SNL Blindly Offends on 'Weekend Update'

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"Saturday Night Live" has always made politicians’ policies and missteps the butt of jokes, but the popular NBC show stooped too far on Dec.13, when it made fun of a governor’s disability.

On Saturday, Seth Meyers’ “Weekend Update” bit featured a sketch with Fred Armisen playing New York’s Democratic Governor David Paterson. Armisen played the role of the mostly blind Paterson with one eye half closed, and was shown needing help finding the desk right in front of him.

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if it's okay to make fun of sarah pailin's disabled son ...

i don't see any problem with mocking the NY gov. (no pun intended)

 

 

Bingo!

This was a sendup of a Governor, NOT  'ridiculing of people with disabilities'.

If you're a public figure, you'd better expect to be made fun of, vilified, stereotyped and ridiculed.

It's in the job description.

Just ask ol' JugEars McHopenchange.

 

 

 

It'd be one thing if they

It'd be one thing if they made fun of the things he did as governor. But to make fun of a blind man for being blind is mean spirited and bigoted, no matter who the blind man is.

Aye

Agreed...

Colemine1210

Aye????

Is that supposed to be funny???? :/

"This
liberal would be all about socialize -- uh, uh, would be about
basically taking over and the government running all of your companies."-Maxine Waters 2008

Eye???

Now it is.

  • LYDSEXICS UNTIE!

Cool,

Now that's some mighty fine editin'.

"This
liberal would be all about socialize -- uh, uh, would be about
basically taking over and the government running all of your companies."-Maxine Waters 2008

If the NY Gov was a GOPer, no prob...

I guess even drug using, manwhores aren't subject to a little mockery if they are black.

paterson brings it on himself

by his inaction in proper governing. it's only a very just reward that he gets rediculed by the media in his own home town.

How many David Pattersons

How many David Pattersons does it take to change a lightbulb? None. He's blind, you moron.

What's the difference between Governor Patterson and ex-Governor Spitzer? Spitzer called an exclusive escort service and paid $4000 a night for a high class hooker. Patterson called an exclusive escort service and paid $4000 a night for the ugliest skank on their books.

If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same...
Yours is the earth and all that's in it...

OMG

So freaking typical.  Don't dare make fun of a black politician.  People forget the years of Chevy Chase poking fun at Ford, and falling over trying to decorate a Christmas tree.  We went from a country with a sense of humor to a country that can't poke fun at anybody - to a county that can't touch the black community.  GIVE ME A CHRISTMAS FREAKIN' BREAK.

SNL

When SNL first appeared, some of us warned what this "mocking" would bring. Decades later it has morphed into the upleasant, to say the least. It is like the joke at a party or with a group of friends. After a while those who are the butt of the humor begin to get annoyed. Jokes have ruined many a friendship. How long did the "liberals" think they could go without being mocked? And who is to determine what hurt the laughs are causing? Political satire has a time and place. But it should be rare. "Whatcha' gonna' do when they come for you"?  Protest---as the blind lib from N.Y. is doing? Demand a retraction? Or just despise those who are laughing at you? Sad.

NEVER,NEVER trust a "liberal"

paterson brings it on himself

by his inaction in proper governing. it's only a very just reward that he gets rediculed by the media in his own home town.

Sorry that this is off

Sorry that this is off topic here.. but has anybody heard about the new tax that Govenor Patterson is proposing? 

Yes, God forbid they cut $15

Yes, God forbid they cut $15 billion in spending.  Morons.

Yep, liberals never met a tax they didn't like

I heard about the "food police" tax on Coca-Cola, Pepsi, etc., and it's so typically liberal.  I've said for years that liberals never met a tax they didn't like (with apologies to Will Rogers).  Combine that with the zeal of the food cops and you've got another recipe for liberal disaster. 

 

Patterson said the pain must be shared.

"Even with the cuts, the 2009-10 budget would increase a little more than 1%, the smallest hike since 1996-97."  NY Daily News

Except the government.

Waiting for our CA Dem-a-Rino Gov to follow a blind guy.

He may actually have

He may actually have difficulty finding his desk, but not locating booty.

Honestly, after the past 8

Honestly, after the past 8 years of having to endure seeing politicians I support mocked mercilessly, it was refreshing to see SNL set their sights on Blinky Paterson (whoops). 

I can understand the need to be consistant with prior critiques of Bush, Palin, McCain, etc... and to that end I applaud NewsBusters for succesfully being objective in their knee-jerk reactions.

