The proudest moment in his career, Late Show writer Bill Scheft boasted at a Friday comedy writer panel held at Washington, DC's Newseum, was when he got David Letterman to try to undermine guest John McCain's Bill Ayers talking point by raising McCain's relationship with G. Gordon Liddy -- as if a political dirty trickster were the equivalent of a terrorist involved with bombings which killed people, could have killed hundreds more if his attempts worked and remains unrepentant. At the event, organized by the Writers Guild of America, East, and shown Saturday night on C-SPAN, Scheft declared of his effort to discredit an anti-Obama point: “I'm more proud of that than any single joke that I've written.” That earned applause from the audience.
Later, to a chorus of “yeah” from other writers on the stage representing The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Late Night, as well as another Late Show writer (Tom Ruprecht, who is in front of Scheft in the screen shot, the best I could get), Scheft insisted the only reason the comedy shows don't make fun of President Barack Obama is because he's “a little too damn competent and we ain't used to that.”
Earlier in the day, some of the participants delivered stand-up acts and DCRTV.com's “page 2" recounted this “joke” from Scheft: “Former Vice President Dick Cheney -- I actually don’t have a joke here, I just like to say former Vice President Dick Cheney.”
Scheft, a writer for Letterman since 1991, at the May 8 event:
The moment that I am most proud of having been on the show is when we had John McCain on after, you know, he, you know, bolted on us to go save the economy. When he came back to the show, and he was, at the time he was out on the campaign trail beating the Bill Ayers drone. And I gave Dave a note before we went on about McCain's relationship to Gordon Liddy. And, in the middle of the interview, McCain starts talking about Obama palling around with terrorists and Bill Ayers.And I stand under the spiral staircase on stage and I was just standing there going: “Liddy, Liddy, say Liddy, please say Liddy, please say Liddy.” And Dave said, “Well don't you have a relationship with G. Gordon Liddy?” And you just saw, you know, whatever chip was left in McCain's head just kind of, phhh, and “well I, you know, I know him.” “Well, didn't you go to a fundraiser, didn't you attend a fundraiser at his house?” “Well I.” “We'll be right back.” Which is the great thing that a host can do, you know, “we'll be right back.”...I'm more proud of that than any single joke that I've written.” [Applause]
....
It's not because he's black and it's not because we're afraid. It's just that he's, just so far, just a little too damn competent and we ain't used to that. [multiple panelists say “yeah.”]
Letterman's hit on McCain about Liddy comes a little past the 19-minute mark in the video linked on this page (ACT 3, Senator John McCain, Watch now) of the contentious interview on the October 16 Late Show.
—Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
Enjoy Yourselves Boys for Now
May 10, 2009 - 15:14 ET by allanfA statist like Obama knows no bounds. One day he will demagogue obscense salaries on Wall Street. The next day he may come after you.
So laugh while you still can.
allanf... These type of
May 10, 2009 - 15:34 ET by bigtimerallanf...
These type of people always think they are above all grasps...all the time.
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart
Good old Whassisname....
May 11, 2009 - 10:33 ET by grumpyoldbLetterman's writer, much like Letterman himself is in dire need of an optorectomy. It's a wonderful little operation needed by many of these people. they put a little window in the belly button so they can see where they're going........
You mean Letterman shows
May 10, 2009 - 15:22 ET by MidAmericaYou mean Letterman shows aren't reruns? I could have sworn that the last time I watched him it was the same stuff I seen him do twenty years ago.
MidAmerica, you've got that one right!
May 10, 2009 - 20:27 ET by goldenthroatIs it any wonder Letterman continues to languish at the bottom of the late night ratings? With morons like this writing for him it will be nothing but a continuation of the same old same old!
Let's see - how about one more segment of "Will It Float?" Or maybe another worn out rendition of the "Top Ten" list? Or his relentless bashing of anything conservative with "jokes" that repeat from one night to the next? His perpetual negativism turned me off years ago and his repeated interruption of his guests while interviewing them shows his lack of class.
