2023 White House Correspondents Dinner

April 30, 2023 8:23 AM

Joe Biden's speech [22m] came off really well. Roy Wood Jr. was really good. [26m] The whole night [1h38m] included awards and a great speech by Correspondents Association president Tamara Keith.
posted by hippybear (41 comments total)

Expect the hardest-punching punchlines to trickle in throughout the upcoming week or two.
posted by tigrrrlily at 8:47 AM on April 30, 2023

Just watched this and it might be the best speech I've seen Biden give since he started running against Trump.
posted by es_de_bah at 8:48 AM on April 30, 2023 [5 favorites]

I hope nobody insulted trump
posted by slogger at 9:26 AM on April 30, 2023 [18 favorites]

I simply can't wait to hear what positively SCANDALOUS thing the Mme. de ------ said about the knot in le Comte du -----'s cravat!
posted by MrBadExample at 9:51 AM on April 30, 2023 [32 favorites]

Biden's team leaning into the "Dark Brandon" thing is one of the canniest things that they could have possibly done.
posted by Halloween Jack at 9:55 AM on April 30, 2023 [36 favorites]

I have yet to see anything from Roy Wood Jr. where he's not killing it and this did not break that streak.
posted by Pope Guilty at 10:18 AM on April 30, 2023 [22 favorites]

“Last year, your favorite FoxNews reporters were able to attend because they were fully vaccinated and boosted. This year, with that $787 million settlement, they’re here because they couldn’t say ‘no’ to a free meal.”

*mic drop*
posted by Thorzdad at 10:41 AM on April 30, 2023 [32 favorites]

I got a chance to see Biden speak last year. I’m not a huge fan of a lot of the choices this administration has made but I will say- he is an arresting speaker. His slightly off- kilter rhythm combined with really large volume swings for effect was really arresting.
posted by q*ben at 10:50 AM on April 30, 2023 [9 favorites]

I have yet to see anything from Roy Wood Jr. where he's not killing it and this did not break that streak.

His week hosting the Daily Show was so good!
posted by mochapickle at 10:51 AM on April 30, 2023 [7 favorites]

leaning into the "Dark Brandon" thing

Laughs aside, I wonder how much Dems could get done if they, say, pushed back on right-wing bullshit with a bit more seriousness. I heard a lot about democracy in his speech, but when voters in Montana and Tennessee are openly disenfranchised by fascists without a forceful federal response (much less any organized response by Democrats or even by the "free" press), it is kind of ringing false at the moment. Sorry to rain on the parade.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 12:03 PM on April 30, 2023 [43 favorites]

I am surprised to have not seen a federal/ACLU or other response to the disenfranchisement of voters in Montana. Where is everybody? Or is a legislative decision lke this untouchable?
posted by etaoin at 12:37 PM on April 30, 2023 [7 favorites]

Is the Property Brothers video part of the full coverage? I tuned in live to catch Roy Wood's speech, and then I watched Biden's online, but I didn't see the home improvement video anywhere, and I've got family members who I know would be interested in seeing it.
posted by sardonyx at 1:58 PM on April 30, 2023

Is it in the third video linked above? That was CSPAN, so that's what went out, I think.
posted by hippybear at 2:09 PM on April 30, 2023

Biden's team leaning into the "Dark Brandon" thing is one of the canniest things that they could have possibly done.

Gods above and below I wish there was someone else to vote for. Biden chose corporate profits over people when he kept the rail workers from striking. Just absolutely fuck this guy, and whoever his press team is, for using this as a campaign slogan.

Absolutely incandescent with rage at this administration right now.
posted by curious nu at 3:11 PM on April 30, 2023 [24 favorites]

Only reason I'm reading this thread is to see if anyone mentions Vanderpump Rules. Besides me.
posted by tiny frying pan at 3:45 PM on April 30, 2023 [1 favorite]

I get angry about the rail workers and then I get angry at republicans using the rail workers as a gotcha when they ALL voted against the extra vacation days except for, like, the six of them who were on cable news about it. Just craven.
posted by subdee at 4:20 PM on April 30, 2023 [9 favorites]

I mean, yeah, thus my "someone else to vote for" comment. Republicans are the worst on everything. I hate them, but also don't expect anything else of them. It's the capital-d Democrats at the federal level that hurt the most, knowing that some of them care, and they COULD ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING.. if they ever got their shit together.

