Last night, at a humorous black-tie dinner, President Bush showed pictures of himself looking under White House furniture to "find" weapons of mass destruction. Bush

Kerry responded by saying he was incredibly insulted, and criticized Bush for his joke. Kerry

Was this joke completely inappropriate or did Kerry overeact?

My bet: neither. You read it here first.

You quoted Drudge. That's the first warning signal of possible flaws in your posting.

So... I went and checked. Not a single other news outlet -- OR KERRY'S OWN SITE -- has this so-called "press release". How can that be? The story is four hours old already and NOT ONE (OTHER) REPORTER has filed a story about it?

Me-thinks Drudge made it up.

Wow. What happened to humor? Can there be no good natured fun anymore? Does everything have to be serious all the time? how depressing.

I found some of these images side splittingly funny!

This is yet another issue for polarized politicians to politicize.

It's a shame. This could have been a campaign about Ideas and Convictions.

President Bush has it easy in this regard, he has the office of the President, the State of the Union Address etc. His ideas are out there. I disagree with many of them but at least he has put them out there for us to consider.

Kerry of course has his voting record. But, no one seriously tries to put votes in context (or even consider attached amendments). That's too much work. This makes his voting record a liability. Of course he could address it and say WHY he opposed certain things, though he chooses not to (so far).

Where are Kerry's ideas? I would honestly like to hear what he thinks, what direction he would like to lead the country in and HOW he would fix those things he thinks are wrong and need fixing. So far all I have heard is that he is a Vietnam War hero and how wrong President Bush is. I respect his service and have my own issues about Bush but where are Kerry's ideas?

Instead of addressing issues, Kerry accuses the President of questioning Kerry's military service if some dares question his voting record in the Senate. Now if some makes a light hearted joke about himself, Kerry crys foul and says that it insults those who serve in Iraq.

Well Senator Kerry, I served in Operations Enduring and Iraqi freedom and I found those pictures of the President looking under furniture to be fantastic, good natured, and funny as heck

Lighten up...PLEASE!!!

I think Kerry is overreacting (assuming the article is accurate), but the joke was in bad taste.
If Bush would admit that WMDs were a pretext, or that the threat was overstated it would be self depreciating humor... Given his public stance, though, it seems a mite tasteless.

I realize that the credibility of Drudge is questionable...The main reason for my question was for the opinions of others whether Bush's comment (regardless of Kerry's alleged response) was inappropriate discourse.

Even the Drudge Report doesn't say it was Kerry objecting to the joke, it was someone in his campaign.

The annual media dinner is the only time this type of stuff happens. Presidents "let their hair down" at them. A lot of the humor tends to be self-deprecating.

Is it inappropriate? I don't think so.

Was the "response" inappropriate? It seems to be one man's opinion, and that man isn't Kerry. That one is a non-issue.

Chris Matthews (who I used to respect as an admittedly biased but ususally fair journalist) had a hissy fit on this issue tonight on his show Hardball. He was outraged that GW "joked " about the whereabouts of Saddam's WMD's (which Clinton, the Dems, the UN, and goverments worldwide admit Saddam possesed). Chris was shocked that GW would make light of the fact that they they have not yet been found (in pictures of him conducting personal searches of the Oval office).

If it were Clinton in this position, Matthews would have declared Bill to be the universal master of relating to the "American People" on a level they could understand and even chuckle at. But since his personal biases have taken over, Chris considers GW's successful attempt at humor to be an outrageous lapse in judgement.

I have just one question remaining for the now defunct objective journalist named Chris Matthews- Exactly where are the WMD's that the entire world agreed Saddam had not accounted for? They are clearly not in GW's Oval office. Are they in yours Chrissy? Please make me feel safer Mr. Matthews!

This is an annual event and supposed to be humorous. The difference between Bush and some of his critics is that he can laugh at himself instead of others. I think it would have been funnier if he were crawling around looking for Osama instead of WMD...but then I'm not a comedy writer. President Clinton did a skit about being a lame duck president...and it was really funny and enjoyable. About time Washington lightened up...election year or not.

