Actually, this post is dedicated to Candy Crowley on CNN's State of the Union. She used the piece in her show today. Zloggers you should check her show out on Sunday mornings. She is doing a great job!

Yes, she is. Thanks. Z

More truth than satire.

Too funny! Do you think the healthcare bill is "Unpopular"? Still apparently not as unpopular as Senator Reid.

I think I would have to agree this healthcare bill has not been explained well at all and that makes a lot of people very uncomfortable. That was great with the speaker's comment. She can't seem to explain this either when I have seen her speak. Oh my, can we just start over??

I wish I remembered more about when President Clinton tried to pass this. My kids were born in 1993 and 1994, I guess I was too busy to follow politics then.

Priceless!!!
On my Face Book page I sometime ago embed one of SNL Obama's speeches. SNL is really hitting this year on Obama's deficiencies which is a surprise to me.

I always wanted to know. Why do people talk in such a staccato voice all the time and why does he end all sentences with his voice trailing up instead of downward. Is it professor kind of thing, arrogance of....I know best so pay attention to me????

It's quite apparent from this most recent video clip that comedian/ parodist Fred Armisen has been working diligently on his Obama speech inflections, cadence, and characteristic body language, and even managed to capture a few of the President's recognizable vocal nuances. In this particular clip he didn't appear as rushed in trying to get to the funny bits, or a specific punch line, as in past skits, and seemed to pace his delivery w/ some pregnant pauses, and a few little verbal stumbles, which Obama is want to do.

I actually thought his explication of the broader history of government's attempts at major healthcare reform going as far back as Bill & Hillary Clinton's abortive efforts in the early '90s was very informative, accurate, and factual, pretty much framing, or contextualizing the entire issue in a nutshell. Admittedly it was a lot of initial dry verbiage, (maybe a tad too much for my taste), which served as a setup for the much more satirical, and funny latter half of the skit, where Obama/ Armisen wildly speculates on the prospects for current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Harry Reid's reelection in the upcoming November mid-terms.

The SNL ensemble actors who played Pelosi and Reid served, for the most part, as mere animate props for pretty much an Obama/ Armisen monologue, yet the Harry Reid character's reactions to the largely negative comments from Obama--- his hang-dog, defeatist body language----did reenforce the humor of the piece. I liked how Armisen (as Obama) kept emphasizing how unpopular the Dems healthcare reform bill before the Senate really was, but darn it, they were going to 'get 'er done', despite the widespread negative populist sentiment.

Speaking as a former political cartoonist, I know that many in our fraternity often take some length of time in graphically nailing down a particular politician who is relatively new to the national, or world scene. For some odd reason, I recall back in the '70s that then-Pres. Gerald Ford was a tough guy to capture, early on, but for me he was relatively easy, w/ his expansive hooded brow, thinning hair/ widow's peak, long upper lip, stubby nose, and thinnish lips. Of course, back in the day, SNL's Chevy Chase parodied Pres. Ford, but made no attempt to facially mimic him, focusing rather on Ford's alleged propensity to clumsily trip, and fall in public. This was hardly fair to Pres. Ford, who was hardly the uncoordinated oaf that Chevy Chase portrayed him as on SNL, having made a name for himself in his younger days as a gifted athlete----a standout football player at Michigan State. He did have a rep for beaning spectators at celebrity golf tournaments, but even that knock against him was likely exaggerated, to a large degree.

I believe, like w/ an editorial cartoonist trying to initially caricature a new politico, there could be a similar learning curve w/ celeb impersonators trying to capture a new character. Fred Armisen seems to be 'getting it' now, and his increasing similarity to Obama, IMO, really adds to the effectiveness of the parody.

SNL veteran Darrel Hammond appeared to almost be destined to parody former president Bill Clinton, and pretty much had 'Slick Willy' down pat from the get-go. Of course, Tina Fay is a natural fit for ex- Alaska governor Sarah Palin, capturing her physicality, vocal quirks, and mannerisms w/ seeming ease. You betcha!

Actor Dan Aykroyd did a heck of a memorable, and convincing Pres. Richard Nixon back in the early SNL days in the mid '70s. Even though Aykroyd is well over 6-feet in stature, while Nixon was of average height, the transplanted Canuck, by assuming a constant hunched-over-w/-hand-to-chin pose, and lacquered-down, slicked-back hair, appeared to capture the perpetually paranoid, harried nature of Tricky "I'm Not a Crook" Nixon, to-a-tee. Of course, the brilliant John Belushi, as then-Secretary of State, Henry Kissenger, was spot on as the mumbling diplomat, the perfect foil for Aykroyd's forever-brooding Nixon.

