Tbe Tenth Joke

Bumped from July 17: I have watched The Tonight Show for at least forty years-- I even remember Paar. In all that time, I have never seen a political candidate given the deference that Obama has received. Jay Leno's Obama jokes can be counted on my fingers. Just for kicks, back in December, I started keeping tabs on who was the target of the most jokes. Well, I quit my list during my surgery and immediate recovery and never got back to the list, except for one candidate. Obama had no hits on my list in December.

My criteria was simple: the candidate had to be the butt of the joke, not simply mentioned in the joke.

Guess which candidates were leading my list. You're right: Sen. Clinton, President Clinton, then John Edwards. The cheap Clinton jokes always get a laugh, proving yet again that the Clenis Rules (Bad) Comedy. Edwards' hair was closely followed by Romney's underwear, but all in all, Democrats far out numbered Republicans. Bush jokes will remain popular forever but don't count since he is already president.

Obama has been the object of only nine jokes since December and most of those were about bowling. (I bet Leno has told nine Clinton jokes in one monologue.) I am hopeful that Leno will do number ten by the end of the month but I am not holding my breath. I wish he would since I am really tired of paying attention.

If Obama becomes president, I predict a comedy drought of Biblical proportions.

Update: Thursday night (July 17)-- three hits on Bill Clinton, zero for everyone else.

Update: Friday night (July 18)-- Bush 3, McCain 1, Obama 1! It's over. Finally, the tenth Obama joke-- albeit a weak one about Obama excerising to do flip-flops. My long comedy nightmare is over.