Obama impersonator gets hook at GOP meeting. Why was he hired?
Obama impersonator Reggie Brown was the entertainment at the Republican Leadership Conference meeting on Saturday. At least, he was the entertainment until he got the hook. He was right in the middle of a joke about Michele Bachmann when the music went up and he was escorted off the stage.
Why was Mr. Brown鈥檚 performance cut short? According to RLC president Charlie Davis, it was due to some racially tinged material at the beginning of the comedian鈥檚 set.
鈥淲e have zero tolerance for racially insensitive jokes. As soon as I realized what was going on I rushed backstage and had him pulled,鈥� said Mr. Davis Monday in a statement about the incident.
Brown himself has a different story. He believes he was running a bit long 鈥� and that the conference organizers may have been miffed that he was jabbing at Republican presidential candidates as well as Obama.
鈥淚 do believe that I was over my time by a few minutes, and I also believe that the material was starting to get to a point to where maybe they started to feel uncomfortable with where it was going,鈥� said Brown Monday on CNN.
We won鈥檛 adjudicate this argument ourselves. Was it racially insensitive for Brown 鈥� posing as Obama 鈥� to joke that Michelle Obama celebrates all of Black History Month, while he only celebrates half? (Both Michelle鈥檚 parents are African-American, while he is the son of a Kenyan father and a white mother).
It might just be that the RLC did not want to give Democrats any reason to complain that the group is tinged with racism. As comedian Jon Stewart pointed out during an appearance on 鈥�Fox News Sunday,鈥� that鈥檚 a charge with which conservatives are often battered, fairly or not.
鈥淧eople on the right are called 鈥榬acist鈥� and other things with an ease I am uncomfortable with.... That鈥檚 something I think they have a real right to be angry about,鈥� said the Comedy Central star during an otherwise with Fox host Chris Wallace.
On the other hand, as Brown himself admits, he鈥檇 rambled on for about 15 minutes 鈥� and he had just gotten into a portion of his performance that was pretty tough on Republicans.
He鈥檇 made a joke about Mitt Romney possibly having multiple First Ladies, due to his Mormon faith. He鈥檇 said Tim Pawlenty was off having his foot removed from his mouth, but not to worry 鈥� it was covered under 鈥淥bamneyCare.鈥� As to Congresswoman Bachmann, the Obama impersonator said ... well, we don鈥檛 know, because at that moment a smiling gent appeared on stage and whisked him away.
However, after looking at all the evidence available to this point, we do have this to ask of the conference organizers: What were they thinking when they booked this guy?
That鈥檚 not a comment as to the humor or perceived lack thereof of Brown鈥檚 performance. It鈥檚 a reference to the fact that if you鈥檙e running a political gathering you better make darn sure of what kinds of jokes you鈥檙e getting. Look at it this way 鈥� if you鈥檙e putting together a Red Sox fan banquet, you know attendees want to laugh at jokes about Derek Jeter, not David Ortiz.
And it鈥檚 clear from that if you hire Reggie Brown you鈥檙e not going to be able to predict where the jokes are going. He鈥檚 bipartisan in the sense that he鈥檚 an equal opportunity offender. Kind of like Stephen Colbert, who in his infamous 2006 appearance at the White House Correspondents Association dinner ripped everybody, including the reporters in his audience.
Brown鈥檚 highlight tape includes a joke about how Sarah Palin helped him get elected in 2008. It includes a long riff that involves Arizona鈥檚 immigration law, police harassment, and Sen. John McCain. We won鈥檛 even get into the one whose punch line includes the words 鈥�Lindsey Lohan鈥� and 鈥渟obriety.鈥�
Brown promises his performance 鈥渨ill be something your audience will never forget.鈥� Looks like that point was dead on.