I highly doubt Paterson sees it as a disability (whoops), and whining that SNL went too far simply because they imitated someone with a disability seems like a waste of bandwidth.

It wouldn't make any sense to mock the guy with a white comedian that doesn't even try to mimick the mannerisms and speaking style of the subject being imitated.

Paterson is in the public eye (there I go again) and as such, is subject to praise, prodding and mockery - regardless of his "disability."

blind jokes

I grew up with a blind father and uncle, and we all got the biggest kick out of blind jokes and poking fun at them, nothing malicious, just pickin'. When they get together, they make more fun of themselves than we ever would. 

 

Why don't blind people skydive?

it scares their dog

it scares their dog

Somebody asked the blind

Somebody asked the blind skydiver how he could tell when he was near to the ground. He said, "The leash goes slack."

just wondering

Did you go on TV and do that?

Colemine1210

another blind joke

A blind man walks into a store and picks his seeing eye dog up by the tail and swings it around above his head.

The clerk is alarmed and says"Can I help you, sir"

The man replies,"No, I'm just looking around."

→ Blind jokes

Blind man walks past a fish market and says " . . ."

  • LYDSEXICS UNTIE!

I give up, what???

I give up, what???

→ Dan Diego

Check private message.

  • LYDSEXICS UNTIE!

I enjoyed SNL in the late

I enjoyed SNL in the late 70's, but not much after that.

As long as they are equal opportunity slaggers (like Southpark guys) it's hard to take issue with them.

It is a Comedy Show!

It's okay, downright innovative, and a Top-5 highlight of 2008 when Sarah Palin was mocked by Tina Fey for several weeks in a row.  "I can see Russia from my house!!"

It's okay when Will Ferrel portrayed President Bush as a moron, and Dick Cheney was portrayed as a manipulative, control-freak.

SNL dares not mock Obama.  He's just portrayed as a "cool cat".

But satarize a black, drug-using governor of New York, and you'd think the world was about to end.

Sorry, but I watched the sketch, and it was funny as hell.  It's one of the few times I actually laughed out loud watching SNL, and that doesn't happen very often any more.

Just a little help

It's "satirize" and "Will Ferrell".  You're so brilliant in your argument, just wanted to help with your spelling issues.

 Colemine1210

Face it, junior, you're

Face it, junior, you're never gonna make it as one who imparts intelligent discourse or as a spelling nazi around here.

Five years from now after you've finally finished that two year curriculum at the community college and you've landed that big job at the local paper mill as the something-or-other, even the minimum wage earning trailer-court grunts who run the sluice hopper are going to look down their noses at you and sneer in contempt.

Liberal: a power worshipper without power. George Orwell

Trix... I'm roaring with

Trix...

I'm roaring with laughter here...I just scared my dog under my feet and the cat on my lap with my outburst...

Thank you...such words of wisdom to out latest resident troll here.

Such laughter you gave me tonight.

"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh

Anytime, BT, anytime...but

Anytime, BT, anytime...but I believe that the word "troll" as does the word "loser" implies a certain degree of intelligence that can't be attributed to folks like...well...him.

Liberal: a power worshipper without power. George Orwell

Trix...OMG! You gotta'

Trix...

OMG! You gotta' stop...I'm really laughing now...I can't help it...you are getting in some good ones here..all the truth too.

Sure glad you're so witty tonight...funny how we all go in spurts here and there with things on this site.

Thank goodness for NBs and the great posters here...it does relieve stress...politically and otherwise sometime in what all we face individually in our daily lives.

"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh

Great. Yet another spelling NAZI.

-Dave

Will work for beer.

I'm Sorry!

Yikes!  Two spelling errors!  I do most humbly apologize, but I still think the sketch was hilarious!!

amen north

 freakin' hilarious!  now let's see what kind of nads these guys really have.  let's see if they can follow it up with a  "blind gov appointing a know nothing neophyte with a family name" skit.  i would regain much respect for their knife cutting both ways.

"Here comes the orator! With his flood of words, and his drop of reason"  Ben Franklin

Ecclesiastes 10:2 The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left

I Stand Corrected

Thank you, Colemine, for the spelling lesson.  I stand corrected!  Now log off and get back to Daily Kos, a blog at which you are clearly more at-home.  Merry Christmas, and may the joy of the season and the celebration of the birth of Jesus bring you the peace and happiness you so richly deserve.  God bless!

I thought it was a funny bit

I thought it was a funny bit (funnier when he returned to interrupt Amy Poehler's goodbye), but I was a little uncomfortable about making fun of his eyes. 

