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My Thoughts on the White House Correspondents Dinner 2018

Michelle Wolf; she is someone who has worked more in a behind the scenes capacity on late night television than in any sort of primary role on shows.  She is a comedian who is beginning to come to the forefront and who has her own Netflix show coming out at the end of May, 2018.  She has done an HBO special as well.  She isn't the typical household name, but is recognizable to most people who are at least in some manner connected to the world around them; if not recognized by name, most recognize her when they see her.   

I am going to start this Blog by saying, "What exactly did everyone expect this speech to be?"  I mean, we look historically at the Comedians who have given speeches at the White House Correspondents Dinner in the past, and most of them drove the dagger deep throughout their speeches. 

What we have seen in the aftermath of Michelle's speech is a mixed bag of support and denigration of her character.  Michelle is a comedian; a person who tells jokes and utilizes freedom of speech on a very regular basis to make people laugh and to drive points home.  She did just that at the dinner; although not to the liking of some.  The jokes about Sanders went too far...really?  The abortion jokes were tasteless...as opposed to tasteful?

Michelle entered that dinner to give a speech during which she was not expecting to win over the room.  She was there to drive a dagger into the administration and make some strong points, and she did, at some times with shock and awe.  Why?  Because that's what comedians do, and because she knew that riding the edge would lead to tons of coverage in the media in the weeks approaching her new show release on Netflix.  News, no matter negative or positive, drives the recognition and drives people to watch what you want them to watch.  She isn't an idiot; in fact she's very intelligent. 

I have weeded through all of the tweets and comments that have come flowing through all social media platforms since the dinner, and the one that hit me the hardest was the following, and I will leave the source unnamed because that isn't as important as the message: "When did it become okay to be more offended by what someone with no power says than by what someone with power does?"

That comment hit me fairly hard when I read it.  Yes, two wrongs don't make a right...whatever.  The funny thing is that if Michelle would have stood on that stage for 20 minutes and only bashed the left, she would have been praised by the right for speaking the truth.  Interestingly enough, most of what she said was the truth.  Sanders stands up in front of the nation on a daily basis standing behind the lies of the President.  The media knows it, she knows it, and anyone with a brain knows it.  But Michelle went too far...not at all. 

These people have chosen the beds they lie upon (Pun Intended), and Sanders should have expected and accepted any jokes thrown her way.  Too personal, I don't think so.  All we have to do is look at the President himself to see that there really isn't a line to be crossed.  Look at his twitter rants calling out specific people and applying horrible nick names to them.  Look at the vitriol he spreads on social media, much of which is unfounded and false information.  Look at the horrible things he has said during speeches; denigrating people and cultures.  Remember the Nazi Rally?  There were good people on both sides?  Show me the good people who were marching with TIKI Torches spewing hate speech.  This President feels women are inferior.  He feels he can do anything he wants to and not get in trouble.  Grab em' by the $$$$$!  Oh, and don't forget going backstage and watching the models as they changed during his pageants. Thousands of lies and counting, numerous sexual harassment allegations, a Special Counsel Investigation that is coming closer and closer to the President's front door, and we are worried about what Michelle said at the Correspondents Dinner?  I find this all laughable to say the least.

Why don't we concentrate on the person in power who chooses to do and say bad things and pay a bit less attention to the person with no power who told some jokes that made some people uncomfortable?  This administration is broken, and the President's base doesn't seem to care.  This administration is off the rails, and many people just say it's great because he isn't the typical President.  No, he isn't.  He is a narcissist who wants to be an autocrat, and who looks up to and has verbalized praise for other autocrats in this world on numerous occasions.  Why in the hell is Michelle's speech more of a news story than the true events going on in Washington every day; events that you could write in a fiction novel that wouldn't sell because it would be too over the top and unrealistic.  This, unfortunately has become our reality, and I am sick of it. 

I am not a Democrat or a Republican.  I am an Independent, and I don't understand how anyone can stand behind this President at this point.  Be a Republican.  You can still be a Republican but disagree with the President and what he stands for. 

Michelle, I praise you for getting up and laying it all out during that dinner.  It isn't easy to do, but you did it, and you are standing behind it now.  Were some of your jokes off-color?...of course, but as stated prior, most of what was said was the truth, which should be more concerning to everyone than an abortion joke and making fun of Sanders' makeup. 

I look forward to watching Michelle's show on Netflix at the end of May.  Moral of the story...SHE'S A COMEDIAN!!!!!  This is what comedians do!!! Had our previous President done or said even a fraction of what our current President has done and said, he would have been marched directly out of Washington.  Why are we letting this happen?  Why are we letting our President ruin our relationships around the world, destroy policy, and mismanage the greatest country on the planet?  Those are the things we should be talking about...not an abortion joke and how it made a conservative feel dirty..

Stephen Dunkel

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