Obama’s no-humor zone: what does it say about him?
Obama’s angry reaction to the New Yorker cover has highlighted a fact that has been obvious for some time: the man has no sense of humor.
Oh, I know, every now and then he tries a little quip. But his heart’s not in it. It seems to me that most of these “jokes” have had the same theme: mocking himself for his tendency to be a bit too “perfect,” and the extremity of the adulation he inspires in his supporters. They fall flat, in part perhaps because he believes he is rather perfect and deserves the worship.
Today Maureen Dowd takes on the topic of why Obama is so hard to satirize. According to comedians, they’ve had trouble getting traction on him, partly because anything to do with race is a minefield, but partly because there’s no simple comic “take” on him.
I submit that it’s because there’s no real “take” on him at all, except his slipperiness. The man has made a career out of being unable to pin down, and so it’s no accident that comedy can’t do it, either. After all, the word “skewer” isn’t an accident when it refers to using humor; there has to be something solid to pin down in the first place before it can be mocked, and there’s nothing funny about a blank slate with a pretty voice.
But I’m less interested in the question of how Jon Stewart will spend his time if Obama is elected and more interested in the question of why Obama’s own jokes are so few and far between, and tend to fall somewhat flat. You may say that humor isn’t a quality we need in a President, but I’m not so sure. And I consider lack of humor to be a very poor sign.
It’s not that humor is a prerequisite for the Presidency itself, it’s that its presence tells us something about a person. There is some humility involved in mocking oneself successfully, and although all Presidents (and virtually all politicians) have to have a rather large ego to run for office in the first place, the presence of a genuine sense of humor acts as reassurance that their egos are not too massively swollen.
A sense of humor also tends to indicate openmindedness in a person, and a certain creativity. What’s more, its lack may make a person less electable than he/she would otherwise be: perhaps Obama’s grimness is the source of at least part of the missing mass of his support in current polls that Democrats are wondering about. Americans don’t like their Presidents to be too frosty, they prefer them to mix it up a bit and come across as “regular guys.”
It’s even better if they convey actual wit rather than just a scripted yuck or two. Lincoln wasn’t all that popular in his day, but one of the many reasons he is now revered is that, if he hadn’t been President, he just might have made a living as a Mark Twain-ish humorist. Not all Presidents can rise to that high level, but Obama is perhaps the least humorous candidate in recent memory—and the competition is pretty stiff (pun intended) in that arena.
Obama has been compared to JFK. The comparison is a poor one for many reasons, but one difference is that Kennedy was another President whose wit and delivery might have earned him a second career as a comedian if he’d lived long enough to retire from the office. In an earlier post, I had this to say on the matter:
I first heard the word “charisma” in connection with President Kennedy. He had more of it than any politician ever seen, before or since. He was quick, funny, urbane, smooth, handsome, elegant, and sharp…The media adored Kennedy and the camera loved him. You can see it in his press conferences; not just his own wit, but the ease and affability of the exchanges between the press and the President, and the lack of any sense of combat between them. Kennedy was their man.
In the following video, please note the especially funny (IMHO) exchange that starts with the female reporter’s question at 2:08; Kennedy’s reply starts at 2:32:
I would add two things about the video that struck me. The first is that all these quips seem to have been off-the-cuff rather than scripted, demonstrating how quick Kennedy was and how deep his humor went; it was an integral part of him rather than a scripted ploy. The second is that his affect shows a relaxed and easy quality to his wit. We know by the gleam in his eyes that he is enjoying himself hugely; there’s nothing fake about it, and there’s nothing mean about it, either.
Obama has joked a bit in a few of his scripted speeches, but it always seems to me to have an edge—and an edginess—rather than playfulness. We also know very little about his ability to ad lib, since he tends to stick to a teleprompter:
[ADDENDUM: Ann Althouse weighs in on the subject, as does the Anchoress.]
The standard Obama punchline these days is, it seems to me, “That’s NOT funny!”
I submit that it’s because there’s no real “take” on him at all, except his slipperiness.
He’s Gumby, Dammit!
There is NOTHING funny about being the Messiah.