I have to agree with overland here. People are just waaaaay to uptight, come on hes was making a joke at HIS expense. Kerry should just calm and shouldn't get his panties in a bunch.

I don't think Bush's comments were inappropriate. I think the White House correspondent's dinner is a time for people to be funny, loosen up, and poke fun at themselves. Being able to make fun of yourself is a great, disarming quality. One of the few speeches of Bush's that I enjoy is a past WH correspondent's dinner speech where he jokes about his Bushisms. I think the WMDs are fair game for humor like this: it is not like he joked about soldiers dying.

In election year politics, criticizing the speech would be fair game. But that criticism would also be uptight, humorless, overreacting and likely to backfire. It doesn't sound entirely out of character for Kerry, but I doubt Kerry said anything. As others have pointed out, the only evidence of any comments is on Drudge. Sadly, this story will probably enter the conventional wisdom now--one of those myths that spreads instantly and is near-impossible to stamp down.

i believe in the context in which he made the statement it was acceptable. he was poking fun at himself. he wasn't poking fun at the fact that weapons were not found. he wasn't disrespecting veterans or current military personnel either.

The war in Iraq is over. The search for WMD is over. Soon the resurgency will be over and become just the nagging terrorism that everyone accepted as part of life before 9/11.

Did Bush finally make a joke? Eh, who cares.

It's over. He got what he wanted. Saddam is out.

Everything else is irrelevant. To Bush.

Maybe not to others, like a recently deployed reservist I know and his family. He's out there protecting my right to post to forums like this. Is joking about Iraq in poor taste?

Only if you are the president who started this mess.

No but wait! Clinton thought Iraq had WMD too!

Uh-huh. And he's such a reliable source.

Here's a joke: four more years of Bush & Co. It's over.

But it's definitely NOT over for my reservist friend. Nor is it anywhere near over for many families still involved with Iraq. The smug mug Bush is about to retire.

Maybe he'll write a memoir. I can imagine it being 20 pages long with lots of drawings.

And maybe then he can make a joke about being unemployed.

The joke is completely inappropriate. If Kerry reacted, then yep, that's appropriate. I can imagine him stringing several popular expletives together. I've been doing that for some time now, and that is appropriate as well.

I don't know and don't care if Bush actually made a joke regarding Iraq. I don't know and don't care if Kerry responded.

I do know and do care that my reservist friend is heading north from Kuwait into Iraq as I write. It's not a joking matter.

I appreciate a sense of humor, and like the idea of someone who can joke about their own shortcomings. Joking is one thing, but making light of his reason for starting a war may be a bit over the top. I can say that if I were in the military, I would be a bit upset that my Commander In Chief was joking about the very reason he told me I was going to risk my life, but maybe that's just me.

Joking about his Bushisms, knowing world leader's names, etc. is all good stuff to joke about. Joking about his motivation for a war is a bit too much to stomach for me.

Was this joke completely inappropriate or did Kerry overeact?

That was the funniest thing I have seen in a long time! I can count on one hand the number of times I have actually said I like him that was one of them! The joke that really blew my socks off was the reference to the secret hand signal of Skull and Crossbones! Was it me or did anyones else notice the Three Stooges hand gesture! I find it hard to believe that Kerry would be offended by Bush's comments so until I hear it from couple more sources or better yet the horses mouth, I'll call such criticisms politics as usual in the good old USA. I just remembered Rumsfields favorite show is "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy"!

Bush is generally very good at making fun of himself and has a great sense of humor. Anyone remember his bit on the Letterman show when he did the top ten. Very funny.
Cracking jokes about why he started a war is not funny (I don't forget Saddam's part in this either).
IMO anyone who finds humor in such a thing is a very disturbed individual. People died because of those WMDs and many were children who had NO part in anything to do with the war. Many more will die because of them. Go tell the parent of the dead why it was so REMOVED PROFANITY LOOK-ALIKE hilarious. Try the parents of a few of our soldiers. That anyone would laugh at that is disgusting and honestly I would have to be restrained if someone were to laugh at it in front of me and then tell me to lighten up.
Hey I got a great one about the nazi the jew and the bathhouse, wanna hear it


Edited to remove the obscenities

I'm trying and failing to think of a way Bush could have made this joke that wouldn't offend me.