I'll be looking forward to more of Fred Armisen's Pres. Obama parodies, as the run-up to the pivotal mid-term elections should provide tons of political ammunition for oodles of potential satirical skits. Hopefully, he will continue to polish his Obama persona. So far so good.

Fellow zloggers--- Enjoy the Oscars tonight. Looking forward to Z.'s take on the proceedings, as well as other zloggers' reactions. I think Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin should be able to pull off their co-hosting role, w/ aplomb. Can't wait to see who Lady Gaga is wearing. HA!

ALEX

I wish I remembered more about when President Clinton tried to pass this. My kids were born in 1993 and 1994, I guess I was too busy to follow politics then. Posted by: Sherry T.

Sherry T. There's a whole timeline of Clinton's health care plan (rather dry reading) but it's out there if you want to read it.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/forum/may96/background/health_debate_page1.html

I thought the "unpopular" health care bill skit was among the worst of the year from SNL. Simply not funny. It was redeemed by the monologue from Zak Galwhateverhisnameis which was one one of the best opening monologues in years.

Hi Aly,

Thanks that is great. Yes, I would love to read it. President Clinton tried to get a healthcare bill through too right? But it did not work, didn't he try reconciliation. I guess history repeats itself. So since I missed it then I can watch it now.

Aly, seriously thanks! Have a great night.

Spoof on Healthcare reform.
*****************
Setting: 2 legislatures from different sides of the aisle meet for coffee at a Washington D.C. cafe to discuss impending Health Care Legislation.
*****************
Rep Irene(d):"Gosh, Sen Sherry(R) with this insurance legislation people who don't have insurance will be able to buy insurance equivalent to that of the gov't employees insurance. Who wouldn't like that? The president said it so it has to be in that bill somewhere. I was looking at page 1524 but could only find a new playground for the Z on Tv Memorial Hospital."

Sen Sherry (r): "Rep Irene (D) we should start over!"

Rep Irene (r): "You know senator Sherry(R) I went back to the speech the President made this afternoon. He said every argument has been said & everyone has said it. What do you think he was talking about? I have a pile of paper I take to my apt and let my dog pee on while I am hard at work. President Obama told me in a backdoor briefing not to open any mail."

Sen Sherry (r)"Rep Irene (D) we should start over!"

Sen Sherry (r): "George Stephanopoulos really confused me. He said there is a 50/50 chance of getting this legislation passed through. What is he talking about?"

Rep Irene (D): "Rep Sherry that is easy? George means this. There was a 50 % chance when he was an advisor to President Clinton that Hillary Care was not going to pass. Then the other 50% is the amount of chance legislatures have to get Obamacare passed. And, Sherry well think about it he can strandle the fence now cuz he is on morning GMA. He is thinking of his new target audience. Win win either way for George!
Now, do you see why we should not start over?"

Senator Sherry (R): "Irene (D) We want the public to be able to have the option of choosing their own doctor. We don’t want some big government putting in their two cents. But we love the idea of the insurance companies getting between you and your doctor because they are looking out for you."

Rep Irene (d): "Sherry that is not a reason to stary over."

Senator Sherry (R): "We agree on more than half of the bills that are out there, but we would really rather not give President Obama any credit, we don’t want to pass something we agree on. We can defeat this the President won’t know what hit him and we will be looking good in the next election."

Rep Irene(d): Sen Sherry (R) that is not addressing the public. The public doesnt want it but Speaker Pelosi & Pres Obama clearly do. So what am I supposed to do?"

Sen Sherry(R): "Don't be a fraidy cat tell them to just start over"

Senator Sherry (R): "Do you really think we are going to support a big government bail out. We only help big companies that can pad our elections, give us great perks. I do not need a baked chicken dinner from Aunt Myrtle. I need the big bucks for my future campaigns."

Rep Irene (d): "I hear ya. As it looks for me I am just gonna vote yes and retire. This bill if passed will clearly not help me in the long run. I have good insurance, etc."

Senator Sherry (R): I vote no on raising taxes to pay for any of this. Wait a minute what side am I on anyway?

Rep Irene (d): Sen Sherry (r) we have tried all afternoon to make heads or tails of this. We may as well just admit it. We are fighting a losing battle here. Either we vote for healthcare reform or we don't. Either way, we better be finding a new job because the American people are starting to figure all this out. It is all about us and only about us. We pass bills that help us. We work for us. We go on vacations for us.

Senator Sherry (r): I cannot go that far with you Rep Irene. We have a proposal that will help 3 million Americans. The memo from some ex- Alaskan governor says stick to the script. Tell them, "I want to just start over!"