Usually, humorless people tend to fall into the category of overearnest do-gooder (Nader) or creepy oddball (Nixon). Obama is something else, and I can’t think of anyone in public life to whom he can be compared. He’s too cool to be humorless, and I think he probably isn’t humorless in his inner circle. I can imagine him being quite savagely humorous, in fact.
He’s not humorless at all. He’s a withholder — of his true self and of his humor, which is so often reveals a person’s true self.
mizpants: I think you’re onto something.
“Three reporters from Arizona, on the condition of anonymity, also let me in on another incident involving McCain’s intemperateness. In his 1992 Senate bid, McCain was joined on the campaign trail by his wife, Cindy, as well as campaign aide Doug Cole and consultant Wes Gullett. At one point, Cindy playfully twirled McCain’s hair and said, “You’re getting a little thin up there.” McCain’s face reddened, and he responded, “At least I don’t plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt.” McCain’s excuse was that it had been a long day.”
Usually, humorless people tend to fall into the category of overearnest do-gooder (Nader) or creepy oddball (Nixon). Obama is something else, and I can’t think of anyone in public life to whom he can be compared. He’s too cool to be humorless, and I think he probably isn’t humorless in his inner circle. I can imagine him being quite savagely humorous, in fact.
My guess is that he’s a typical humorless liberal. As noted before, the group isn’t as smart as they think they are, and there has to be some thinking process to grasp concepts, such as satire.
ONTOO:
Yes, that little tidbit from 16 years ago has been making the rounds for quite a while now; it seems that if the lovely Mrs. McCain had been truly miffed, it would have resulted in divorce by now. Strange that the anecdote is told by Cliff Schecter, a rabid Democrat…and practically noone else except trolls who delight in using the c-word.
There is, in fact, a problem with a president not having a sense of humor, and I think Thomas Sowell obliquely defines it in this quote:
A sense of logic underlies a sense of humor. – Thomas Sowell
See, I believe the inverse to be true as well: “The lack of a sense of humor demonstrates a failure of logical prowess.” Thomas could have said that better than I did, of course.
I’m also thinking of another Sowell quote that I have proudly displayed in my blog’s sidebar:
A politician with good rhetorical skills can create a new Garden of Eden in people’s minds, though only in their minds. However, that is sufficient, if that vision or illusion can be kept alive until election day, and its failure to materialize afterwards can be explained away by the obstruction of villains. – Thomas Sowell
This one is, of course, a clear vision of our future under President Obama. I’d much prefer a president Sowell.
I forgot! McCain really does have a sense of humor. Here’s a delectable anecdote!
‘Did you hear the one about the woman who is attacked on the street by a gorilla, beaten senseless, raped repeatedly and left to die? When she finally regains consciousness and tries to speak, her doctor leans over to hear her sigh contently and to feebly ask, ‘Where is that marvelous ape?’
Haha! Rape! Hilarious!
Let’s go over this.
Obama -> annoyed by a magazine cover that depicts some of the right’s most vile smears of him and his wife = no sense of humor
McCain -> calls his wife a “cunt” and finds bestial rape amusing = ……………………..
To continue:
Bush -> subject to eight years of vile smears and routine media denigration, without ONCE getting his shorts in a knot.
When Obama can demonstrate such maturity (although he probably will never have to, having so successfully put any observations of his physical traits and penchant for stupid comments firmly off limits), then he will be ready to run for the job he’s after.
Our little troll is vomiting up Huffington Post talking points.
Apparently McCain’s “ape” joke was told in – wait for it – 1986!, although, oddly enough, the story just never seems to have surfaced before then.
Honestly, ONTOO, is that the best you can do? Put on your big girl panties and grow up.
Who says Obama isn’t funny?
Hes going to lower sea levels and rid the world of nuclear weapons.
Dats some funny sh*t right there.
Sorry, meant “surfaced before NOW.” But perhaps ONTOO would tell us that, since McCain was a “maverick,” his MSM buddies had a vested interest in hiding his crude mouth and foul temper, but now that he’s the presumptive nominee, the valiant HuffPosters have to show the real man behind the brass to save America from this filthy-mouthed jokester!
Like I said, troll – is that the best you can do?