Now, I'm not of the opinion Bush "lied" about intelligance, but if I had soldiers killed because I of something I did that was questionably my fault (like, say, stopped to take a leak on patrol and my guys got shot at) I wouldn't be lampooning it no matter what. Would it be funny? Possibly. Would I, as a third person, laugh at a similar situation? Yes. But I think making the joke myself would be in bad taste and disrespectful to the peole who lost their lives while I was responsible for them.

I still haven't found anything to confirm or deny that Kerry reacted to Bush's joke, but some other Democrats have piped up - story here.



I would generally agree with Amlord about these dinners but... I think that election year dinners are a little bit different. Presidents should pay particular attention to what they say because it can and will be used against them. Whether or not that is successful is another story.

Some level of discretion should be used when these jokes are written. For example, I think that everyone here, regardless of party affiliation would agree that a joke about 9/11 would have been inappropriate.

Similarly I think the joke about WMD was inappropriate because of the loss of life involved. Look at it from the perspective of the family of a deceased soldier. Would you think it was funny that Bush was joking about this when your son/daughter/husband/wife died trying to find these WMD?

Bush would have been much better served not poking fun at the issues, but rather directly at himself and his mannerisms. I think that everyone would have found that much more humorous and there really isn't anywhere Democrats could have gone with it because we all know his mannerisms.

I find it ridiculous that some people think the joke is funny that the President made about the WMD. Try showing that clip to the soldiers in Iraq or to the family members of dead soldiers in Iraq. Its sickeneing that most people find this funny. Folks, PEOPLE DIED BELIEVING SADDAM HAS WMD. Yeah, the President was trying to be funny, but pick another subject to joke about.

Unbelievable that we feel we can joke about life or death situations. Somehow, I feel the President and those of you who feel this was funny would not be making these comments if you were standing in front of the soldiers in Iraq and the soldiers who lost close friends in battle.

Pretty easy to make fun when you're not worrying about a bullet flying by your head.

Cube Jockey Posted on Mar 26 2004, 01:05 PM


Thank you so much for your tact in this statement. You made me feel a bit less of a heel (though a heel none the less) . I must be honest, I happened to catch the whole thing while channel surfing and I was rolling on the floor. I did pause w/the oval office search for WMD's and certainly respect the offense taken though I saw it more as a roast to his own stubborn insistence. I guess if I saw the whole Iraq thing as a recent issue w/o a load (years) of history and WMD's as the sole purpose and result of the war then I would have been offended. It is so much bigger for me. I guess the one joke did not rock my world, nor do all of the jokes make me more or less apt to vote for him. For a brief couple of min. he actually appeared human.

I just think it was a desperate act of poor comedy. I was unimpressed with the presentation quality of the slide show, his timing and the WMD reference. I wasn't wholely offended by the "searching in the Oval Office bit", it made me "yak" alittle, but I wouldn't go so far as too say he's being offensive; he's just got that macho redneck sense of humor that turns me off. Even though he didn't write the jokes, his delivery is what gets me... The whole thing just shows how ineffective he is as a public speaker compared to Clinton or Reagan.

Edited to add: Bush's sense of TACT is all but null, btw....

The opening of the speach he spoke about how he wanted to get the Fab 5 from Queer Eye For The Straight Guy to give Rumsfeld a make over. And this is the guy who wants a Constitutional ban on Gay marriage...

Geez, is it not possible to discuss anything here - even a "joke" about WMDs (which Clinton, the Dems, the UN, and governments worldwide admit Saddam possessed - and which the Bush administration lied about being an immediate threat) without injecting off-topic editorializing?

