Fauxbama??

[MG1968]

Yep, the apocalypse is nigh.

washingtonpost.com - nation, world, technology and Washington area news and headlines

"SNL" impresario Lorne Michaels said yesterday by phone that he thought the sketch played so well that the show intends to air another Obama/Clinton debate spoof tomorrow night, with Armisen and Poehler reprising their characters.

Nobody much cared about Armisen's racial background (he is of white and Asian heritage) when he played Prince and Steve Jobs during seasons past of the NBC show. Nor did it seem to matter that "SNL's" Darrell Hammond, who is white, has impersonated the Rev. Jesse Jackson for years. Or that decades ago on "SNL," Billy Crystal played Sammy Davis Jr.

But in 2008, Obama isn't just any politician or celebrity. Which is why Armisen's DNA became something of an issue when he became "Fauxbama" in "SNL's" first show back since the writers' strike ended this month.

Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune put the question bluntly: "Call me crazy, but shouldn't 'Saturday Night Live's' fictional Sen. Barack Obama be played by an African-American?" Ryan went on to conclude: "I find 'SNL's' choice inexplicable. Obama's candidacy gives us solid proof of the progress that African-Americans have made in this country. I guess 'SNL' still has further to go on that front."

Hannah Pool, a writer for the Guardian newspaper in Great Britain, suggested the whole setup had "minstrel" overtones.

Media darling Barack Obama simply cannot be lampooned in any way.

This is also a foreshadowing of what is to come. Not even well reasoned criticism of Obama will be allowed as it will be spun into racism by both the media and the willing hordes of "politically correct at any cost" moonbats.

 

[OrangeEmpire]

Get your guns ready!

 

[allvol123]

What is this "african american" this woman speaks of?

 

[MG1968]

I honestly think a black comedian would have been less respectful to Obamania.

 

[volinbham]

tsk tsk tsk

 

[volsforever27]

I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.

 

[TennTradition]

One parent is Caucasian and the other African American...on that point alone their argument is lost...let alone SNL tradition of not sticking to "racial prescriptions"

 

[vol_in_ar]

I honestly think a black comedian would have been less respectful to Obamania.

turn Chris Rock, or Chapelle lose and see what they could come up with

 

[tim]

turn Chris Rock, or Chapelle lose and see what they could come up with

He Got Weed...

or

I'm Barack Obama...

 

[Chemvol]

turn Chris Rock, or Chapelle lose and see what they could come up with

I could see Tim Meadows making that skit work but not anyone else.