A Full Wahhhmbulance

Wanda Sykes' comments at the White House Correspondents Dinner actually provoked less of a hissy fit than I expected, but still provided a good amount of hypocritical hilarity. Sean Hannity, who ran hourlong specials comparing Barack Obama to terrorists like Bill Ayers during the election campaign, sits there and gets all offended by Sykes comparing Limbaugh to a terrorist. And so on. Adam Serwer rounds it up pretty nicely.

Wanda Sykes' comedy routine at the White House Correspondent's Dinner was really offensive. In it, Sykes suggested that conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh is supported by Hamas, and that Islamists are "constantly issuing Limbaugh talking points." She joked about terrorists supporting conservatives in general, suggesting that recent violent events in Iraq are attempts by terrorists to swing the upcoming midterm elections in favor of Republicans.

Then she got really personal. She joked that Limbaugh was a racist who doesn't want black people to "escap[e] the underclass." She accused him of being responsible for killing "a million babies a year," and aired her friend's theory that Limbaugh himself was a terrorist attack," a followup to 9/11. She also, most disgustingly, said that if conservatives kept apologizing to Limbaugh, they'd eventually contract "anal poisoning." She wondered when Republicans would finally stop "bending over and grabbing their ankles" for Limbaugh, and finally concluded that Limbaugh was just a "bad guy."

Oh wait. Wanda Sykes didn't say any of these things. These are things Rush Limbaugh has said about Obama or other Democrats in the past year...

Notably, Big Pharma himself had nothing to say about Sykes' act, maybe because he was mindful of his own past statements, but probably because he doesn't want anyone on his radio show to remember his Oxycontin addiction. Helpfully, Chris Hitchens provided the classy quote Limbaugh would have said, if he thought he could get away with it.

By the end of the night, Christopher Hitchens was of course the last man (barely) standing, and he had some choice words for the evening's headlining comedian, Wanda Sykes. "The president should be squirming in his seat. Not smiling," he said. "The black dyke got it wrong. No one told her the rules."

Ahh, the rules. Right.

(This is also hilarious, considering that when Stephen Colbert made George Bush squirm in his seat, the Village universally condemned him.)

I'm officially done with this. Don't hire a comedian if you're so easily offended.