Personally, I think Bush (of all people) making "jokes" about something like the missing WMDs (which Clinton, the Dems, the UN, and governments worldwide admit Saddam possessed - and which the Bush administration lied about being an immediate threat) is in pretty poor taste, regardless of the venue. It's a bit like saying "We lied our way into this war and you swallowed it. Suckers!" Hilarious. On the other hand, I feel that the president making "jokes" about WMDs (which Clinton, the Dems, the UN, and governments worldwide admit Saddam possessed - and which the Bush administration lied about being an immediate threat) speaks for itself and requires no comment from John Kerry.

As it appears that Kerry didn't comment on Bush's "joke" about WMDs (which Clinton, the Dems, the UN, and governments worldwide admit Saddam possessed - and which the Bush administration lied about being an immediate threat), this looks like yet another Drudge-inspired non-story.

But it's a good excuse for some to reiterate, yet again, spurious points they've made about the missing WMDs (which Clinton, the Dems, the UN, and governments worldwide admit Saddam possessed - and which the Bush administration lied about being an immediate threat) for the umpteenth time.

Hmmm, lets look at it this way? What can the President joke about?

Economy? Nope, people would bash him for being insensitive for those with out a job
OBL? Not a chance! People would bash him for a. the Iraq War, b. for the 3000 lives lost on 9/11, c. For “not doing anything before the attack”
Education? Nope, No child left behind not being fully funded
Gay Marriage? Someone has already bashed him for that joke!
Abortion? Yea… right..

What else? What else can a president joke about? His bushisims? He did that already. Corporate scandals? Give me a break, You can choose anything or everything that his administration has done (or for those have not done) and someone will bash him.

Was the joke poor taste? Nope, not at all.
Would a reaction from the Kerry camp be called for? I would expect it from them, but I wouldn’t heed any concern over what they may or have said.
It was a joke, some people don’t like jokes, some people don’t like Bush, some people don’t like Bush giving jokes. Some people just need something to complain about and go BOO!

I'll have to go back and look, but I'd be willing to bet that some of the same folks who were shocked and awed in their righteous indignation over some profanity on John Kerry's website see nothing at all vulgar about President Bush making jokes about not finding the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

Lighten up, people are saying. It's just a joke for heaven's sake. Can't the prez tell a joke or two?

Well, actually NO he can't and no he shouldn't when the butt of the joke are the 590 dead and 3362 wounded American soldiers who were killed and maimed playing Dubya's shell game.

Haw. Haw. Yeah, Dubya is a funny dude. About as funny as prostate cancer. Reminds me of what they say about being silent and to be thought of as a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.

Hey George, have another pretzel.

I saw snippets of the Bush "speech" and what I saw was hilarious. That said, I've only heard about the "Where's the WMD" photos and jokes and think making light of that particular issue is classless. I am very disappointed in him for making fun of something so serious.

Bush Jokes at Dinner

I miss the point....why is it okay for everyone else to joke about Bush and WMD but not Bush? See one of the jokes and refer to the link below for some more. Sheeeesh! A bunch of crabs that Washington group is!



http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/bliraqwmdjokes.htm

I would agree with all of AD'ers saying that these jokes about the missing WMD's were very inappropriate. With that said there is many things that he could of made fun of like the joke about Rumsfeld or what have you. But making fun of the main reason for going to war with Iraq being WMD and not being able to find them like some have said is not right when people have died because of this war. Hmmm why doesn't he do those jokes in front of all the families of dead or wounded soldiers see how much laughter he gets.

Well I was one and I found them funny.

So did most of the members of my reserve unit that spent 6 months over there.

I'll say it again, lighten up folks. It was a joke as his expense. It was not editorial comment, a slap in the face to me or others who served, or a nah nah nah nah nah moment, it was simply a joke.

Thanks Overlandsailor! As a soldier who was there, your reaction to GW's comments is infinitely more informative than an ocean of crocodile tears from partisan hacks.

