Cumuli, Lenticulars, snow flurries and skiing 2500m of vertical to your car…now lets see what Uncle Joe is doing…
It's easy to lambast America these days - its crippling polarization, impotence towards gun control, backwards treatment of female freedom, consumerism, arrogance, entitlement and so on; but one thing worth celebrating is the White House Correspondents' Association annual dinner. Colloquially referred to as the “Nerd Prom,” it’s an annual event where mostly journalists, celebrities and other national leadership figures are invited to a gala celebrating the free press, to fete promising young journalists, to eat, to drink and to hopefully laugh. One headline of the event is to let the President speak to whatever agenda he sees fit; historically he doesn’t shy away from some self-deprecating witticisms mixed with some japery towards the press, current events and political opponents. It’s a brief opportunity for the President to return the blows he and his administration field everyday, but because they don’t have their own broadcast agency, they can only return claims made by the press with passing statements, the daily press briefing, or the occasional address from the commander in chief himself. Now he has a stage and audience to return a jab or two and eek a laugh in the process.
Perhaps most significantly, there is a comedian invited to roast the attendees, and the President, with this year’s host being Roy Wood, Jr., a contributor and host of The Daily Show. Regardless of what you find funny, it's a pretty amazing thing to have a large dinner where you invite hundreds of the press and other prominent figures with the headline being a comedian roasting the President, live, together, recorded from multiple angles for posterity and for all to see, for all of time. Sure, comedy is like any art, ensuring that you don’t care for many of those who practice it, and truth be told, not often are the entire 20+ minute monologues fully entertaining, but chances are high there will be at least one quip that causes a chuckle and most importantly, where else in the world do you see a better celebration of the freedom of speech?
“Your commitment is to continue to be a free and fearless press and that’s what we honor tonight. This is not hyperbole. You make it possible. You make it possible for ordinary citizens to question authority and yes, even to laugh at authority without fear or intimidation. That’s what makes this nation strong. So tonight, let us show ourselves and the world our strength not just by the example of our power, but by the power of our example.”
It’s begets the question “Is it dignified and productive to put the executive leader of your government, the most visible and recognized representative of a country of over 320 million people - it’s most powerful individual and arguably the most powerful person in the world - on a stage, live in front of hundreds of the people who report on his and his administration’s actions and policies everyday, and make jokes about him? This after giving him the floor to poke fun at those same reporters, news organizations, fellow public servants and himself and his office? That’s a good question.
We all do stupid things periodically…some more than others. If we’re lucky the only lasting injury is to our pride. Life is much better when we fail, because you don’t learn from your success. Best to learn from the mistakes and failures, and laugh at them later. Even better when those who we perceive as better than us join us in being fallible and also join in the laughing.
Before a conclusion is drawn, an example is provided in the contrasts that exist today with the other two most powerful men in the world. Much good journalism exists on the topic, but two pieces about Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin stand out. The first, a deep dive into the Chinese leader shedding some light on the notoriously secretive president and his carefully airbrushed past. The second, a peek behind a contemporary iron curtain as to what motivates the Russian leader. In both cases, it’s an interesting thought experiment to superimpose an equivalent ‘nerd prom’ on those individuals and their respective countries, making it quite easy to dismiss such an event as fictional - something that could never happen. They are reserved, protected and guarded, with no transparency afforded to those that want to know more, and any dissent towards their policies or objection to their behavior swiftly punished. Do they laugh or not take themselves too seriously? Not that their respective medias reveal. Should they?
We all take for granted something like the nerd prom even exists in the first place. It went dormant during the pandemic, and the Orange Menace refused to attend out of his petty vindictiveness, so its revival post-COVID, with our ancient, avuncular head of state ready to share some banter and be the butt of jokes is a blessing. The fact that unlike China and Russia, Americans can not only criticize and laugh at our president in our own semi-private mediums, but watch a celebrated spectacle of jokes aimed at our leader really does set an example for many to follow. Anyone can take a photo of themselves shirtless on a horse in his physical prime to portray strength. Anyone can stand in a massive parade of military infrastructure and provide only a visage of stoicism at every interval to project personal fortitude. What’s more powerful is to field the open criticism, barbs and jousts of your opponents and constituents in your appointed position and not only come out ahead with passed legislation and improved lives for your constituents, but mentally spirited enough to make comedy of life in the proverbial trenches.
“I want everyone to have fun tonight, but please be safe. If you find yourself disoriented or confused, it’s either you’re drunk, or Marjory Taylor Green.”
Even other democracies in the world it’s not easy to envision such a counterpart. Sure, Britain has its regular Prime Ministers questions, which have their own impressive theatrics, laughs and gaffes, but Japan, India, France, Italy, Mexico, Italy or Brazil? Try to name any other country with an event attended by their own leader with the explicit intent to make fun of him and the people who hold him accountable for executing his power on a daily basis. Perhaps one of the reasons it’s so difficult to see such an event elsewhere is because it is unique to the individual culture of America, and what we’ve come to expect of our leaders, and ourselves.
Rich year…doesn’t that look like a fun thing to summit and ski?
