April D. Ryan

Comedian Wanda Sykes is headlining the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner. Photo: AP

IS WASHINGTON READY FOR WANDA?

POLITICO

By Patrick Gavin

If the pick of Wanda Sykes as this year’s entertainment at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner tells us anything, it’s that the days of Rich Little and Craig Ferguson are long gone.

Little is the PG-rated ’70s-and-’80s-era impersonator who headlined the WHCA’s 2007 dinner and whose performance was largely panned as having been outdated and unfunny. Ferguson, last year’s entertainer, got better reviews but also played it safe; he said at the time that “being funny is more important to me than being controversial.”

And then there’s Wanda Sykes, whose 2006 CD “Sick & Tired” contains well over 100 instances of R-rated language in just one hour of stand-up. Her routine covers abortion, pornography, sexual acts, prostitution, drug use and strip clubs - and that’s the sanitized-for-your-family-newspaper version of it.

So how’s this going to play when official Washington sits down for dinner at the Hilton Washington on May 9?

“She can be very colorful in her stand-up routines,” April Ryan, White House correspondent for American Urban Radio, says of Sykes. “She also can be very funny without profanity, as she does voice-overs for children’s shows. I hope she falls somewhere in the middle. Not blue but funny and tasteful.”

Adds another White House reporter: “Based on some of her previous gigs - and the vulgarity she uses - we can only hope that she will respect the office and the crowd by cleaning up her act and making sure that nobody’s offended by her performance.”

The Washington Examiner’s Julie Mason calls Sykes “salty” but says that could create a more lively dinner. “She does have a provocative act, but she seems to actually like Obama. In the past, it’s been awkward when the entertainment insulted the president - who is under no obligation to attend our annual fundraiser.”

Liberals will be glad to know that Sykes is firmly on their side of the aisle, having referred to then-President George W. Bush as an “a-hole” who would ruin everything the United States had ever done. She’s called for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, and she’s made fun of former Vice President Dick Cheney’s hunting accident.

So will Obama get off easy?

Not necessarily.

“I’m sick of politicians across the board, Republicans and Democrats,” Sykes says on “Sick & Tired.” “They’re all shady. I’m sick of them. To me, political office should be like jury duty. You should just get a notice in the mail one day and say, ‘Aw, sh-, I’m secretary of state next month. Ain’t this a b–?’”

Previous WHCA dinner entertainers have certainly done locker room humor during their careers - see: Norm MacDonald and Al Franken. And some, such as Don Imus in 1996 and Stephen Colbert a decade later, have stepped right up to - or crossed over - the oft-described “singe, not burn” line.

Although it’s safe to assume that Sykes will tone down her material for the May gig, it’s unlikely she’ll make it down to Rich Little land. Her 2003 Comedy Central special was bleeped six times during its broadcast, according to the version available on iTunes.

Sykes’ representatives did not respond to requests for comment.

Jennifer Loven, WHCA president and Associated Press White House correspondent, says that Ferguson was the first to suggest Sykes, after his performance last year. Loven says she told Ferguson that WHCA leaders were looking for “something different than ‘white guy’” for this year’s dinner and that Sykes “was very excited to do it and available.”

Loven acknowledges that there are risks involved, but she says she thinks Sykes will be “great.”

“I think it’ll be fun to have somebody edgy,” said Loven. “You always run a risk. It’s not our routine. We don’t have - and don’t want - control over the routine. … It’s an issue of trust: trust and cross your fingers that it doesn’t cross the line. We’re not censors. … It’s her job to figure out what’s right for the room.”

Loven said that when Sykes asked her if the routine needed to be clean, she responded, “Well, the president is sitting at the head table, so you do what you think is appropriate.”

Loven knows that she and Sykes will be sharing the hot seat. The selection of each year’s WHCA entertainment is one of the most scrutinized decisions of the year within Washington’s social and political circles, and the gig has earned a reputation among WHCA alumni as one of the toughest around.

“You’ve seen what happens when one of us ends up at the White House Correspondents’ dinner,” Jon Stewart told PBS’s Bill Moyers in 2007. “It doesn’t end well.”

After Colbert’s alternately panned and praised routine in 2006, the Comedy Central star said: “The crowd practically carried me out on their shoulders” … albeit before he was ready to leave.

And this year, the WHCA, its entertainer and its guests face yet another challenge: As the economy falters and media companies lay off journalists, folks may not be in the mood for laughter - or eager to be seen yukking it up at a lavish, black-tie event. 

