Washington Can't Take a Joke

(NEWSER) - Press Secretary Robert Gibbs today distanced the administration from 9/11-related comments made by comedian Wanda Sykes at the White House Correspondents dinner, Politico reports. Some things “are better left for serious reflection,” Gibbs said. “There's no doubt 9/11 is part of that.” Sykes suggested that “Rush Limbaugh was the 20th hijacker, but he was just so strung out on Oxycontin he missed his flight.” More»

White House correspondents' dinner comics' 'most feared' show

(NEWSER) - Wanda Sykes is getting ready for what could be the toughest gig of her life: the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, attended by the president. Not particularly political, Sykes will be roasting a president who’s posed a challenge for her fellow comedians in front of an audience Bill Maher calls “the worst, most uptight crowd in the world,” the Wall Street Journal reports. More»

Press corps miffed by quiet social life, he suggests

(NEWSER) - President Obama isn't aloof, he says—it's just that he and Michelle don't tend to paint the town red. "My suspicion is that this whole critique has to do with the fact that I don’t go to a lot of Washington parties and, as a consequence, the Washington press corps maybe just doesn’t feel like I’m in the mix enough with them," he tells Time in an interview, noted by Politico . "And they figure, well, if I’m not spending time with them, I must be cold and aloof." More»

Rush doesn't believe 'ideal Republican' will turn his back on Obama

(NEWSER) - Colin Powell said this weekend that he wasn't all that sure about voting for President Obama this election, but Rush Limbaugh says that's a load of hooey, reports ThinkProgress . When it comes down to it, the "titular head of the Republican party, the ideal model Republican" will vote for the Democrat, says Limbaugh, because "melanin is thicker than water, folks. And that's what'll happen." More»

Says prez wanted 'excuse for his failing economy'

(NEWSER) - Rush Limbaugh not only says the media oversold Hurricane Irene —he argues that Obama was "hoping" it would be a widespread "disaster" to justify the nation's economic woes, the Huffington Post reports. "I'll guarantee you Obama was hoping this was going to be a disaster as another excuse for his failing economy," Limbaugh said on his show today. "If he's out there blaming tsunamis, blaming earthquakes, this one [was] made to order, but it just didn't measure up." More»