Wanda Sykes OVER THE TOP comedy routine at last Saturday’s White House Correspondent’s Association Dinner.

So, was Wanda Syke’s routine inappropriate?

I’ve been to the White House Correspondents Dinner. And, if history is any judge, then comedians asked to perform there seem to do best when they joke with gentle jibes rather than go for the jugular. Someone should have reminded Wanda Sykes about that before tonight. Because not since Don Imus roughed up Bill Clinton at the annual event has a comedian been so mean-spirited. Certainly, Stephen Colbert wasn’t to George W Bush. But, unlike Imus or Colbert, Wanda Sykes didn’t lay a glove on the sitting president Barack Obama. Instead, she reserved her barbs for people who weren’t there: Dubya, John McCain, Dick Cheney, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. I’m not saying pols and media don’t deserve to have the piss taken out of them. But even watching the WHCA dinner on television, viewers saw the room grew very quiet and then erupt as Sykes seemed to cross the line with what was more harsh partisanship than funny comedy. At one point, the C-SPAN cameras caught Fox News commentator Glenn Beck sitting stone-faced after Sykes had singled out one conservative after another for her insults. Even Obama seemed to look uncomfortable at times. Of course, the WHCA had to know what they were getting since Sykes has gone on late night television being just as outspoken. Which is why, when she was announced as the performer, I wondered why the journalists had chosen her unless they wanted her to cause controversy, which she certainly did tonight.

Flap thought 9/11 jokes were off-limits? But, wait it is the big bad conservative Rush Limbaugh.

Other key jokes, or left-wing unhinged commentary rammed down the throats of the attendees:

George W. Bush:

“I gotta say, he broke a lot of stuff. You thought you were moving into a new home, and you’ve got a fixer-upper. And there are a lot of things that need to be fixed.”  About the criticism Obama received from animal rights activists concerning his choice of a pedigreed pup,” Sykes said, “The man has to rescue a country that’s been abused by its previous owner. Let him have a dog.”

Dick Cheney:

“Oh my god, that’s a scary man. Scares me to death. I tell my kids if two cars pull up, and one has a stranger, and the other car has Dick Cheney, you get in the car with the stranger.” And she criticized the former VP for “trying to defend torture”.

Rush Limbaugh:

Rush Limbaugh said he hopes this administration fails. That’s like saying, ‘I hope America fails.’ Or that ‘I dont care if people are losing their homes, their jobs, our soldiers in Iraq.’ He just wants the country to fail. To me, that’s treason. He’s not saying anything differently than what Osama Bin Laden is saying.” Then, turning to the president, Sykes added, “You might want to look into this, sir. Because I think maybe he was the 20th hijacker. But he was just so strung out on Oxycontin that he missed his flight.”

Realizing she shocked the crowd with that remark, she said, “Too much? But you’re laughing on the inside…”

But she wasn’t done. “Rush Limbaugh [says] ‘I hope the country fails.” I hope his kidneys fail. How about that? He needs some waterboarding, that’s what he needs.”

Sean Hannity:

Sykes noted that the Fox News commentator has offered to be waterboarded for charity. “Let Keith Olbermann waterboard him. He can”t take a waterboarding. I can break Sean Hannity just by giving him a middle seat in coach.”

Sarah Palin:

In a not-so-veiled reference to teenage daughter Bristol Palin’s out-of-wedlock pregnancy, Sykes said of Sarah Palin’s “early pull out” of the dinner, “Somebody should tell her that’s not really how you practice abstinence.”

Todd Palin and most of the guests at his table fell silent while other diners gasped and laughed.

Fun is fun and light-hearted comedic jabbing at POLS is fair game. But, an unclassy act from the LEFT will guarantee that next year few POLS from the RIGHT will attend.

But, we have seen this type of conduct from Sykes before in the gay marriage fight here in California. The White House obviously knew what they were getting with Sykes.

Now, they need to accept the responsibility and cut out the crap.

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