Remember this from the White House Correspondents' Dinner, May 9, 2009?
Transcript:
WANDA SYKES: Rush Limbaugh, one of your big critics. Uh, boy, Rush Limbaugh said he hopes this administration fails.
You know, so you're saying, 'I hope America fails.' You're like, 'I don't care about people losing their homes, their jobs, our soldiers in Iraq.' He just wants the country to fail.
To me, that's treason. He's not saying anything differently than what Osama bin Laden is saying.
You know, you might want to look into this, sir, because I think maybe Rush Limbaugh was the 20th hijacker, but he was so strung out on Oxycontin he missed his flight.
Too much? But you're laughing inside. I know you're laughing.
Obama wasn't "laughing inside." He was laughing openly at Sykes' ugly remarks.
SYKES: Rush Limbaugh -- 'I hope the country the fails.' I hope his kidneys fail. How 'bout that?
He needs a little waterboarding. That's what he needs.
Wow.
I'm not surprised that Sykes would say that stuff; but I am surprised that Obama would allow himself to be seen laughing at such horrible remarks.
Additional commentary in The UK Telegraph here by Toby Harnden:
Hard to take from the man who promised a new era of civility and elevated debate in Washington.
