{"id":1414,"date":"2008-11-04T20:00:24","date_gmt":"2008-11-05T00:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/?p=1414"},"modified":"2008-11-04T20:00:24","modified_gmt":"2008-11-05T00:00:24","slug":"the-audacity-of-comedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/2008\/11\/04\/the-audacity-of-comedy\/","title":{"rendered":"The Audacity of Comedy"},"content":{"rendered":"

The inside of the White House doesn\u2019t have the luminous quality that you might expect from television or film; it seems well kept but worn, a big old house that one imagines might be a bit draughty on cold winter nights.<\/p>\n

On a chilly January afternoon in 2005, the day before my swearing-in as a senator, I was invited there with other new members of Congress. At 1600 hours on the dot, President Bush was announced and walked to the podium, looking vigorous and fit, with that jaunty, determined walk that suggests he\u2019s on a schedule and wants to keep detours to a minimum. For 10 or so minutes he spoke to the room, making a few jokes, calling for the country to come together, before inviting us for refreshments and a picture with him and the first lady.<\/p>\n

I happened to be starving, so while most of the other legislators started lining up for their photographs, I headed for the buffet. As I munched on hors d\u2019oeuvres, I recalled an earlier encounter with the president, a small White House breakfast with me and the other incoming senators.<\/p>\n

I had found him to be a likable man, shrewd and disciplined but with the same straightforward manner that had helped him win two elections; you could easily imagine him owning the local car dealership, coaching Little League baseball and grilling in his backyard \u2013 the kind of guy who would make for good company so long as the conversation revolved around sport and the kids.<\/p>\n

There had been a moment during the breakfast meeting, though, after the backslapping and the small talk and when all of us were seated, with Vice-President Cheney eating his eggs benedict impassively and Karl Rove at the far end of the table discreetly checking his BlackBerry, that I had witnessed a different side of the man.<\/p>\n

The president had begun to discuss his second-term agenda, mostly a reiteration of his campaign talking points \u2013 the importance of staying the course in Iraq and renewing the Patriot Act, the need to reform social security and overhaul the tax system, his determination to get an up-or-down vote on his judicial appointees \u2013 when suddenly it felt as if somebody in a back room had flipped a switch.<\/p>\n

The president\u2019s eyes became fixed; his voice took on the agitated, rapid tone of someone neither accustomed to nor welcoming interruption; his easy affability was replaced by an almost messianic certainty. As I watched my mostly Republican Senate colleagues hang on his every word, I was reminded of the dangerous isolation that power can bring, and I appreciated the wisdom of America\u2019s founding fathers in designing a system to keep power in check.<\/p>\n

\u201cSenator?\u201d I looked up, shaken out of this memory, and saw one of the older black men who made up most of the White House waiting staff standing next to me.<\/p>\n

\u201cWant me to take that plate for you?\u201d I nodded, trying to swallow a mouthful of chicken something-or-other, and noticed that the queue to greet the president had evaporated. A young marine at the door politely indicated that the photograph session was over and that the president needed to get to his next appointment. But before I could turn around to go, the president himself appeared.<\/p>\n

\u201cObama!\u201d he said, shaking my hand. \u201cCome here and meet Laura. Laura, you remember Obama. We saw him on TV during election night. Beautiful family. And that wife of yours \u2013 that\u2019s one impressive lady.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe both got better than we deserve, Mr President,\u201d I said, shaking the first lady\u2019s hand and hoping that I\u2019d wiped any crumbs off my face.<\/p>\n

