Dio’s punchline is funny is because it’s rooted in truth. You might as well say “What’s the difference between McCain and a burglar? One breaks into your house at night and the other’s a thief.” ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-barack-obamaa-jokes/456805/64 "2008-07-18T18:33:24Z")
OK, so here’s my lame attempt at an Obama joke: “Man, it’s hot out there!” “Hot hot is it?” “It’s so hot, I saw Barack Obama sweating.” You know, because he just never seems to perspire. Reporters say they never see him sweat even when he’s working out at the gym. Maybe that perception is not well-known enough? ---
**Author:** ![Sinaijon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Sinaijon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinaijon)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-barack-obamaa-jokes/456805/65 "2008-07-18T18:34:18Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] What’s the difference between a bum and Barack Obama? [/QUOTE] “One of them’s already in the White House?” “Hookers and drugs. Oh wait. I mean just hookers.” ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-barack-obamaa-jokes/456805/66 "2008-07-18T18:47:52Z")
[QUOTE=Frylock] The idea of either him or a homeless person necessarily being “shameless” and “never having worked a day in their life” is not accessible except to a certain political viewpoint. [/quote] I would rephrase that as the idea is not accessible to a certain political viewpoint. > [@](#): > > Also, the parallelism is ruined by saying “homeless” instead of “a homeless guy.” No, you are describing attributes of both. ‘Homeless guy’ is definitional. So you need to be describing attributes of both. > [@](#): > > it’s not necessarily true of homeless guys either. Not “homeless guy” - ‘bum’. This joke can’t be politically correct, since it is about a black guy. And (unsurprisingly) you are missing the point. Jokes have to be exaggerated, or they’re not funny (even to those who are not grimly determined not to get it). The thing about Obama that is being parodied is that he has never held a job in the private sector. That’s why the “old” jokes about McCain exaggerate his age. Obviously you can’t be forced to ‘get’ a joke if you don’t want to. It is always possible to snarl “That’s not funny!” thru gritted teeth. but then you leave yourself open to the jokes about “how many Obama supporters does it take to change a light bulb?” The joke works for feminists, who tend (often enough to make the joke work) to lack a sense of proportion about their sacred cows. The more stuff like this thread and the New Yorker cover thing go on, the funnier it gets about Obamaniacs as well. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-barack-obamaa-jokes/456805/67 "2008-07-18T18:51:00Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > The thing about Obama that is being parodied is that he has never held a job in the private sector. This is false. He’s held several. ETA, what job has McCain ever held in the private sector? Or W for that matter? ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-barack-obamaa-jokes/456805/68 "2008-07-18T18:54:35Z")
What do you get if you cross Barack and McCain? Obomb bomb bomb, obomb bomb Iran… You know what I like about Obama? Cognative Dissonance. No, seriously. I’ve loved it since day one. Chicago Politics, man. You know they’re filthy. You know they’re crude. And then this _democrat_ comes out, he looks sharp, he dresses well, you know he’s a hustler… and his republican opponent hires someone to follow him around 24/7 with a camera. And they find nothing. Nothing. That’s just messed up, you know? I say he’s one of them reptilian overlords. Probably eats mice when nobody’s watching. His wife? Robot. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-barack-obamaa-jokes/456805/69 "2008-07-18T19:04:26Z")
From an article cited above: > [@](#): > > “I tell jokes on stage about him,” (David Allen) Grier said, reciting a few that would not ever get onto a network late-night show (nor into this newspaper). Anyone able to fill us in on this? -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-barack-obamaa-jokes/456805/70 "2008-07-18T19:13:59Z")
I like Bill Maher’s quote in the New York Times: “People keep asking if he’s black enough, what’s he gotta do? Dunk? The man bowled a 37, that’s black enough for me.” ---
**Author:** ![Sinaijon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Sinaijon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinaijon)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-barack-obamaa-jokes/456805/71 "2008-07-18T19:17:58Z")
[QUOTE=E-Sabbath] What do you get if you cross Barack and McCain? Obomb bomb bomb, obomb bomb Iran… [/quote] It works better with Iraq: Obomb bomb bomb, obomb bomb barack… ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-barack-obamaa-jokes/456805/72 "2008-07-18T19:29:55Z")
[QUOTE=E-Sabbath] I say he’s one of them reptilian overlords. [/QUOTE] And here I thought he was different from all the [other politicians.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reptilian_humanoid#David_Icke) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-barack-obamaa-jokes/456805/73 "2008-07-18T19:36:04Z")
