Not laughing anymore

President Barak Obama has enjoyed the fawning attention of an adoring national press corps (not corpse) since being thrust upon the national scene in the 2004 Democrat National Convention. The support for the president continues to this day, despite mounting evidence that his policies are leading the economy of the United States to ruin.

That is as much because the members of the press refuse to accept that they could have been so horribly wrong about the candidate they guided into the White House as it is that they are profoundly ignorant about the subjects they report on.

Still, a story on the Politico website may indicate that the first cracks may have appeared in the castle walls. The Politico story, by Patrick Gavin,
reports that even while unemployment continues to climb, laughter in the White House press briefings is down 50%. The story did not relate who actually keeps such statistics, but reported that the White House press corps averaged 179 bouts of laughter per month during press briefings last summer, but can only muster about 80 such interruptions per month lately. See the Politico story at: http://www.politico.com/click/stories/1002/press_room_laughter_dies_down.html

Admittedly, the Obama White House has suffered some pretty disappointing months since last summer. It has seen its signature Health Care takeover bill utterly rejected by the American people. The rejection was so resounding that the White House could not complete the legislative process on either of the House or Senate bills with overwhelming majorities in both chambers.

The utter failure of the Health Care power grab was complimented by the string of electoral defeats suffered by the democrats in the fall. They lost governor’s seats in Virginia and New Jersey, replacing democrats in both states. However, these losses paled in comparison to the shattering news from the People’s Republic of Massachusetts, where the seat once occupied by the abundant behind of Ted Kennedy was lost to upstart republican state senator Scott Brown.

Add those calamities to staggering increases in federal expeditures, the massive growth of the budget deficits, and the prospect of equally massive tax increases that will be required to fund those deficits, it has not been a banner year for the Obama White House. But is that any reason to alter the hilarity of press briefings? Quoted in Gavin’s story in Politico, Washington Examiner White House correspondent Julie Mason said, “There definitely aren't a lot of laughs around the briefing room these days. Robert's little digs and evasions have lost their power to amuse.”

Of course she was referring to the digs of White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. Mr Gibbs is the former press secretary for the failed presidential bid of Senator John Kerry (D-MA), and the political consultant who has become Mr Obama’s mouthpiece. Unfortunately for Mr Gibbs, even the sycophantic Obama press corps does not seem to be able to crack a smile, given the incredibly inept performance of the hapless Robert Gibbs’ boss in his first year.