Byron York’s take on Saturday night’s White House Correspondents’ Dinner is well worth a read.
Even if you caught only a snippet or two of it, your impression is likely to be to wonder if it was a sick, really bad joke (and, by the way, let us recall some of their “comic idol” Alec Baldwin’s “great moments”…his psychotic, furious, menacing fits toward reporters covering his irrational behavior…or his drunken rant about his daughter; in that regard read this, Baldwin memorable rants …
This morning on CNN, the irrepressible Chris Cuomo commented, very sadly, that he could not understand what President Trump thought could be gained from his “war on the press”
Chris, I think I know. The more exposure the members of the press get, the better the overwhelming number of Americans see what a self-congratulating, overbearing, hypocritical bunch of ordinary American-hating fools they are. DLH
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Byron York: Piety and Trump-bashing: The sheer awfulness of the White House Correspondents’ dinner (excerpt)
In the hour before the White House Correspondents’ Association dinnerbegan at what used to be called the “Hinckley Hilton” in Washington, I asked attendees — journalists, politicians, opinion-makers, advertising & PR types — what they expected of an evening without the president.
“Happier than I’ve been in 20 years,” said one veteran, who happens to be a faithful Democrat.
“Why?”
“Because Hollywood isn’t here. Much nicer without Hollywood.”
Indeed, unlike many other years, it was possible to walk around freely without encountering scrums of people and camera crews, cheek-by-jowl, jamming hallways as they struggled to get a look at, say, Jenna Dewan or Kendall Jenner.
A businessman — an outside-the-Beltway ad man who serviced Washington-based publications — was unhappy for the same reason the veteran was happy. He wanted to see celebrities. “But I did see Woodward and Bernstein,” he told me, brightening a bit.
A few minutes later, a filmmaker fretted about Hasan Minhaj, the Comedy Central performer who was to be the night’s entertainment. Minhaj, referred to widely as a “Muslim comedian,” was expected to slam Trump on not just Muslim issues but everything else. “I’m worried he’s going to be mean-spirited, just go after everyone,” the filmmaker said.
A prominent writer who walked up had a different take. “This is going to be the most pious ever,” he said. Among the WHCA officials who ran the event, he explained, there would be piety for freedom of the press, for the First Amendment, and for the commitment and dedication they themselves display every day. Among the the entertainment — Minhaj — there would pious lesson-teaching about the evils of seeing Muslims and immigrants as “others.” Piety all around.
As it turned out, the writer-filmmaker team won the night’s prediction game. Just as the writer predicted, the media self-regard on display at the Hinckley Hilton Saturday was of a degree seldom, if ever, equaled at traditional Washington events — and that is saying something. And Minhaj did indeed take his opportunity to teach those assembled about the dangers of discrimination. On the other hand, the filmmaker correctly foresaw the sheer, unfiltered, nastiness — directed not just at Trump but also at top members of his administration — that Minhaj delivered along with his lessons.
Bottom line: The White House Correspondents’ dinner, the premier event of the Washington press corps, was two hours of mawkish self-celebration followed by 30 minutes of Trump-bashing.
Read the rest of the report about the car wreck here.