Letterman has long worn out his welcome with his borishness - when is someone going to pull the plug on his show? Probably never - he DOES work for the Clinton Broadcasting System, doesn't he?
"Inferior people should not be employed!" - Firesign Theatre
Buffoons are easily
May 10, 2009 - 15:26 ET by George S PattonBuffoons are easily impressed, no wonder the teleprompter won.
The dirty little secret
May 10, 2009 - 15:37 ET by MidAmericaThe dirty little secret is that any comedian or comedy writer that dares joke about obama will be blacklisted. All of entertainment is now living in fear of 'the knock on the door'.
Looks like the
May 10, 2009 - 15:59 ET by QueenMumLooks like the entertainment industry's chickens ... are coming home ...to roooooooo...st.
Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. The savage's whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of the tribe. Civilization is the process of setting man free from men. - Ayn Rand
I think you're right, Mid.
May 10, 2009 - 17:40 ET by danebramageI think you're right, Mid. They created a monster which now threatens to devour them.
You'd think they could transfer that lesson to the world of politics, but evidently such insight is in short supply on the left.
→ It's just not fair
May 10, 2009 - 17:48 ET by Cool ArrowHe shows more breast than Miss California and the judges don't even think of disqualifying him.
Anybody want to argue his shirtless jog along the beach wasn't tittilating to the drooling left? I'm thinking Chris Matthews as Dudley Moore and Obama as Bo Derek with the beads in the hair.
LYDSEXICS UNTIE!
Hey cool
May 10, 2009 - 18:02 ET by MidAmericaAnybody can take their shirt off. But can obama take off his shirt and do this? If he did, Chrissy would have to call his doctor to report a case of priapism.
MA... Hilarious! Doubling
May 10, 2009 - 19:07 ET by bigtimerMA...
Hilarious!
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart
It's just that he's, just
May 10, 2009 - 15:49 ET by bretzysdudeIt's just that he's, just so far, just a little too damn competent and we ain't used to that.
Oh, of course! "Austrian" is competent! "Cinco de cuatro" is competent! iPod and DVD gifts are competent! Kneeling down is competent! "57 States" is competent!
What, did we just lower our expectations for intelligence, is that what happened?
"im a little too damn
May 10, 2009 - 16:39 ET by TruthMonger"im a little too damn competent...im a little bit rock n roll...!"
these writers are a joke - plenty of material there
spoiled brats, hogging all the media - i blame the parents - or lack thereof - as they may have been gone most of the time mountain biking or something
government is the communists capitalism
"...a little too damn competent..."
May 10, 2009 - 19:41 ET by puredmashielet's just put that clip in a safe place and bring it out a year from now. by then we will have seen gm declare bankruptcy, taking down no less than a quarter of the subsuppliers in the auto industry. tax revenues will have been less than expected, and the defecit will have exploded. and i don't even want to think about what will have happened to our once-envied health care industry.
america is the envy of the world because it is the land of opportunity, not the land of entitlement.
swing hard in case you hit it.
Self-importance simply
May 10, 2009 - 15:56 ET by ThisnThatSelf-importance simply knows no bounds.
___________________________________
The challenge is to follow a consistent plan despite inconsistent prices - Sarah Palin, State of the State of Alaska speech
So let me get this
May 10, 2009 - 15:58 ET by BlazerSo let me get this straight. His first 100 hundred day's weren't comedy ? A dark comedy granted, but it was still a comedy of error's.
Very funny, but only if you stayed semi-innebriated.
"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious. "
- Ben Kenobi on Liberals, and the MSM.
" The Cake is a lie."
Blazer: Often dark humor
May 10, 2009 - 16:01 ET by QueenMumBlazer: Often dark humor takes a bit of thought to digest. The liberal mind hasn't the attention span required to understand it.
Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. The savage's whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of the tribe. Civilization is the process of setting man free from men. - Ayn Rand
Aw say it ain't so, QM!
May 10, 2009 - 19:09 ET by balboaAw say it ain't so, QM!
