General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhat I don't get about the WHCD
don't they vet the comedian's monologue or routine before they allow him or her to get on the stage? if so how could they complain about it afterwards if it was already approved? or did Wolf go entirely off script?
MaryMagdaline
(6,856 posts)Huckabee was pouting all night. She knew what was coming. MW said on PBS today that SHS never smiled and never stood up to clap for recipients of the awards.
lame54
(35,321 posts)How many times do you have to touch a hot stove
unblock
(52,317 posts)jberryhill
(62,444 posts)"Hey, guys, let's have a dinner to celebrate the First Amendment, and make sure all of the speakers submit their comments in advance for approval."
Ummmmmmm.... no.
gyroscope
(1,443 posts)and now are crying about it?
free speech doesn't mean you can't vet for taste and appropriateness for the occasion.
EffieBlack
(14,249 posts)As she said, you should have done some research.
An organization I represented once hired a famous, very edgy comedian for a big event - I think theyd only seen him on network tv and hadnt bothered to check out his standup. Well, he came out and was about as raunchy, blue and un-pc as he could be. Lots of people were horrified.
Someone asked me afterward, Didnt you find him offensive? I sure did, I said. Why didnt you walk out?
I said, I would have, but I was laughing so hard, I couldnt get my shoes back on.
dalton99a
(81,570 posts)https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/04/sarah-huckabee-sanders-was-fair-game-for-michelle-wolfs-whcd-insults.html
For anyone who has ever watched a WHCD monologue, this stated mission may come as a surprise. The WHCA invites comedians to its annual black-tie dinner to make fun of the president, other politicians, and the press, not to champion civil discourse or fete a teen who won a scholarship. At last years event, headliner Hasan Minhaj joked that Jeff Sessions loves the n-word, that Betsy DeVos collects the tears of children, and that Steve Bannon is a literal Nazi. If the WHCA was unhappy in 2017 to receive the plaudits of viewers who were pleased to see someone express all the things self-serious journalists wont say, there was no statement issued to that effect.
The organizations tradition of getting a comedian to roast the current administration is not new. Its capitulation to trumped-up charges of bias from right-wing trolls, however, is. Anyone who claims right-wingers will use Wolfs monologue as a reason to rebuff the mainstream press is sadly deluded about the main reason why people mistrust journalists these days: Because facts are inconvenient to the self-serving narratives peddled by the GOP, which repeats ad nauseam, via Fox News and right-wing radio, that all other media outlets are telling lies.
There are good arguments to be made about the unseemliness of the WHCD in generalas a rule, journalists shouldnt be palling around with the political leaders they cover. The idea of TV news anchors in black-tie chortling over their surf n turf about some presidents endearing flub can be even harder to stomach under an administration that has posed unprecedented threats to democracy, peace, and human dignity. Watching politicians and journalists abandon their fundamentally antagonistic relationship for a night to congratulate themselves for inheriting some ancient concept of a robust, thriving free press does more to degrade trust in the media than Wolfs joke about Scott Pruitt ejaculating at the thought of a dying tree. ...
oberliner
(58,724 posts)Atman
(31,464 posts)Think about it; theyre milking the mean, intolerant lefties meme on every tv, radio, and web site. Their based is fired up! This was gold for them.