If I recall, the President was the one who sent troops to RISK THEIR LIVES to find these weapons of mass destruction. Let the President tell that joke to the troops in harms way in their face and see what kind of reception he gets. Can you honestly tell me they will be laughing? Don't think so!

If a child molestor joked about his crime, I wouldn't find that funny. This is the same thing. People make jokes about Michael Jackson and little boys. I think their funny. If MJ joked about the same thing, I would be appalled. Comedians are allowed to take things lightly and are actually paid to joke about serious issues. The President, on the other hand, is supposed to lead our nation through intelligent decision making, not lie (or be misinformed), send troops into harms way, and then joke about it later.


I don't care who the president had been during this ordeal or what political party he belonged to, if he made the same decisions and then turned around and made that joke, I would think it in poor taste.

With all due respect, Overlandsailor, you do not speak for all of the military or their families.

This from the fiance of one of your fellow soldiers who was there:

It was totally insensitive coming from 'Bring it on' Bush but no one ever accused him of being sensitive. Or, for that matter, compassionate. Let's see him use it in one of his campaign commercials. If he feel's it's so appropriate let's see him use it to lighten the mood when he meets the families of the fallen (not that he often does). No matter...they've all seen it by now anyway. The joke was at their expense, not his, whether or not he meant it that way.
How's this:
War on Iraq
U.S. death toll: hundreds of Americans, thousands of Iraqis.
Cost: untold billions
Bush's standup routine: priceless

Here is what is difficult for me to understand. Why are the jokes about Bush/WMD told on the Leno, Lettermen, Saturday Night Live, etc. shows less offensive? Oh, maybe you think it's funny when the joke is directed at Bush, but it is offensive if Bush responds with a skit showing he is a good sport and can laugh along with you regardless that he is the butt of the joke.

No matter how you slice it folks...if you are offended at Bush's skit then you should be just as offended at WMD/Bush jokes told on the various late night/comedy shows....regardless of what format or who is telling them, it doesn't change the facts or figures on the death tolls or cost. If you are offended, at the skit then I highly recommend you write or call the various TV stations sponsoring the late night shows/comedians and tell them their jokes about WMD and Bush are offensive and disrespectful to the victims and families of the Iraq war.

I didn't think it was funny. The tone was one of disgust, not humor.

Appropriate or not it doesnt matter. What matters is that its getting media play and will add a little more fuel to the sense that the Bush team is making many silly mistakes going into the election. Hope it continues to be honest.

Okay would it be alright for Clinton during the Monica scandal and impeachment trial to go before an audience and before television cameras and pull out a cigar and mockingly search himself for a light only to say into the mike "where's Monica when you need her?"????? What Bush did was a million times more insensitive and vulgar. Its okay because people at the banquet laughed??? I was once in a room where a guy said whats the difference between a Jew and a pizza??? Pizzas dont cry when you put them in the oven. People laughed at that...so is it kosher to say that? is it okay? Of course it isnt especially not in public.

This is even more heinous then say if Michael Jackson went before an audience and on television and said......Yeah I went to kids gap this week....I heard all childrens clothes were half off.

Bush cannot joke about it because he led a nation into a war where 500 plus have died and hundreds of billions have been spent and we have tarnished America in the eyes of allies. No it is not okay to just be.....I thought they were there but their not oh well. You cannot bring the nation into a panic and pull us into a war on a premise and then be "oh well guess I missed that one" when that premise turns out to be false. That is ludicrous. It is offensive to the extreme.

I saw it in its context for all you Ed Gillespie zombies and it was not appropriate in the slightest.

I think he should give a national apology.

Do I think Bush meant to mock those that have fallen?? of course not but that is exactly what he did. I cannot believe anyone can support that. That is nothing to joke about.