It is truly pathetic in one way
May 10, 2009 - 16:33 ET by Defector01They are so full of themselves and so in the belief that they are on the side of the angels that they wholeheartedly and proudly admit to their one side bias. They have no shame whatsoever and they'll pay soon enough as their industry comes toppling down.
I have only ever made one prayer to God, a very short one: O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous. And God granted it - Voltaire
obama supports mass murderers
May 10, 2009 - 16:35 ET by david999obama's BEST friends William Ayers and his wife Bernadette
Dorn murdered 5 police officers and security guards and
wounded more then a dozen in their bombing and bank
robberies. Ayers planned the attacks, others including his wife
carried them out.
It was Bernadette Dorn who placed the bomb on the window sill
next to an officer inside a San Francisco police station that
killed him and wounded many other officers.
obama's cousin is a mass murderer, he had his followers slaughter thousands after he lost an election. obama campaigned for him and raised over a million dollars for him. Ayers himself has said he would have to kill 25 million Americans when they take over because they would not submit to them.
These small men Scheft and Letterman think obama is praise worthy?
Well, this speaks volumes.
May 10, 2009 - 17:45 ET by JerryWell, this speaks volumes. This "comedy writer's" greatest accomplishment was that he was able to silence any criticism of his beloved Barrack Obama. And Letterman went along with the ambush. Nice.
When asked if he went to war with Iraq to derail the impeachment vote: “I don’t think any serious person would believe that any President would do such a thing." - President Clinton (Dec 1998).
New Low (Don't Worry, There'll Another One Tomorrow)
May 10, 2009 - 18:10 ET by rammingspeedIf these people are going to be cheerleaders for the Left, let them. But let's not let them get away with acting like they're just being comedians/journalists, pitching it down the middle, when they are the most hate mongering group of individuals ever seen on the American political scene. And, as Newt Gingrich said on Fox News today, they've screamed about Joe McCarthy all these years. McCarthy was a silent fart compared to the gas being blown by Bill Scheft and his slimy colleagues.
i hope
May 10, 2009 - 18:50 ET by ronwhen they do get around to telling an obama joke they do it in austrian
Well, since the show ISN'T
May 10, 2009 - 20:40 ET by jwm45Well, since the show ISN'T funny, I guess this "comedy" writer would be proud of trying to knee-cap McCain
It's just that he's, just
May 10, 2009 - 20:50 ET by fitzfongIt's just that he's, just so far, just a little too damn competent and we ain't used to that.
Competent at what? Organizing a race-baiting voter fraud organization to register dead people and intimidate dissenters? Getting elected to office by taking steps to ensure that his opposition is token, at best? Hiring a serial tax cheat to run the Federal Treasury? Threatening to ruin individuals, businesses and states if they don't bend over to the will of the economy-destroying unions and eco-parasites? Well, in that case, Mooney Giancana was pretty damn competent, too.
"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." -Winston Churchill
KUDOS TO SARAH PALIN
May 10, 2009 - 22:26 ET by TexndocWhy? Because she never did Letterman's show. Or Oprah. Or The View. McCain went on two of those wrecks, in a feeble attempt at acceptance. Is this jerk's admission that Republicans are a target proof enough to the clueless politicians that YOU DON'T need to lie down with these jerks?
"Too competent"? Wonder
May 10, 2009 - 22:32 ET by RR GOP"Too competent"?
Wonder how long they'll be able to pull that off, that is, at what point will the laughter turn to chirping crickets.
Letterman and Leno probably are thinking about getting out before the next disaster so they won't have to defend themselves, and won't have anything they can joke about...and have too much explaining to do.
They have their millions. All they have left are a few years to enjoy retirement like Carson, and they can insulate themselves from a pissed off, fickle public.
One of the 34% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 61% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory (yep...approval for Congress now at 39%...do you believe that!?).
The first show that makes
May 11, 2009 - 01:35 ET by MrSnugglesThe first show that makes fun of obama will see its ratings increase. But will the left finally get a freaking clue and figure out that leftist propoganda does not sell, and that in order to make a profit they must be more "moderate"?
*gasp*, did I just prescribe the left some of its own medicine?
