[J m HofMarN]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24673570/

How in gods name did someone this dull manage to fool people into thinking that he was presidential material. I know that speaking without a teleprompter is not a skill many candidates have, but wehn Huckabee was interrupted by a Huckacrash during the NRA convention, he had this to say:

"That was Barack Obama. He just tripped off a chair. He was getting ready to speak and somebody aimed a gun at him, and he dove for the floor,"

My question is: why? Why in gods name would you believe that to be even remotely funny. First of all, you're a former presidential candidate talking about another presidential hopeful being shot at to a group of people who are supposed to advocate the responsible use of guns.

However even if we are to assume that the subject material of a black man running for president being almost assassinated is inately hilarious, we must examine the phrasing of the joke. It seems to be the joke equivalent of war and peace, and the punch line is that someone dives to the floor when a gun is pointed at them. This is ironic because... No, wait, no it isn't.

But even the lack of a punch line might be viewed as a gutsy move if you could delete, oh, about half of the damned joke. Especially when one line says "tripped off a chair" adn the other one says he "dove for the floor" Speaking of which, you don't usually dive "for" the floor. It's not something that the for is required for. When you dive, you're either diving for an olympic medal, or, more likely, you're diving to the floor. The for indicates contention. Barack Obama, despite his lack of love for heavy weapons, I believe he is capable of hiting the floor when he dives towards it.

So maybe its just the length that does it. Let's try the Huckajoke without any of the excess material:

"Barack Obama was speaking and somebody aimed a gun at him, and he dove to the floor"

No, that's even less funny than McCain's ramble because in a more sensible world the only time that would be uttered would be on a news program detailing that very same event. And it would not elicit laughter.

I recognize that he was speaking to people who like guns, but I doubt even they like the idea of guns being aimed at random people. Especially since the last time that happened the result was the Brady Bill. Here's a joke that has some chance of being humorous: "Barack Obama must have seen a gun somewhere and ducked. That crash was his ears hitting the floor!"

Now, that both combines a mocking of his generally understood to be somewhat large ears, and a mockery of his lack of affection for fire arms. That actually IS a mockery because it details actions that are arguably not entirely sensible or warranted. But instead Huckabee took about a minute to ramble on some joke that goes nowhere.

Huckafact: I hope that he is McCain's vice presidential nominee. And that someone aims a gun at them. And fires. And they dive to the ground.

[Chefelf]

It was not a great adlib. And it was offensive. At least if it had been really funny it would have been worth offending people.

[J m HofMarN]

I figured you'd be interested in analysing this sort of anti-humor as well, thanks for popping by.

I wonder if the Secret Service will have to make a Huckavisit to this guy's office now.

[Otal Nimrodi]

That joke was not funny. It actually has managed to be the opposite of humor.

Any joke is about the unexpected, often about unique character elements.

The ear version of the joke is funny, because it's unexpected. You expect the crash to be him hitting the ground. But it's his ears. Which are big. Therefore, that=funny. Diving when someone tries to shoot you is not a character trait unique to Barack Obama.

[Dr Lecter]

I don't know what you guys are complaining about. What isn't funny about a guy running for US President diving on the floor to avoid a gun pointing at him?

This post has been edited by Dr Lecter: 24 May 2008 - 02:18 PM

[Otal Nimrodi]

Hmm. First Huckabee, then Hillary.

Looks like everyone wants to kill Obama.

[J m HofMarN]

Hilary's was better than Huckabees since his was just stupid, whereas hers was evil.

"Why are you staying in the race Hilary?"

"Well, things could happen, you know, people get shot all the time. It's an imperfect kind of world."

"Umm.... Miss Clinton....?"

"Akhem... Yes not that *I* personally plan to have Barack Obama killed or anything"-shifty eyes-

[Dr Lecter]

All I can say, is that if I was a black guy in any kind of position of power in the USA, I would be a paranoid like hell. Nevermind running for President, the fact that he doesn't have about 15 body doubles and his own bodyguard agency, is taking quite a risk.

This post has been edited by Dr Lecter: 28 May 2008 - 02:27 PM

[J m HofMarN]

I dont think its so much the black problem, it's also that he's a progressive. Allan Keyes didnt seem to have any trouble. Also, we just plain like to shoot at people here.

[Otal Nimrodi]

Dude.

Allan Keyes

That's my mom's ex-boyfriend's name. Weird.

And he's /also/ a black guy.

I think he's in politics, too. Mom said he runs for president sometimes.

This post has been edited by Otal Nimrodi: 28 May 2008 - 09:28 PM

[J m HofMarN]

Otal... Your mom went out with a guy who ran for the Republican nom in 2004. That's kind of interesting. Also, he jumped in a mosh pit with Michael Moore. Alan Keyes is awesoem for a gay bashing republican.

[Otal Nimrodi]

Oh, shit. Mom dated a gay-bashing Republican.

This sucks.

I like my dad better.

[J m HofMarN]

But he also moshed with Michael Moore while Rage Against the Machine played. There's an episode of Moore's TV series The Awful Truth if you can find it that actually shows that. So there are two degrees of separation between you and Michael Moore.