What struck me in the Kennedy video was the utterly frivolous questions !! Not one about foreign affairs, policyin general. I realize the clip is edited to include only the humerous responses. But I can’t imagine reporters today asking hardly any of those questions. Also the press seemed to laugh at EVERYTHING, even when he didn’t intend it to be funny. Very interesting.
Now this is funny:
Obama Releases List of Approved Jokes About Himself
Bid to Help Late Night Comics
by Andy Borowitz
http://borowitzreport.com/
SNL did a good job with it. I submit everyone is either afraid of him (or his supporters) or in the tank for him. It is hard to make jokes about someone your afraid of… or adore.
The earlier commenters were on to something. Obama is probably quite relaxed in a very small circle of friends. Everywhere else he has to be “accomplishing something” so humor is seen as trivializing the mission. The same type of person is really upset at suggestions they would watch a silly TV show just to relax. He’s not comfortable with himself, by himself and it shows. Bush is comfortable in his own skin. McCain can take and tell a joke except when it concerns his core mission of personal honor and accountability.
Chesterton observed that moderate strength is shown in violence, but great strengh manifests itself as levity. Obama is truly dead in earnest, consumed, perhaps, by ambition that exceeds his strength of character.
And the character he wears before the cameras and the crowds fits like a secondhand suit.
Anyway, in my opinion there is a whole thing about progressives taking themselves very very seriously even though very very few of them have made the effort to learn enough about things to be taken seriously. I think one the ways the left draws recruits is with this image of intellectualism. Goes back to Marxism. Be a Marxist, get anointed a thinker! Even though the theories are simplistic cr*p (example: conflict theory is just an excuse for conspiracy theory). There might be some movement on breaking this down. People are starting to question whether even those with various social science degrees (like sociology) really know anything and/or should be considered educated.
His aura comes from his chameleon nature, so as Shelby Steele has so tellingly observed, he “masks” his every thought.We’ve been here before with another guy who was a donut…Bill Clinton…he thinks his elusiveness and weakness is a strength in a leader.
It’s destabilizing and provocative in a POTUS.
mizpants,
“He’s not humorless at all. He’s a withholder – of his true self and of his humor, which is so often reveals a person’s true self.”
This strikes me as true, at least it explains his exceptional hesitancy in responding to questions for which he doesn’t have a prepared answer. Another blogger has called him “The Wizard of Uhhs”. It is true that sometimes when questioned he’s so clumsy in response he seems quite stupid. He’s probably not quite stupid, but he can’t allow himself to respond as he would naturally, because that would reveal a personality and belief system that simply wouldn’t fly with the American people. He has to work very hard to structure a sentence that says nothing at all.
As to humor explicitly, I expect it would all be quite contemptuous of most American values. But I would note nycommuters reference to a Chesterton statement as well, that “great strength manifests itself as levity.” Obama does not have that strength. Tony Snow had it, Obama doesn’t. –njcommuters few short comments are excellent.
He’s not humorless at all. He’s a withholder – of his true self and of his humor, which is so often reveals a person’s true self.
I think mizpants is on to something too. I’ve been following Obama since last fall and I still don’t have a clue who Obama is at his core. I know how he wants to be known — as a grand, wise, compassionate leader. I can tell that he is extremely ambitious and shrewd, or he wouldn’t have gotten this far. But who he really is, is a mystery and it’s a mystery because he is careful not reveal it.
Ultimately I think this will be his downfall. Most voters, unlike blog readers and writers, don’t have the time or interest to puzzle out a candidate from all his or her statements and actions. Most voters go more on their gut. In the short term this has worked well for Obama, because he presents such an appealing image, but by November, if voters still don’t have a sense of who Obama is, I believe he will lose.
huxley,
I’m not even sure he has a core. He seems to be always racing to the next level to avoid confronting his own limitations and failures. I wonder how he would react if he weren’t allowed to run away from things like the housing projects and botanical gardens, if at every venue, there were huge signs showing his “accomplishments.” He has become a master at deflecting criticism, but if that didn’t work, he might just erupt.
One of Lincoln’s funniest quips was his query to Gen George McClellan that if he, McClellan, were not going to use the Army of the Potomic, “I’d like to borrow it for a while.”
