President Obama attended the White House Correspondents Dinner recently and spoke for 16 minutes, poking fun at pretty much everyone including himself.
If you only have the time or patience to watch a little, go for the second clip, in which he summarizes his goals for the next 100 days of the administration. But the whole thing is worth watching, including the brief exchange about Michelle Obama’s awesome arms.
I cannot tell you how much it means to me to have a President who is capable of laughing at himself, his colleagues, his rivals and his detractors with equal ease, in the politest way possible and yet with no pretense or softpedaling. This was Obama’s chance to serve up a few choice trips to the woodshed with a big dollop of humor sauce, and he did.
And then he ended it with a graceful acknowledgment of his debt, and our debt, to journalism in all its forms, despite its compromises and struggles and the ease with which it can be turned to bad use. I admire that he did that. For me, it was another example of his commitment to bringing everyone to the table, which is an aspect of his leadership style that I admire enormously.
And most of all, I do like a sense of humor in people. In serious times, we can all use a good laugh that much more; and for the most part, this was a speech about connecting people through laughter, rather than dividing them. Good for him.
Laughter, especially understanding laughter at ourselves, is a cure. He thinks; he talks; he laughs. Humor is an important part of what makes us human, IMO.
I cannot—as imaginative as I am—imagine GWB doing anything close to something like that. And he tried. But I think he lacked a fundamental openness of spirit that hampered him, regardless of his ideology.
The thing about Obama, though—I don’t think he will ever lose his cool. I don’t think he will have to. I think he will ably convey his anger over matters without losing anything.
Thank you for sharing that.