Some liberals online are fighting back against the
complaint by Republicans that the quirky, comedic interview between President
Obama and actor Zach Galafiniakis was undignified for a man who occupies the
White House and that it was beneath the presidency.
The Funny or Die 7-minute video, which became an instant
Internet sensation, is being compared by lefty Democrats to a particularly
cringeworthy attempt at comedy in 2004 by George W. Bush.
At the annual Radio and Television Correspondents’
Association Dinner, where presidents and members of the media are expected to
engage in free-wheeling banter and self-deprecating humor, President Bush chose
to rely upon a slide show when it was his turn to speak.
Here is how David Corn, now a writer for Mother Jones,
described the scene at the March 24, 2004, dinner:
“At one point, Bush showed a photo of himself looking for
something out a window in the Oval Office, and he said, ‘Those weapons of mass
destruction have got to be somewhere.’ The audience laughed. I grimaced. But
that wasn’t the end of it. After a few more slides, there was a shot of Bush
looking under furniture in the Oval Office. ‘Nope,’ he said. ‘No weapons over
there.’ More laughter. Then another picture of Bush searching in his office: ‘Maybe
under here.’ Laughter again.
“Disapproval must have registered upon my face, for one
of my tablemates said, ‘Come on, David, this is funny.’ I wanted to reply, Over
500 Americans and literally countless Iraqis are dead because of a war that was
supposedly fought to find weapons of mass destruction, and Bush is joking about
it. Instead, I took a long drink of the lovely white wine that had come with
our dinner …”
Meanwhile, CNN has the inside story on how the intentionally
awkward, politically risky interview between Obama and Galifianakis came about.
Funny or Die had already played a role in a video about
Obamacare last year and Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett later flew out to
Los Angeles for a meeting with Funny or Die producers, where they floated the
idea of doing an episode of Galafiniakis’ eccentric “Between Two Ferns” show
with the president.
According to CNN’s Ashley Killough, the deal was made and
in February a Funny or Die team came to Washington to film the segment. With
the March 31 deadline to enroll in Obamacare fast approaching, the president
wanted to get “more personally involved.”
The President was “familiar” with the
Galifianakis segment, an executive producer told CNN. “He kinda got it. He knew
Zach’s persona. He knew what it would be like.”
Killough reports that the crew showed up at the White
House, immediately got down to work, and, without rehearsals, shot the entire
video with barely any editing at all.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said Tuesday that Obama’s
staff knew “loosely” what the interview would look like, but
“there was a lot of ad-libbing in there.”