I’m more with expat. I think Obama is pretty much a hologram. He’s not Muslim, but he’s not Christian, either. He’s not Indonesian, he’s not Kenyan, but he’s not American, either. He’s just …sort of …nothing. It’s like he’s in witness protection, and gets his mail deliver to Occupant, Anytown, USA.
Given his Messianic pretensions (today he said he’s going to eliminate the world’s nuclear weapons!), I doubt that he has much of a sense of humor, frankly, even in his closest circles. What would really please him, tickle him pink (so to speak)? Hard to imagine him yukking it up over anything. Same thing with Michelle, unless she might crack a smile at seeing a piano fall on some white people.
Obama’s 57 state comment was an obvious attempt at humor. That it was taken as a gaffe illustrates something, but damned if I know what.
Hadn’t heard that interpretation, Roy. Everything I’ve seen attributed it to fatigue. If it were a joke, then he definitely doesn’t have a sense of humor.
At the risk of being called smug or a troll or a smug troll or a tug smoll, I submit the following. I don’t see what about this response is angry. It seems pretty reasonable.
LARRY KING, HOST: I’ve heard a lot of others comment on it. We haven’t heard you speak about it yet. That “New Yorker” cover which depicts you and your wife, and you dressed in a Muslim outfit, your wife in a kind of military outfit, Osama bin Laden’s picture burning, what do you make of that?
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I know it was The New Yorker’s attempt at satire. I don’t think they were entirely successful with it. But you know what? It’s a cartoon, Larry, and that’s why we’ve got the First Amendment … You know, we’ve — one of the things when you’re running for president for almost two years is, you get a pretty thick skin. And, you know, I’ve seen and heard worse.
I do think that, you know, in attempting to satirize something, they probably fueled some misconceptions about me instead. But, you know, that was their editorial judgment. And as I said, ultimately, it’s a cartoon, it’s not where the American people are spending a lot of their time thinking about.
Obama’s 57 state comment was an obvious attempt at humor. That it was taken as a gaffe illustrates something, but damned if I know what.
I watched the youtube clip and it sounded to me like Obama was overtired while trying to calculate 50 states – Alaska – Hawaii – the one continental state he hadn’t visited = 47 which collided with the original 50 and so he said 57.
He was saying “Uh” a lot and trying to get it right while juggling all the things in his head that he was juggling. I don’t think it’s significant of anything other than his humanness. And no, he’s not the smartest, most articulate guy when he’s thinking on his feet.
I’m not even sure he has a core. He seems to be always racing to the next level to avoid confronting his own limitations and failures. I wonder how he would react if he weren’t allowed to run away…
expat — Interesting thought. Could be. I’m not sure he has a core either. Maybe has just been dancing as fast as he can all this time.
It concerns me too that he has not dealt with defeat or suffering or even worked as a busboy. There’s a lot Obama doesn’t know about life, yet he presumes to lead this country and lecture us citizens.
Pingback:A Humorless President? « Poppypundit
“I’m not even sure he has a core.”
Obama has a very solid core – himself. He believes in his divine ascension to the Great Savior – that we want things like *how* matters not, it only matters that *he* is there. I truly think that he 100% intends to deliver on the wild promises he is making due to him just being – well – him.
And to a large extent – why shouldn’t he? In his life he hasn’t ever really failed at anything largely because he is himself. It wasn’t any special insight, any special knowledge, any special intelligence, well, anything special at all that got him where he is and where is he? Having a good chance of being the most powerful single person in the world all before he hits 50. Everyone has told him he can not for similar reasons (nothing but an empty suit) but at every juncture he makes it on. There is no reason for him to believe otherwise – the only evidence we have to go on is that he will make it to the presidency and that his wild promises will come true.
In a real sense he is the “bubble man” – like the tech, housing, and current oil bubble at some point you will be asked to pay and the bubble will burst. While in that mode things look great for the investors and many are dismayed watching it, but we have been wrong at every other turn. And, like the bubbles above, those that *really* want to believe will and will do so until it bursts – again there is ample past evidence that the world will go into that utopia (or in the case of gas and anti-utopia). It isn’t even really hard to convince yourself of it, all it takes is ignoring a few little things (that those things are vitally important is irrelevant due to the whole host of “other”).
