One of the funny things of the whole speech had nothing to do with WHAT she said.
Each time she made a joke, she would look over to Pres. Bush for approval. Like, is that OK, or should I stop now. He'd give her this look (each time it was a slightly different look, but the TV only caught a few of them) which also were hilarious.
It was very much like a roast, where what you say is judged by the effect on the one being roasted. A self-deprecating speech BY PROXY, letting his wife do the deed.
I'm not going to chastise people who were offended by some of the jokes, although I will say that you had to have your mind in a certain place in order to BE OFFENDED, because she didn't use the words that are being used here to DESCRIBE her jokes.
I imagine that some people expected to see a president make fun of himself in a classy way, and could have been offended by the first lady. I don't think we should be intolerant of those who were disturbed by jokes that in fact could be considered offensive.
I think that people who call the First Lady crude names for being crude are a bit hypocritical. So I guess I'm drawing the line between those who were dissappointed in her (I wasn't, but I understand why they could be), and those who have called the wrath of something down on her.
I believe that a lot of the rabid talk against her HAS been instigated by the left. You could trace it from the fake FVC web site post (officially the FVC found nothing wrong with the speech), and to David Corn's mock outrage (I can't imagine ANYTHING would really shock that boy).
Meanwhile, both I and my wife enjoyed the speech as a whole, glancing at each other ONLY on the horse joke, but more like "ewww" than real disgust. If my wife can see the humor, I think we are OK.
Good post, Charles.
It's been explained and explained to the "holier than thou" contingent and they are just too offended to get it:
1) It was a ROAST!
2) The horse joke had nothing sexual about it. It was a "city slicker/country folk" joke.
3) By making these jokes, Mrs. Bush was actually poking fun at the media, by playing into their stereotypes of Republicans.
I'd bet you $100.00 that none of them have even seen Desperate Housewives. It's a soap opera, no more, no less. I wouldn't let kids watch, but then I wouldn't let them watch a show like 24, either. Desperate Housewives is entertaining because these are fictional characters. Take it or leave it, but the joke is in the absurdity of it all, that and the hiliarious mental picture of a bunch of high profile Republicans and Supreme Court justices at a Chippendales show!
It's usually the most hypocritical that see a sexual element in something that most normal people do not! I'd be embarassed to post that I thought that joke was about horse masturbation. Michelle Malking made a fool of herself with that comment!