My God, will no one think of the Villagers?
by digby
Naturally, Politico found the right angle to show that no matter what happens, it's all about the Villagers:
Two weeks before Conan O’Brien was set to headline the White House Correspondents Association’s annual dinner, a deadly terrorist attack took place on American soil, riveting the nation’s attention and sending the country in mourning.
The year was not 2013. It was 1995.
In an odd coincidence, the Correspondents annual dinner finds itself under remarkably similar circumstances as it did 18 years ago. Then, it was the Oklahoma City bombing and, when President Bill Clinton took to the Washington Hilton’s podium for remarks traditionally tinged with humor, he decided that the occasion was better for somber reflection than silly ribbing.
“You know, I practiced for this night. I had all this humor and everything,” said Clinton. “But I think you will all understand that—and I hope my wonderful comedy writers will understand—if I take a few moments tonight not to be too funny here at the end because of the tragedy in Oklahoma City, which has captured us all and which still is the focus of our efforts, for understandable reasons tonight, as the rescue workers are still laboring and as the law enforcement officers are still working,” Clinton told the guests.
I don't know about you but the question of how the White House correspondents dinner would cope with the bombing has been plaguing me since the moment I heard about it. "Oh my God," I thought, "I was already freaking out that Kim Kardashian wasn't going to show up in a suitable maternity outfit for the event and now this!" How much more can these people take??
The good news is that they've taken control of the narrative and are properly counselling tjhe president not to be a big old bring-down like Clinton was:
U.S. News & World Reports’ Kenneth Walsh, who presided over the White House Correspondents Association during that 1995 dinner, said that, in 1995, he was not alerted to Clinton’s change in remarks beforehand.
Walsh thinks that, this time around, President Barack Obama won’t forgo humor as much as Clinton did.
“I think with the sense of the country and the atmosphere we have now, I think that we’re coming out of the Boston Marathon in a different way than we came out of Oklahoma City,” Walsh told POLITICO. “There’s a tremendous sense of relief in Boston and around the country and the mood is more of a positive one, that our law enforcement system worked and that Boston is now safe. So I think that’s an important tone that I think might make it a little bit easier to deal with this because I think people feel positive that our law enforcement system worked.”
While Obama may tweak his comedic stylings, Walsh thinks he’ll still adopt the tone that perhaps suits him — and this moment — best: Uplift.
Yes, we wouldn't want any mopey old political leadership interfering with the WHCD hijinks.
I sure hope the president is paying attention to this directive. They're going to be very upset if he doesn't follow Village orders on this one. They really couldn't be any clearer.
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