[QUOTE=Shodan] The thing about Obama that is being parodied is that he has never held a job in the private sector. [/quote] [url=]Bullshit. > [@](#): > > Obama taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School for twelve years, as a Lecturer for four years (1992–1996), and as a Senior Lecturer for eight years (1996–2004).[22] > > In 1993 Obama joined Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland, a 12-attorney law firm specializing in civil rights litigation and neighborhood economic development, where he was an associate for three years from 1993 to 1996, then of counsel from 1996 to 2004, with his law license becoming inactive in 2002.[10][23] > > Obama was a founding member of the board of directors of Public Allies in 1992, resigning before his wife, Michelle, became the founding executive director of Public Allies Chicago in early 1993.[10][24] He served on the board of directors of the Woods Fund of Chicago, which in 1985 had been the first foundation to fund Obama’s DCP, from 1993–2002, and served on the board of directors of The Joyce Foundation from 1994–2002.[10] Obama served on the board of directors of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge from 1995–2002, as founding president and chairman of the board of directors from 1995–1999.[10] He also served on the board of directors of the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Center for Neighborhood Technology, and the Lugenia Burns Hope Center.[10] A job as a law prof is “private sector” even if the law school in question is part of a public university. Any law firm that is not a government agency is “private sector” regardless of its field of practice. Foundations are also “private sector” institutions. Obama **never** drew a government paycheck until he was elected to the Illinois Senate in 1996. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-barack-obamaa-jokes/456805/74 "2008-07-18T19:39:18Z")
Michael Feldman, or at least his writers, on NPR, take digs at Obama, a couple I recall right now include one in which he’s describing an Obama event in which the candidate was making grand promises and getting great adulation for it, and to which Feldman added: _“then after the speech, he made it stop raining, healed several cripples, and fed the multitude with two energy bars and a bottle of vitamin water.”_ On another ocassion, after the McCain beer/earmark malapropism, Feldman said: _“Meanwhile, Barack Obama announced he’s in favor of beer, which he explained he understands to be a refreshing fermented beverage, popular among the working classes.”_ Basically mockery of fan adulation and of the staid image. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-barack-obamaa-jokes/456805/75 "2008-07-18T19:46:44Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] A job as a law prof is “private sector” even if the law school in question is part of a public university. [/QUOTE] Furthermore, the [University of Chicago](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_chicago) is a **private** university. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-barack-obamaa-jokes/456805/76 "2008-07-18T19:55:39Z")
[McCain,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_mccain) OTOH, has spent his entire adult life in the military or government, except for a brief stint as VP of Public Relations for his father-in-law’s Anheuser-Busch distributorship. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-barack-obamaa-jokes/456805/77 "2008-07-18T19:56:03Z")
Obama was also a consultant for Business International. That plus jobs with three different private law firms, plus 12 years teaching at UC is a pretty good private sector resume. Not that being a community organizer isn’t working. That’s like saying being in the military or working for a municipal water department isn’t working. Oh, and does writing books count as “work?” He wrote his first one before he was well known. He doesn’t use ghost writers either, which makes him as rare as hens teeth among published politicians. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-barack-obamaa-jokes/456805/78 "2008-07-18T20:18:17Z")
[QUOTE=greatshakes] If this thread is any indication, the whole SD should take a bow. These jokes suck. Can’t anybody tell any funny ones? Get with it, Dopers. There was a time when funny didn’t mean sucking your favorite candidates dick, but meant \*something funny. \* [/QUOTE] I know, right? It’s almost as if people are deliberately telling bad jokes with flat punchlines or something! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-barack-obamaa-jokes/456805/79 "2008-07-18T20:35:12Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] ETA, what job has McCain ever held in the private sector? Or W for that matter? [/QUOTE] W [held executive positions with Arbusto, Spectrum 7, and Harken Energy,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_w._bush#Early_career) but considering his track record there, those are items he’d be well advised to leave off his resume. Then there’s the Texas Rangers thing . . . ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-barack-obamaa-jokes/456805/80 "2008-07-18T20:47:43Z")
This is when you turn to [The Onion](http://www.theonion.com/content/whitehousewar/barackobama). Enjoy, Steven [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-barack-obamaa-jokes/456805.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-barack-obamaa-jokes/456805.md?page=5)