But when a comedian mocks someone, they are doing their job. Jay Leno is supposed to mock Bush. David Letterman is supposed to mock Bush. Bush can make fun of himself, I have no problem with that (I actually respect it). But joking about his reason for declaring war and causing many, many deaths is not something he should be doing. It's a funny skit. If it were on SNL or Mad TV I would think it's funny. But for him to joke about it is disgraceful. I don't think it makes him a good sport to joke about something as serious as the WMD claim that he made. He still will not admit that he lied about it, he still claims that Iraq was a serious threat, but he can joke about it at the same time?!? Take your GOP issued blinders off and look at the situation...

The only partisan hacks I see are those that support Bush blindly, even when they know if a Democrat made a similar joke they would be up in arms about it. I am glad Overlandsailor was not personally offended by Bush's 'joke' about WMD. But can you not understand that a lot of people would be?!? I don't like Dubya. I wouldn't care if he were Republican, Democrat, Green, Independent, or anything else. He is a moron, a poor leader, a divider, a hypocrite, a war monger, and someone I wouldn't want to know, let alone follow.

I never said I spoke for ALL military personnel or their families. I spoke for myself, my family, and those I have heard from about this who are in my unit.

When someone says that making a joke about WMDs is insensitive to the personnel over their and their families at home I don't understand why it is OK for some (late night guys and the like) but not Bush.

If the joke is so insensitive then why is it only insensitive when it comes from Bush?

If it is an affront to military personnel and their families then why is it not an affront to us when it comes from Leno, Letterman and the like?

It doesn't matter if it is their job to make jokes. If they told any of the racist jokes of the 40s and 50s it would be considered insensitive and they would catch heck, regardless of their professional status as a comedian. If jokes like this are insensitive, then that should apply to all.

Gad, Bush actually did this thing and some people don't care. Or find it amusing.

I guess war really has become a non-event. I guess things in Iraq are so under control that we can relax. Seems that the war on terror has been won.

All right, fine. Seems I can stop worrying about our troops in Iraq. Ha ha, no WMD. Who could have known?

Besides, I've got no flesh in that situation except for a fellow computer geek driving trucks that-a-way. It's not like a son or daughter, husband or wife.

I'm certainly not worried about Iraq itself. The imminent danger is gone. Except maybe for those road-side bombs. Hey, let's make jokes about that! What did the truck-driving reservist say after getting blown up? "I'm just beside myself."

Ha ha.

Oh, but Bush never said that "Iraq is an imminent danger." Or if he did, the great speaker for the PNAC, William Jefferson Clinton, did as well. Okay, fine. We went to war to make Iraq a better place then.

I'm thrilled to the point of tossing up breakfast.

Get it? It's a real funny situation in an existentially absurd way. The self-declared war-time President can't find WMD. Har har. Just look at him! A sad little man in a sad little situation among a bunch of sad little people, uproariously chortling over the buffoonery.

Where in the world *are* those WMD?

It was a joke folks, a joke...The man was making fun of himself. I knew immediately after he said it that some of the media [the Democrat friendly part, Chris Matthews, CNN, etc.] would "flip out". George Bush was poking fun at the shortcomings of his administration, if the PC police are going to come after him then so be it...But the fact is is that it was self deprecation, maybe Clinton should've tried it. But then again, I'm CP, not PC.

CP

First of all, He is the President of the United States not Jay Leno. Like it or not, he is held to a different standard. Just think if a little child ask their mother why our commander in chief is joking about something that he believes is funny considering he sent that child's daddy in harm's way. Do you think the little child will laugh at that joke not knowing if they are going to see their daddy again??

OS,

For one simple reason. He is the Commander in Chief.

"HE" is THE person responsible for placing American men and women in harms way. He made a decision based on intelligence that indicated Iraq had WMD and was a gathering threat. Unfortunately, we have found no WMD. We have lost brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers in a hunt for non-existent WMD.

By making a joke of the "hunt for WMD" he trivialized the loss of life and the sacrifices our men and women are making over there currently.

I have believed in and supported Bush in the war on terror to include the war in Iraq. But, this was beneath him. The bar is raised for him on every issue and he does a darn good job of rising up to the challenges presented to him.

It is disheartening to see him lower the bar on himself. The joke, coming from the mouth of the President of the United States of America, was tasteless and I expect more of President Bush.