All in all, it was funny. Petersen should lighten up, not play the victim. 

boa... I thought it was

boa...

I thought it was funny too.

Hey, by the way...where have you been...starting worrying just a wee bit about you little brother.   ;-)

I, for one ,am glad to see we have our nay-sayer back in the fold.

"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh

→ Naysayer?

You mean sarcasmo's back?

Oh, Balboa!

  • LYDSEXICS UNTIE!

I thought the Paterson skit

I thought the Paterson skit was the funniest bit of the entire show.

Some of my biggest laughs came when Paterson re-appeared and screwed up the farewell sentiments of Amy Poehler.  It looked like both Poehler and Meyers were genuinely surprised.

Hmmmm

Wasn't it Seth Meyers that wrote the skit about Todd Palin having sex with his daughter?  So Enlightened.

This Is What Irritates Me Most About Censorship...

Whether it comes from the left or the right, they just cannot seem to recognize that when it comes to humor, there is no limit. There is absolutely no way you can ever go too far as a comedian or a humorist. We have seen that on South Park or any Adult Swim show you can think of. If nobody ever wanted to be offended by humor, read the comics section in any newspaper. It has been restrained so far to a point that the most outrageous stuff in the paper, if it were broadcast on television as is, would get a TV-G. That is very sad.

→ Very sad

Yeah, that comedy gets a free pass every time.  Take that guy Michael Richards from Seinfeld.  Oh?  Really?  Never mind.

  • LYDSEXICS UNTIE!

Cool

Cool Arrow...

Bulls-Eye!

You put that cool arrow of yours straight to the heart of this matter.

"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh

BT,

"You put that cool arrow of yours straight to the heart of this matter."

It must be noted that in Texas, Cool Arrow means something else entirely. :)

(JK Cool.)

"This
liberal would be all about socialize -- uh, uh, would be about
basically taking over and the government running all of your companies."-Maxine Waters 2008

→ Who? Me?

As a native Texan I can't imagine what you're talking about.

All my Spanish speaking friends call me Cool Arrow.  I think it means friend, right?

  • LYDSEXICS UNTIE!

Cool, The word culero

Cool,

The word culero ain't exactly a friendly monicker.

Liberal: a power worshipper without power. George Orwell

Hmm, I thought it meant somethin else,

Guess I was mistakin'. 

So, that means the National Council of La Raza are just a bunch of "cool arrows" we haven't met yet. ;>)

"This
liberal would be all about socialize -- uh, uh, would be about
basically taking over and the government running all of your companies."-Maxine Waters 2008

R1... Well, since I'm not

R1...

Well, since I'm not from Texas I thought for a second or two and wanted you to 'splain to me...but now I'm pretty sure I get it....lol.

"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh

Well heck RI, maybe you'd

Well heck RI, maybe you'd better explain to me after-all...   ;-)

"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh

Sorry about that BT

Here is the G-rated definition

I have seen other definitions, but this is the one that I hear used for the most. (Warning, this defintion is R-rated).

"This
liberal would be all about socialize -- uh, uh, would be about
basically taking over and the government running all of your companies."-Maxine Waters 2008

R1... Well one thing

R1...

Well one thing about it...7 fits that description perfectly.

In fact he is a perfect one.

"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh

BT,

Ain't that the truth. A few others around here fit as well. 

"This
liberal would be all about socialize -- uh, uh, would be about
basically taking over and the government running all of your companies."-Maxine Waters 2008

We couldn't agree more

We couldn't agree more R1.

"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh

SNL's biggest offense:

They are not funny anymore.

1982

Ebony & Ivory sketch
Frank Sinatra.....Joe Piscopo

Stevie Wonder.....Eddie Murphy

Stevie Wonder: "I am dark, and you are light."

Frank Sinatra: "You are blind as a bat, and I have sight!

Sincerely,

a Veteran of a 1000 psychic wars.

I don't know why he bothered paying attention to them....

I don't know why he even bothered paying attention to them, that show is irrelevant.  It's not funny anymore, the writing is horribly sophomoric, it's just a bunch of so-called college graduates who haven't left the frat house looking for a job.  The last sketch I actually laughed out loud at was the "Cowbell" sketch featuring Christopher Walken.

It was funny back in the day, but it's a show that needs to go away badly, but NBC doesn't know what to do with the time slot.  I have an idea, "Bad ideas by liberals!"  That will easily fill up 1 1/2 hours  on a Saturday night every week for many years.

Tom

This was absolutely

This was absolutely hilarious.

The Rocky Mountain Collegian: Illustrating Idiocy