“I wonder how he would react if he weren’t allowed to run away from things like the housing projects and botanical gardens”
The bubble will burst and we will know he has nothing. I dearly hope it happens before the election. As a senator I don’t really care if/when his bubble bursts (and given enough time there he may end up being OK even if I vehemently disagree with his politics) but I shudder to think of us have a good four years of knowing our president is a bubble boy – I can’t really imagine what it would be like knowing that the President of the US knows less than the average person.
As I said during the primary Obama is the easier candidate for McCain (or the other republicans that were running) to beat – all they have to do is get him outside of his comfort zone. On the other hand were they to loose he is, by far, the worst of the Democratic candidates. I also think that McCain has the best chance to win if he plays to win, however of the bunch that were running I think McCain is the least likely to play to win (you will not win by starting all you “attacks” about how good your opponent is and how good a job he would do – McCain is looking a whole lot like Dukakis in intentionally keeping the most damaging stuff off the table because of some strange sense of fairness – one shouldn’t lie but if your opponent runs some adds like Obama has attack for heaven’s sake).
McCain has a sense of humor. I have no idea if he called his wife a cunt or not, but I do note the absolute glee with which one of Obama’s supporters repeats the quote. This is the humor of Obama and his supporters: vicious and self serving. Rather like the pretty cheer leader making fun of the fat kid.
Not attractive. And since Obama and his followers are without any real sense of humor, they fail to see the difference. Too busy working the crowd to notice.
Pingback:The Obama-groupie journalists | The Anchoress
Obama seems to be an opportunist of the first water, and one who does not clearly have any core. I think that on leaving Hawaii for the mainland he realized the black thing could work for him, and so he used it. (If people with protruding ears were in, he’d have used that, and would be fist-bumping Prince Charles right now.) He calculated that he had to belong to Wright’s church to establish his bona fides as an American black, even though his African antecdents were not slaves, but more likely slavers.
Core’s Observation: Or, the Grand Unified Theory of Democratic Presidential Politics:
Here are the Democratic Party’s nominees for president since 1972:
* George McGovern
* Jimmy Carter
* Walter Mondale
* Michael Dukakis
* Bill Clinton
* Al Gore
* John Kerry
Who’s the big winner in that crowd? Apart from the 1976 fluke, in which Jimmy Carter was elected because Gerald Ford had pardoned Richard Nixon, the only winner is Bill Clinton.
Apart from being a presidential winner, what sets him apart from the others? To look at it from the other direction, what do all of them have in common, except for Bill Clinton?
Here’s what they all have in common. McGovern, Carter, Mondale, Dukakis, Gore, Kerry: none of them have the slightest hint of a trace of a sense of humor.
Like the other “Donna” said, those questions to JFK were mostly softballs. And when they weren’t, he punted and the press laughed.
When, since then, has the press corps been so in love with a president? Possibly not until today… with the possiblility that Obama may hold the office.
Imagine how funny Obama will be when those type questions are lobbed at him.
Imagine how funny GWBush might have been if the press corps had been in love with him.
Couold it be that the media is not only the message but the problem as well?
Interesting subject. I propose three contributing causes of Obama’s lack of humor. These are not the main reasons for Obama’s lack of humor; rather, I suspect these are minor, yet definite, contributing causes.
1. Obama moved around a lot all through his youth and early career. When he arrived at a new school – as the somewhat regal new kid, lacking history with other students – he was never teased in a friendly way, as many other students with shared histories would’ve been teased by their friends. If you don’t get teased in a friendly way, you have a harder time learning to laugh at yourself.
2. Mizpants is right on target: Obama withholds. It’s hard to tease someone whom you know nothing about. If you don’t get teased in a friendly way, you have a harder time learning to laugh at yourself.
3. The pervasive, stifling effect of political correctness. Obama, going back maybe to 1972 or so, likely got a free ride, and was teased or challenged less than other kids or adults, due to the stifling effect of political correctness. Obama now cannot take a punch b/c he has rarely been punched. PC has protected him more than the normal child or adult.
Anyway, Obama’s personality and personal traits have more to do with his humorlessness than does 1,2,3 above. Nevertheless, I suspect 1,2,3 may be small, yet definite factors.