Sure, we like to think that the most prominent people that lead our institutions are perfect - they don’t make mistakes, never do dubious things or don’t exhibit public idiosyncrasies. But the truth is, like every human, they makes mistakes, they’re not the perfect imprint of a modern man [or woman], because such a thing doesn’t exist. By the nature of their position and responsibility, any mistakes are more consequential, any accidental slip from convention will be globally broadcast and dissected in real time.
And so it seems with such a crucible of concentration, power and attention focused on the White House, its leader, advisors, diplomats, ambassadors, aids and deputies are deserving of an outlet to step back, take a deep breath and remind themselves, and the people they safeguard, govern, and represent that it’s all right not to take everything too seriously, including themselves. In steps this dinner and an opportunity to do just that, along with a brilliant outlet to give back a couple of well times jabs to their political opponents.
“Billionaires? Y’all always come up with something new to buy. Like just when you think of everything you could buy on earth, a billionaire will come up with a new thing. Y’all buy space rockets, you bought twitter. This man bought a supreme court justice. Do you understand how rich you have to be to buy a supreme court justice? A black one on top of that. There’s only two in stock and Harlan Crow owns half the inventory. We can all see Clarence Thomas but he belongs to billionaire Harlan Crow...and that’s what an NFT is.”
Always get the window seat…and if the President can untuck his shirt and laugh at himself, so can you.
Of course, a retort to that argument is that such an office is too high to be degraded by such an event, and the president and his deputies should always stay above such noise, such fray and the ‘dirt’ that make up such a dinner and its agenda and attendees. But that refutes a beloved excerpt from one of America’s most beloved leaders. If a government truly is to be of and for the people, it is therefore necessary that they reflect the people they are elected and appointed by, and an important part of that is to remain relatable. We all face important decisions periodically, we all have less savory outcomes to our efforts irregardless of our intent, and we all have some mediocre days and undesirable interactions with our peers and constituents. If we can’t shrug them off, laugh at them in retrospect and maintain a sense of levity, then life is far less enjoyable.
It’s a valid argument that such an event is unneeded. The proliferation of ‘intentionally fake news’ - pioneered on Saturday night live’s Weekend Update, refined over the decades by the same outlet, perfected by John Stewart and now mutated by his contemporaries - give us a plethora of options to laugh off the depressing and disturbing aspects of our current world…on a daily basis. Making the President deliver jokes written by someone else belittles the office, and dulls the intensity of real issues. Fair. From a different angle, one can argue that by laughing at particularly challenging events, policy blunders or dubious behavior, we are absolving ourselves and our leaders of the responsibility of doing something about it - the laughter distracting us from executing a constructive response with a sanctimonious delivery. That is not entirely wrong, and with so much negativity arriving from all angles these days, resorting to comedy to deal with important things can leave us dismissive and aloof.
But we are afforded only one opportunity per year to laugh at the absurdity of political life together with our President and with him as an emcee, it can be a more potent ointment for wounds inflicted by the news in constant circulation. Sperm whales can stay submerged for over two hours hunting for their favorite snack of giant squid to depths over 2200 meters below the surface of the sea…but even they have to regularly come up for air. The same can be said for dogged public servants, determined journalists and recreational citizens fighting for, reporting out on and reading about an increasingly difficult path to a better life. If humans can’t get at least some levity out of the awful situations in the news, hope can fade that something better even exists. Comedy can help with that, particularly if it’s delivered from the highest level.
Like all other editions of this soiree, the dark side of journalism was broached by both keynotes, Biden in particular about his administration’s efforts to free imprisoned journalists in Russia and Syria. Many blockbusters and documentaries alike highlight just how tough good journalism is, and the struggle of the free press is very real - from dwindling revenues to shuttered new rooms to lost lives, altruism tends to be a critical ingredient more than luxury and celebrity for that job - Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon not withstanding. So, is taking a dinner once a year where the most noteworthy part is making jokes about our octogenarian president, some of our lunatic representatives and our compromised Judiciary a worthy way to celebrate this critical, yet under-appreciated profession? Ask the soldiers in the trenches. The event and its format certainly gives the impression that we value the free press so much, we’re willing to poke fun at leaders and the sanctity of our halls of power, and invite them to join in and punch back.
Hopefully there will be a time where there isn’t so much bad occurring in our world that we feel the need to laugh at its leadership and reporting at this ‘prom.’ Perhaps even if the world transitions to a pure Utopia we’ll still enjoy the humor that unites us as human. Until that time comes, however it’s helpful to have this dinner to lighten the mood.
“Despite the challenging times we live in, I look around this room and I see people who are hard working. Many of you, I don’t think you should be working that hard. We should be inspired by the events in France. They rioted when the retirement age went up two years to 64. They rioted because they didn’t want to work ‘til they were 64. Meanwhile in America, we have an 80 year old man begging us for four more years of work... ‘Let me finish the job.’ That’s not a campaign slogan, that’s a plea.”
So consider that a vote for such an event. It is important that the keynotes address the important issues facing the free press, that the fourth estate is vital to a better country and world, and we all have a responsibility to it, much like we all have a responsibility towards participating in our democracies; but it’s also important to embrace the lighter moments, and to give ourselves a reminder that not all of politics, journalism and life is dark and depressing, and we can laugh at and with our most powerful leaders, just like every once in a while, we should be laughing at ourselves.