I actually think that they made a funny against
May 11, 2009 - 03:05 ET by gmaniac1the Baby Boy. See, they know they can't get on him publicly because of the mantra of being racist. Here's the genius part of it... they called him "competent." There it is, that's the joke! He's too competent to be ragged on but really they KNOW he isn't competent at all.
Disclaimer: This message may only be understood by conservative thinkers because it has quite a degree of logic in it. However, by request, I will be happy to translate it to the sheepish libs.
When the people fear the government it's called tyranny, when the government fears the people it's called liberty!
Moronic
May 11, 2009 - 06:28 ET by Edward CropperThis shows you the total disconnect and dishonesty between reality and
left-wing never never land. What comparison does Gordon Liddy have to Bill
Ayers?
Liddy broke the law and went to jail. He served his time came out and made a
pretty good life for himself .
Bill Ayers was a nut case who tried to kill people and through prosecutorial
ignorance got away with it. He is still a nut case and thumbs his nose at the
law and common decency.
SYKES AND AIR AMERICA
May 11, 2009 - 07:23 ET by reelman46SYKES AND AIR AMERICA
Yet
another example of the angry tacky liberal approach to political life.
At a spoof-fest that had not a thing to do with any talk show host a
black female (Wanda Sykes) just had to “hope that Limbaugh’s kidneys
fail”. Are political policies and kidneys are anything alike?
Think about the angry viciousness and inappropriateness of that
comment. Bush had eight years to have equal comments made about the
kook hosts of hateful lefty Air America. None were made. Repeat, none
were made, ever.
You see, there are no taste or ethical boundaries for the secular
socialists. They get a pass to do this sort of tacky stuff week after
week. The Dufus actually laughed. You can bet he will not smooth it
over either. What does that tell you about the true nature of the man?
Its a tradition of national democrats to have others throw the
spears or to just say anything they like…knowing the biased media will
change their diapers as needed. Dumbing down the culture is democrat
domain.
Doug Schexnayder, Ph.D. (theconservativecrawfish)
translation
May 11, 2009 - 07:34 ET by bertkillianScheft insisted the only reason the comedy shows don't make fun of President Barack Obama is because he's “a little too damn competent and we ain't used to that.”
translation:
the only reason the comedy shows don't make fun of President Barack Obama is because he's “black and we don't have the balls to make fun of him because of that.”
Once upon a time
May 11, 2009 - 09:05 ET by lookIn the late 1980's I thought Letterman was the funniest thing on TV. To see him now is sad, not so much for him, but for that teenager in the late 1980's who would tape Late Night episodes on his VCR to watch upon returning home from school.
look
May 11, 2009 - 09:10 ET by sherylsimsI also remember watching him about 30 years ago when I was a college student. I thought he was pretty funny, but I don't think he was trying to be political back then. He seems very bitter now. I don't remember what I thought was funny about him except the stupid dog tricks (or was it stupid human tricks?) and the "Top Ten" lists. I haven't watched lately, but the last time I did watch it wasn't even remotely funny.
Let the Late Show know how
May 11, 2009 - 10:11 ET by MaideneerLet the Late Show know how you feel...
cbsmailbag@aol.com
John McCain and G. Gordon Liddy
May 11, 2009 - 23:34 ET by Charles H. GarridoHello! Mr.. Baker always column Thanks. 5/11/09 Remember no matter what they think.-" What they lack is the spirit of generalization an revolutionary ardour"-KARL MARX." Senator Mr. McCain and Mr. Gordon Liddy are Both Man and Americans.-Today this Administration are Liberals/Socialism for sure when USD are going out $$$$$ "Turmoil" will start the running and run with, intimidation and harrasment over Hypocricy .We have our Constitution we are not surrender. Number One First amendment all have my PARROT speaks in English and in Portuguese,& Second Amendment we maintain all my Water Pistols I will play with my granchilren in our Swiminpool.- NOTE By the way will hear& read will have & another Man an American Mr. Rush Limbaugh, and many Conservatives.-
Thanks & Cooperation.-
Charles H. Garrido, Miami Fla