The president turned to an aide nearby, who squirted a big dollop of hand sanitiser in the president\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cWant some?\u201d the president asked. \u201cGood stuff. Keeps you from getting colds.\u201d Not wanting to seem unhygienic, I took a squirt.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome over here for a second,\u201d he said, leading me off to one side of the room.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know,\u201d he said quietly, \u201cI hope you don\u2019t mind me giving you a piece of advice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot at all, Mr President.\u201d He nodded. \u201cYou\u2019ve got a bright future,\u201d he said. \u201cVery bright. But I\u2019ve been in this town a while and, let me tell you, it can be tough. When you get a lot of attention like you\u2019ve been getting, people start gunnin\u2019 for ya. And it won\u2019t necessarily just be coming from my side, you understand. From yours, too. Everybody\u2019ll be waiting for you to slip. Know what I mean? So watch yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks for the advice, Mr President.\u201d \u201cAll right. I gotta get going. You know, me and you got something in common.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d \u201cWe both had to debate Alan Keyes. That guy\u2019s a piece of work, isn\u2019t he?\u201d I laughed, and as we walked to the door I told him a few stories from the campaign.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until he had left the room that I realised I had briefly put my arm over his shoulder as we talked \u2013 an unconscious habit of mine, but one that I suspected might have made many of my friends, not to mention the secret service agents in the room, more than a little uneasy.<\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve been a steady and occasionally fierce critic of Bush administration policies, Democratic audiences are often surprised when I tell them that I don\u2019t consider George Bush a bad man and that I assume he and members of his administration are trying to do what they think is best for the country.<\/p>\n

After the trappings of office are stripped away, I find the president and those who surround him to be pretty much like everybody else, possessed of the same mix of virtues and vices, insecurities and long-buried injuries, as the rest of us.<\/p>\n

No matter how wrongheaded I might consider their policies to be \u2013 and no matter how much I might insist that they be held accountable for the results of such policies \u2013 I still find it possible, in talking to these men and women, to understand their motives, and to recognize in them values I share.<\/p>\n

This is not an easy posture to maintain in Washington. The stakes involved in policy debates are often so high that I can see how, after a certain amount of time in the capital, it becomes tempting to assume that those who disagree with you have fundamentally different values \u2013 indeed, that they are motivated by bad faith, and perhaps are bad people.<\/p>\n

Outside of Washington, though, America feels less deeply divided. Spend time actually talking to Americans, and you discover that most evangelicals are more tolerant than the media would have us believe, most secularists more spiritual. Most rich people want the poor to succeed, and most of the poor are both more self-critical and hold higher aspirations than the popular culture allows. Most Republican strongholds are 40% Democrat, and vice versa. The political labels of liberal and conservative rarely track people\u2019s personal attributes.<\/p>\n

All of which raises the question: what are the core values that we, as Americans, hold in common? One core value, individual freedom, is so deeply ingrained in us that we tend to take it for granted.<\/p>\n

Barack Obama, Audacity of Hope<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The inside of the White House doesn\u2019t have the luminous quality that you might expect<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,17,20],"tags":[62,72,176,414],"class_list":["post-1414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-read","category-remember","category-speak","tag-audacity-of-hope","tag-barack-obama","tag-comedy","tag-kenneth-burke"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Audacity of Comedy - A Time To Laugh<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.drslewis.org\/camille\/2008\/11\/04\/the-audacity-of-comedy\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Camille Lewis\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/2008\\\/11\\\/04\\\/the-audacity-of-comedy\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/2008\\\/11\\\/04\\\/the-audacity-of-comedy\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Camille Lewis\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e93a8c9ec8fb8b926471114158437f82\"},\"headline\":\"The Audacity of Comedy\",\"datePublished\":\"2008-11-05T00:00:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/2008\\\/11\\\/04\\\/the-audacity-of-comedy\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1226,\"commentCount\":28,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e93a8c9ec8fb8b926471114158437f82\"},\"keywords\":[\"Audacity of Hope\",\"Barack Obama\",\"Comedy\",\"Kenneth Burke\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Read\",\"Remember\",\"Speak\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/2008\\\/11\\\/04\\\/the-audacity-of-comedy\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/2008\\\/11\\\/04\\\/the-audacity-of-comedy\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.drslewis.org\\\/camille\\\/2008\\\/11\\\/04\\\/the-audacity-of-comedy\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Audacity of Comedy - 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