Some people simply cannot tell a joke!
What Obama intended was a humorous reference to Gov Palin's joke about putting lipstick on a pit bull/hockey mom. When you have a candidate with a natural knack for humor, it's tough to level the playing field when you're a candidate with none.
Her comment made the point that hockey moms have tenacity and the aggressive forcefulness associated with a pit bull. Once they sink their teeth into something, hockey moms don't let go.
What he said is that when you put lipstick on a pig ... much too long a pause ... it's still a pig.
The idea for the joke originated with someone with a sense of humor who thought it would be a funny come-back, but it isn't. That person is probably posting a resume on Monster.com today. What is surprising is that the normally serious Obama actually used the comment.
Perhaps that's why it's such a glaring oops: it's totally out of character for the candidate.
I would be offended with the allusion to the hockey mom joke I told because I would take the "pig" part personally. I'd be embarrassed if I were the one who made the comment and thought it was both appropriate and funny without realizing how sexist and demeaning it came across during delivery.
If I were Gov Palin, I'd be delighted to continue to use my sense of humor to resonate with voters at the rallies. If I were Senator Obama, I'd never tell another joke if I thought this one was appropriate for the international media to share!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I have to disagree with you on this one; "put lipstick on a pig and it's still just a pig" (and variants) is a very common turn of phrase, especially in the south and midwest. Now, the timing of that phrase may make it seem more awkward after Palin's comment last week, but it still a justifiable use of a common phrase to indicate that, even if you pretty up something that is inherently ugly, it is still ugly (be it a person, idea, or government plan, etc).
Post a Comment