This is inspired!Z

Oh, btw the lady who is playing Speaker Pelosi needs brighter red lipstick and she needs to smack her lips and move her face more! That drives me crazy!

Nobody likes this bill because noone's read it, and if the process starts all over again it will end next year, with another 45000 odd people dead from lack of health care, and a bill that people still won't like because they won't have read it either, and they will have again been reliably informed by the opposition that it's a dreadful bill.
if people aren't going to take matters into their own hands and read the bill, then they're just going to have to take the next choice, which is take a leap of faith and decide who they trust to best serve their interests right now, the democrats or the republicans.
personally, I'd go with the democrats, not necessarily because they're any better, but because they're currently in charge so it's to their advantage to have a bill that works, it's not in the best interests of republicans strategically for them to do so, hence the delaying tactics.
And when someone's willing to risk their poll numbers to get something done, they gotta figure it's the right thing to do.

Well they are still not attacking him on a personal level like they did to GWB and are doing to Gov. Patterson.

Presidents Radio Address is on Cspan. He is pushing for this big time.

I do not know zloggers. This is a hard one to tell on. This bill if passed will have not one Republican vote but it will have some of the Republican compromises in it. Looks like Democrats are on their own.

Health Care Reform is Easy

The republicans have used reconciliation on health care before plenty of times - heck they created the whole CHIP program - via reconciliation. Dear lord stop swallowing the kool-aid - this isn't a sporting event my side versus your side (do you think the status quo might be aware of the concept of divide and conquer - don't be such dupes)

People, people, people - this is about getting our dollars back from the richest 1% that hoard them at the top (there is no such thing as trickle down) or For Profit insurance wouldn't be killing the middle class, driving people with health insurance into bankruptcy, and tying a dead weight around small business and even the bigger national corporations - this has to get done - our politicians are playing games to get elected....

They are not "governing" but manipulating voter sentiment to whip up turn out to try and win elections - not based on any specific philosophy of governing but for plain old self interest.

Actual governing takes a huge back seat to "will I get re-elected" - the easiest way to solve the health care debacle of for profit health care is simple - but handing a success to the other party - isn't how the political "game" is played.

Unfortunately our lives are caught in the cross fire of their STUPID GAME. And because of game playing we deregulated everything and created the global financial meltdown - ooppps - maybe proper management would have prevented that - but politics has never been about properly managing our resources - its about GETTING RE-ELECTED.

Healthcare is easy - here's how -

“Use Senate reconciliation and expand Medicare via the Senate’s buy-in provisions. The CBO has already signed off on this as a means of saving money.

More importantly, if more Americans can do a buy-in with Medicare, it creates more cost control (because there’s a genuine competitor to for-profit healthcare).

It also helps to solve the problems of pre-existing conditions, because Medicare does not deny coverage on this basis.

Allowing a Medicare buy-in to Americans under 65 would give people a genuine alternative to private insurance and thereby render the pre-existing question moot.

It would also lower Medicare costs by expanding the risk pool of patients (the great bulk of medical expenses are accounted for by a small number of people, mostly the elderly, requiring very expensive treatment).

And it would substantially enhance the global competitiveness of American corporations. After all, in what other country in the world is health care a marginal cost of production for business?” - Roosevelt Institute Marshall Auerback

Now get out there tell your neighbors, your friends, pick up the phone and email your representatives - because whether you like it or not we are all in this together - and it's us versus the politicians - not each other.

Paul Burke
Author Journey Home
Democracy For America

I'm in the camp of thinking this was not a very funny sketch except for a bit on the struggles of Sen. Reid, in particular. I think SNL tries to be relatively evenhanded but from my POV, it's a hard sell vs. the McCain flipflops/lack of memory about his own actions, Michael Steele most any day and the dead on imitations of Glenn Beck. Humor is subjective so I'm open to other takes. It's not that Obama is perfect, he's just not as easily satirized as some people.

For my money, the skit done at "Funny Or Die" with reprises from Hammond as Clinton, Will Ferrell as W, Aykroyd as Carter, Jim Carney as Reagan and so on - all visiting Obama - was much, much funnier.

That was some great post form Alex, in particular. Many thanks to the posters here..it's amazingly hard to find boards with diverse opinions that stay civil.

And I say the perfect is the enemy of the good. If this bill is watered done any more, it will cease to exist. I've watched the blocks to reform from people like Bill Kristol for two decades now. I've had enough.

The one who plays Pelosi needs to nod more, smile more, and most importantly shake pom poms like a cheerleader while jumping up and down.