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In the above article, Jennifer Loven contends the Association was looking for someone different than a “white guy.”  Decades ago, comedian Sinbad was the featured entertainment at the White House Correspondents Association Dinner.  In recent history, in 2005, Cedric the Entertainer was the featured entertainment for the dinner.   He was under pressure after following a surprise stand up routine by then First Lady Laura Bush.    Cedric focused on Washington politics, President Bush and the Bush cabinet.  Click on the link below to view the 2005 dinner entertainment.

http://www.c-spanarchives.org/library/index.php?main_page=product_video_info&products_id=186439-1&showVid=true&clipStart=1059.07&clipStop=2660.42

Remarks of President Barack Obama

Weekly Address

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Washington, DC

Last week, I spent a few days in California, talking with ordinary Americans in town halls and in the places where they work.  We talked about their struggles, and we talked about their hopes.  At the end of the day, these men and women weren’t as concerned with the news of the day in Washington as they were about the very real and very serious challenges their families face every day:  whether they’ll have a job and a paycheck to count on; whether they’ll be able to pay their medical bills or afford college tuition; whether they’ll be able to leave their children a world that’s safer and more prosperous than the one we have now. 

Those are the concerns I heard about in California.  They are the concerns I’ve heard about in letters from people throughout this country for the last two years.  And they are the concerns addressed in the budget I sent to Congress last month. 

With the magnitude of the challenges we face, I don’t just view this budget as numbers on a page or a laundry list of programs.  It’s an economic blueprint for our future - a vision of America where growth is not based on real estate bubbles or overleveraged banks, but on a firm foundation of investments in energy, education, and health care that will lead to a real and lasting prosperity. 

These investments are not a wish list of priorities that I picked out of thin air - they are a central part of a comprehensive strategy to grow this economy by attacking the very problems that have dragged it down for too long:  the high cost of health care and our dependence on foreign oil; our education deficit and our fiscal deficit.  

Now, as the House and the Senate take up this budget next week, the specific details and dollar amounts in this budget will undoubtedly change.  That’s a normal and healthy part of the process. 

But when all is said and done, I expect a budget that meets four basic principles: 

First, it must reduce our dependence on dangerous foreign oil and finally put this nation on a path to a clean, renewable energy future.  There is no longer a doubt that the jobs and industries of tomorrow will involve harnessing renewable sources of energy.  The only question is whether America will lead that future.  I believe we can and we will, and that’s why we’ve proposed a budget that makes clean energy the profitable kind of energy, while investing in technologies like wind power and solar power; advanced biofuels, clean coal, and fuel-efficient cars and trucks that can be built right here in America. 

Second, this budget must renew our nation’s commitment to a complete and competitive education for every American child.  In this global economy, we know the countries that out-educate us today will out-compete us tomorrow, and we know that our students are already falling behind their counterparts in places like China.  That is why we have proposed investments in childhood education programs that work; in high standards and accountability for our schools; in rewards for teachers who succeed; and in affordable college education for anyone who wants to go.  It is time to demand excellence from our schools so that we can finally prepare our workforce for a 21^st century economy. 

Third, we need a budget that makes a serious investment in health care reform - reform that will bring down costs, ensure quality, and guarantee people their choice of doctors and hospitals.  Right now, there are millions of Americans who are just one illness or medical emergency away from bankruptcy.  There are businesses that have been forced to close their doors or ship jobs overseas because they can’t afford insurance.   Medicare costs are consuming our federal budget.  Medicaid is overwhelming our state budgets.  So to those who say we have to choose between health care reform and fiscal discipline, I say that making investments now that will dramatically lower health care costs for everyone won’t add to our budget deficit in the long-term - it is one of the best ways to reduce it. 

Finally, this budget must reduce that deficit even further.  With the fiscal mess we’ve inherited and the cost of this financial crisis, I’ve proposed a budget that cuts our deficit in half by the end of my first term.  That’s why we are scouring every corner of the budget and have proposed $2 trillion in deficit reductions over the next decade.  In total, our budget would bring discretionary spending for domestic programs as a share of the economy to its lowest level in nearly half a century.  And we will continue making these tough choices in the months and years ahead so that as our economy recovers, we do what we must to bring this deficit down. 

I will be discussing each of these principles next week, as Congress takes up the important work of debating this budget.  I realize there are those who say these plans are too ambitious to enact.  To that I say that the challenges we face are too large to ignore.  I didn’t come here to pass on our problems to the next President or the next generation - I came here to solve them. 

The American people sent us here to get things done, and at this moment of great challenge, they are watching and waiting for us to lead.  Let’s show them that we are equal to the task before us, and let’s pass a budget that puts this nation on the road to lasting prosperity.

President Obama’s gaffe on Jay Leno’s show is still being talked about.  The President told Leno he’d been working on his bowling skills at the White House’s bowling alley but wasn’t happy about his core of 129.

“It was like the Special Olympics or something, “Obama quipped.  The audience laughed.

Before the program aired, Mr. Obama had issues an apology to the chairman of the Special Olympics who accepted the apology.  President Obama made the call from Air Force One.

Robert Gibbs, White House Press Secretary said the Presidents statements were a “thoughless joke.”  He also said the Special Olympics are “a triumph of the human spirit.”

President Obama has extended an invitation to Special Olympics athletes to visit the White House and bowl or play basketball with him.