Dump the joke, guv
Friday, Feb 10, 2006 - Posted by Rich Miller
I think it’s time that Gov. Blagojevich stop telling this joke.
An incident happened on his way to the airport to go to Washington, the governor said.
“We were stopped at a red light,” he said. “I rolled down a window, and a young girl, 12 years old, African-American, I looked at her, she looks at me. I look at her again. She looks at me. She gasps and she said, “Oh, my God, it’s Mayor (RICHARD) DALEY.” […]
“And we’re walking out, and there’s a whole crowd of people,” Blagojevich said. “And you could hear a young African-American girl, maybe 12 or 13 years old, and she was starstruck. She saw President Clinton. She said, ‘President Clinton!’”
“And then she saw Senator Obama, and she said, ‘Wow, Barack Obama!’ And then she saw me, and she said, ‘Wow, Mayor Daley!’” That drew laughs, of course.
I’m not sure why he thinks it’s OK to always mention that it was a young African-American girl. A joke like that, repeated like he did with different facts, could ruin a Republican.
UPDATE: Zorn has posted audio of the two stories back-to-back here.
Blagojevich states twice that she’s an African-American in one of the stories, making it seem even worse than the quote above. Again, if a Republican did this, he or she would be in huge trouble.
- anon - Friday, Feb 10, 06 @ 7:07 am:
simple actions for simple minds
- Beowulf - Friday, Feb 10, 06 @ 7:32 am:
Do you mean that you have to be “politically correct” if you are a Democrat? When did this happen?
- Nice Suit - Friday, Feb 10, 06 @ 7:54 am:
Don’t see how he thinks this is funny at all.
- ron - Friday, Feb 10, 06 @ 8:17 am:
democrats and liberal democrats in particular ALWAYS get a pass on this issue in the mainstream media.
- Anonymous - Friday, Feb 10, 06 @ 8:37 am:
So what’s the point of mentioning her race?
- Sad Sad Dem - Friday, Feb 10, 06 @ 8:43 am:
Have you not yet realized that he is a stone idiot. Over the years, he floats from one canned story to the next. If you want funny, watch him try to answer a question that he is not prepared for. That’s when you realize that he is not, and never will be, ready for prime time.
He has always been a creature of his handlers, and a lame one at that. I doubt that he even got the C in Constitutional Law that he used to like to joke about.
- Anonymous - Friday, Feb 10, 06 @ 8:52 am:
Well, well, well, what would ya all think if Gidwitz told the same joke? Just as I thought! I can’t believe there are liberal minded folks who fail to see this for exactly what it is. Does the word “token” mean anything to Blago? He gets a pass from the mainstream media on this one but others would not. Amuzing!
- Cassandra - Friday, Feb 10, 06 @ 9:06 am:
Gidwitz wouldn’t be stupid enough to tell a joke like this. The man does have a brain.
Amazing that so many Illinois minorities blindly support Blago…notably blacks and Hispanics.
I’m certain that when he’s at home he is absolutely indifferent to issues of cultural diversity and sensitivity. He’s a prototypical hollow man, but they vote for him anyway……
- Get a Clue Rich - Friday, Feb 10, 06 @ 9:06 am:
Is this an epiphany on your part? Are you only just now appreciating the double standard that the mass media has coddled for decades? The only inaccuracy in your comment is that if a Republican told a similar story, it WOULD kill his career.
- Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 10, 06 @ 9:09 am:
What’s with that comment? Just because you’ve seen it here for the first time means I’ve just discovered this? Partisans are so ridiculous sometimes, and you just proved it.
- gopartisan - Friday, Feb 10, 06 @ 9:24 am:
To the poster at 9:06AM, why don’t you “get a clue.” Do you think it’s really all that helpful to mock journalists and commentators when they make a point in favor of your position, just because they haven’t made that point earlier or often enough for your satisfaction?
- Pat Collins - Friday, Feb 10, 06 @ 9:28 am:
You know, he should stop telling the joke because it’s NOT funny!
At least the C in law school was slightly funny.
- jechislo - Friday, Feb 10, 06 @ 10:25 am:
Rod’s jokes kind of remind me of a Cialis commercial. He always seems to be in need of a boost to do what comes natural to everyone else.
- SenorAnon. - Friday, Feb 10, 06 @ 2:49 pm:
“A joke like that, repeated like he did with different facts, could ruin a Republican.”
Did anyone ever consider that this is so because Republicans routinely write off African American votes - so a Democrat is comfortable telling this joke as it is told - however lame it is…
- BOBIO - Friday, Feb 10, 06 @ 4:06 pm:
When is dwin going to statr to spend his family fortune and make this an interesting race?
- Anon - Friday, Feb 10, 06 @ 5:39 pm:
If only it had been Mayor Daley. Then we wouldn’t have to listen to this lame “joke”. What a moron.
Pingback The Next Frontier » Blagojevich’s old ‘joke’ new to me - Tuesday, May 23, 06 @ 4:51 am:
[…] Turns out, the story has been told time and time again and it’s always changing. Rich Miller pointed me to a post of his from February, which referenced a State Journal-Register column about how the governor has told variations of the joke on multiple occassions (FYI: you can no longer access this column online, I’ll see if I can snag a scan of it from the University Library later today). An incident happened on his way to the airport to go to Washington, the governor said. […]
- Patrick - Wednesday, Nov 8, 06 @ 8:22 pm:
What’s really sad is what he is doing to my state pension, he is ripping it off, to repay the money that he has stolen, will take much more down the road…..