No matter how you try to split hairs...if comedians are doing their jobs in providing their audience (here and abroad) with laughs at our President's expense about WMD not being found and the majority think it is not offensive to the victims and families then lighten up and give the same consideration to the President's logic when he takes the jokes about himself in good humor. Bush, just as our array of comedians, is not joking about the reasons for going to war, but that the search for WMD is still on and why in the skit, Bush is looking under his desk, etc.


Gloom and doom ...Gloom and doom. ......Gloom and doom... has gone on long enough....and one thing for certain....it didn't win some other candidates running for President (McGovern and Mondale to name a couple) the keys to the White House with the American voters.

Compared to other issues on our plates....this skit is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things and was not done with the intent to offend or disrespect anyone.

Edited to add: Although I am not offended by jokes about WMD whether it be from our late night show hosts/comedians or Bush making fun of himself in the search of WMD...I do think jokes period about WMD are in poor taste.

How do you know the majority don't find it offensive?

I'm not sure why there is so much focus on the reactions of those seeing active duty in Iraq. As a tax-payer who is financially supporting this illegal war and as a citizen with some friends risking their lives in the conflict, I think my distaste is every bit as salient as is the approval of some veterans.

Those making distinctions between presidents and stand-up comedians have a very good point - the best being made by slim. Are jokes about Michael Jackson and pedophilia funny? They can be. Would they be funny if Michael Jackson were telling them? I wouldn't think so. And, for all we know, Michael Jackson is innocent. George W Bush is not. He got us into this illegal war under the false pretense that Hussein's WMD were posing an immediate threat. That lie is not a laughing matter, no matter how many people swallowed it nor how many are still defending it - not when the jokes are coming from the Liar-in-Chief.

I appreciate that many do not share my disgust - or the disgust of millions of my fellow Americans - over the president making light of the lie that got us into Iraq. But I would ask them to appreciate that some of us do not take illegal warfare - perpetrated in our name, with our money, using our sons and daughters as cannon fodder - lightly.

This is hardly the most pressing issue of the day, but Desert Resident makes a very good point as well: Bush's thigh-slapping sketch "was not done with the intent to offend or disrespect anyone". Quite right. It was done out of ignorance of what people might find offensive or disrespectful - or, worse perhaps, it was done by a man who doesn't care whether he is offensive or disrespectful. And that, to me, is an important point to consider in an election year.

Well...since this is an election year and some of our fellow citizens are in a gloom and doom mode, I will give them the benefit of the doubt of being able to laugh out one side of their mouth but not the other. Geeeeeezzzzzzzzzzzz,


Leno, Letterman, and all you other distinguished comedians, keep filling the airwaves with those hysterical jokes about Bush and WMD because if that's what it's going to take to finally put smiles on the faces of our gloom and doom critics then I am all for it. In the meantime, I'll wire President Bush and advise him that IMO his skit would have been more humorous if he were instead crawling through tunnels looking for OSAMA and Deputy #2 rather looking under desks and in closets for WMD.

Folks....as I said before....in the grand scheme of things that skit is irrelevant and really the Bush critics have much more on their plates to be ingested than a ten minute slide show!

I for one do not think the lack of WMD's is humorous no matter who makes the joke. Jay Leno or Dennis Miller may see it as funny but I never have.

When someone like Kucinich makes a comment about Bush looking for WMD's on Mars he isn't attempting to be funny or make light of the situation, on the contrary. He's being very serious and conveying scorn, anger, and righteous indignation.

He and millions of others who were opposed to this war, who never believed there was a threat, deserve accountability, humility, and an explanation from Bush. Instead he laughs in our faces after being proven wrong. Kucinich says those things to underline the fact that it's NOT alright that weapons were not found. What was Bush trying to say? Just one year ago he was using the WMD's to instill fear and justify war...today he's using them as stand up material. And people have died over his error in judgement on the matter. So please pardon the completely appropriate gloom and doom.