I have a limitless capacity for anger at politicians, because they give me endless reasons for being angry, so this is not a case where I'm somehow going to be less angry at Rs. That's just a given.
posted by curious nu at 4:45 PM on April 30, 2023 [9 favorites]

Thank you for the link. I lost it at the look on Biden’s face when Wood pointed out, “they don’t even know why they hate you.”
posted by bendy at 6:38 PM on April 30, 2023 [2 favorites]

I’m stlil watching the Roy G. Wood speech - it’s a roller coaster.
posted by bendy at 6:56 PM on April 30, 2023

"Don't groan, pass legislation!"
posted by hippybear at 7:04 PM on April 30, 2023 [4 favorites]

Is Biden an actor here? CGI? He’s hilarious and harsh.
posted by bendy at 7:10 PM on April 30, 2023

I have been really bummed out that none of the coverage has had any mentions of the young people blockading the entrance demanding action on climate change
posted by wowenthusiast at 7:14 PM on April 30, 2023 [11 favorites]

That’s the angriest president I’ve seen in years.
posted by bendy at 7:18 PM on April 30, 2023 [1 favorite]

Isn't state election law up to the states? I thought there used to be restrictions of some states (that had historically tried to disenfranchise black voters, for example) that had restrictions on them due to the voting rights act. Those restrictions have recently been lifted (2013), and that is when the shenanigans began.

If this is so, and someone correct me if it isn't, there isn't too much the federal government can do short of another Civil Rights Act or the like.
posted by olykate at 8:26 PM on April 30, 2023 [5 favorites]

The Property Brothers video can be seen in this link.
posted by sardonyx at 9:33 PM on April 30, 2023

I simply can't wait to hear what positively SCANDALOUS thing the Mme. de ------ said about the knot in le Comte du -----'s cravat!

Yeah, Wood was fine (as was POTUS) but it really doesn't change the fact that the event itself is like the paradigmatic demonstration of Carlin's "It's a big club, and you ain't in it."
posted by non canadian guy at 10:38 PM on April 30, 2023 [9 favorites]

The property brothers is starting at roughly this timestamp in the full video:

https://youtu.be/GfdC5Pn5kCY?t=2034
posted by DreamerFi at 2:19 AM on May 1, 2023 [1 favorite]

That’s the angriest president I’ve seen in years.

Remember Obama inviting his "anger translator" Luther (Keegan-Michael Key) to the WHCD?
posted by cheshyre at 5:04 AM on May 1, 2023 [5 favorites]

The jokes about SCOTUS and Thomas are... wow guys, maybe do something? We're already in The Cool Zone of SCOTUS assigning itself new privileges/powers and being (at least 4/9th's) On The Take.

The disparity between red state and blue state voting cases should also scare dems shitless. What was it in 2022? It was something like "Ah, it's February. Too late to make North Carolina obey the law, its own constitution, and the fed." followed by "Ah, it's April. Just in time to make New York throw that map out and do it right."

If the news peels the "LoL we're owned Republican operatives" mask off and there's no consequences... why wouldn't they throw caution to the wind?
posted by Slackermagee at 9:57 AM on May 1, 2023 [5 favorites]

The jokes about SCOTUS and Thomas are... wow guys, maybe do something?

What do you recommend they do exactly?
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 10:22 AM on May 1, 2023 [5 favorites]

Is Biden an actor here? CGI? He’s hilarious and harsh.

I'm continually amazed by how people underestimate him. I would have thought everyone would have figured out by now that he's not a senile old man. I mean, he's an old man, and he has a (lifelong) speech impediment, but his wits still seem quite sharp in every extended interview or speech I see him give.

And he's been one of the most accomplished presidents in decades, in terms of policy achievements in his first 2 years... suggesting that long experience in Washington has made him quite good at navigating the system. Again, I find it strange that the public doesn't seem to perceive this.

But I guess the media has done a pretty crap job of putting it all in perspective, and most people don't really follow politics closely -- they just pick up on whatever vibe is floating around in the news. And the media hasn't really liked him since he withdrew from Afghanistan and shattered their illusions about the effectiveness of the U.S. occupation there.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 12:12 PM on May 1, 2023 [19 favorites]

I'm trans and I saw the way Biden sold out railway workers, if he did anything real to protect me and hadn't fucked those people over to the detriment of everyone maybe I'd give him more credit.
posted by an octopus IRL at 1:55 PM on May 1, 2023 [2 favorites]

"Ah, it's April. Just in time to make New York throw that map out and do it right."