Some have tried to justify it by saying he was making the jokes at his own expense. I disagree. If that had been the case he would have used something personal...not something that resulted in diminishing American credibility, respect, and goodwill in the world.

He has plenty of other material. I actually like him better when he jokes about is inability to speak properly. He could have made fun of his past with drugs and alcohol or how he was constantly having to be bailed out of his failed business ventures. Or how his macho Texas cowboy persona is little more than a sham, in fact, he's too afraid of horses to even ride. Those things I could have laughed about and it would have been equal to the kind of 'humor' people like Jon Stewart and other's have made at his expense.

I'm curious how a team of PR people could come up with this, and think it was a good idea. Bush needs new writers. IMO, it wasn't appropriate.

I'm not big on the double standard argument, but I have to admit this is a good point. Though it is a little different in my eyes because I do not believe that lies were told to get us into Iraq, though that is for another topic.

Thanks for that example Wertz, I can no understand why some people would take offense to this. It is not so much whether or not you are applying partisanship, but rather whether or not you believe that Bush and the White House lied to get us into Iraq.

Since I don't feel that way, I didn't see that side of it.

So, I stand corrected. I admit, in light of this example it is reasonable for people to take offense to this joke. And, in light of the fact that there are still many unanswered questions as well as many who believe lies we told, it was a mistake for the President to tell such a joke.

Wonder where his campaign handlers where on this one.

Thanks for the different perspective. After reading your example, many of the posts by others in this thread started to make more sense to me.

Umm, yeah, you obviously missed my reaction. Seems it's more "informative" when someone agrees with you, soldier or not be darned.

The only thing I hate more than the deaths of my friends and soldiers being politicised is their deaths being lampooned.

On the other hand, I was really getting sick of the dems whining and was honestly thinking of voting for Bush.

There is a larger war being waged which is one step up from America and Bush's response to islamofascist attacks; it is the worldwide war being waged by leftists and their cohort the islamofascists against the civilized, technological, democratic and mostly conservative western civilizations. Leftist plotters and their failed schemes to have a one-world anthill society have never gone away, and their tactics are every bit as murderous in many countries as the terrorist's bombs and hijacked jets are.

In this light, Bush is constantly set upon by leftists and their dupes, and constantly placed in no-win, damned if you do and damned if you don't situations for their own gain. He is their target and he will never be able to say anything that they cannot use or twist or parody for their own gain. The core hypocrisy of the left shows itself constantly, while fronting themselves as the "Party of the People" and guardians of the "common man," they are are as bigoted as the far right if not more so. They mocked Arnold Schwarzenegger's accent and his citizenship status and this same hypocritical mindset mocks George Bush's Texas accent and manner of speaking. In doing this they are secret bigots and hypocrites. And, of course, any time George Bush waxes funny or attempts humor, these same hypocrites hold him up to their microscopes and look for ways to assassinate his character, or, at the very least, whine about him.

I am very glad to see Bush has a sense of humor, and can joke at his own expense. I have always admired him as a man who means what he says and says what he means, unlike the stammering and rationalizations of the left. The whiners will always find something to whine about, and look for a chance to act offended.

And so the war rages on, and Bush is yet again placed in a damned if you do damned if you don't situation over his WMD joke. The fact of the matter is that Bush acted on the best available intelligence at the time as to declarations of the threats of WMD. Since they haven't turned up, he has been labeled a liar, no matter that he was acting on less than accurate intelligence (several other countries and the UN agreed with this WMD assumption made from that intelligence). And the left has seized this issue and, as ever, they will beat it to death. Ten years from now they will find new ways to introduce it and whine about it. In the face of this unending attack, Bush is essentially saying that all he can do at times is throw up his hands and joke about it. And frankly I am laughing with him, because the endless whining from the left, and their endless character assassinations, are as transparent and laughable as a two-year-old's.

I though Clinton's "movie" on how he trashed the White House before getting kicked out was despicable. But the left, with their situational ethics, laughed right along with him. So get over it.