Not to downplay all the rest of the hypocrisy that is at play at the US Supreme Court, but that NY ruling was from the top NY State court (confusingly called the Court of Appeals, a level above NY's Supreme Court).
posted by nobody at 1:56 PM on May 1, 2023 [1 favorite]

(There are plenty of other things too like shitty policies in terms of immigration and asylum but the stuff in the previous comment are the first things on my mind at this particular moment)
posted by an octopus IRL at 1:57 PM on May 1, 2023

Biden chose corporate profits over people when he kept the rail workers from striking. Just absolutely fuck this guy, and whoever his press team is, for using this as a campaign slogan.

Speaking as a union worker (currently part of the committee bargaining with my employer for our next contract), I think this narrative about the railroad labor issues is bogus.

The actual situation was that a coalition of unions was in talks with a group of railroads. After they came to a deal, the union negotiators took it back to their members. In some unions, a majority voted to accept the deal. In others, a majority voted to reject it. My understanding is that there were more "no" votes than "yes" votes overall, but a deal like this has to be approved on a union-by-union basis. The numbers were, on the whole, mixed.

With the country having just come out of economic calamity induced by COVID, and now possibly on the verge of a crippling rail strike days before Christmas -- which would have devastated the national economy again, and probably led to mass layoffs -- *Congress* passed legislation to prevent a strike. Biden then signed it.

Some on the left immediately characterized this as "Biden betrayed the workers"... ignoring Congress' involvement, the larger context of extreme economic fragility, and the fact that quite a few workers had voted to accept the deal (which included double-digit pay increases, among other things).

Cartoonish oversimplifications do not make for sound political judgements, IMO.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 2:27 PM on May 1, 2023 [21 favorites]

I'm continually amazed by how people underestimate him.

Artifice_Eternity, thanks for the reminder. I haven’t watched many of his speeches - I tend to search for transcripts or, admittedly, sound bites. I’ll rethink my thoughts.
posted by bendy at 3:03 PM on May 1, 2023

I'm also in a union. I have been on a bargaining team. I am an active union steward. I feel very comfortable calling out Biden on this, since he very publicly went out in front on the issue and told them all to go to work and they were NOT ALLOWED to strike.

I'm also trans, and Biden fucking around with "okay well maybe let's ban SOME people from playing sports" is 1000% bullshit.

Cartoonish oversimplifications do not make for sound political judgements, IMO.

Appeals to "complexity" are used as a way to oppress minorities and the working class.
posted by curious nu at 4:46 PM on May 1, 2023 [6 favorites]

Like, please understand. I'm still going to vote for Democrats, because the alternative is someone who is actively attempting to kill me, my friends, and many of my friends' kids. I don't have to be happy about voting for the person who's going to passively let it happen, in the hope that if we eke out a few more years, someone stronger, and more progressive, can come in and actually help fight against this relentless dive into fascist theocracy.
posted by curious nu at 4:53 PM on May 1, 2023 [9 favorites]

Appeals to "complexity" are used as a way to oppress minorities and the working class.

Life is irreducibly complex. So is politics.

In my experience, oversimplification is more often the path to oppression.
posted by Artifice_Eternity at 10:06 AM on May 2, 2023 [1 favorite]

But here's a new (and welcome) twist: US rail companies grant paid sick days after public pressure in win for unions:

After being roundly criticized for not offering paid sick days, the leading rail companies – BNSF, CSX, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific – have granted many of their 93,000 workers four paid sick days a year through labor negotiations, with an option of taking three more paid sick days from personal days.

“We’re very happy about this. We’ve been trying to get this for decades,” said Artie Maratea, president of the Transportation Communications Union. “It was public pressure and political pressure that got them to come to the table.”

When Joe Biden and Congress enacted legislation in December that blocked a threatened freight rail strike, many workers angrily faulted Biden for not ensuring that the legislation also guaranteed paid sick days. But since then, union officials says, members of the Biden administration, including the transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, and labor secretary, Marty Walsh, who stepped down on 11 March, lobbied the railroads, telling them it was wrong not to grant paid sick days.

posted by Artifice_Eternity at 11:08 AM on May 2, 2023 [3 favorites]

Roy Wood Jr. sits down with writers Christiana Mbakwe-Medina, Felonious Munk, and David Angelo to do a bit of a post mortem on his correspondents' dinner speech. [32m]
posted by hippybear at 9:26 AM on May 3, 2023