SNL: GaGa and WOW

[Britethorn]

Run time: 02:59 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKW9rAJ9w2A   Posted on YouTube: October 04, 2009 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: October 04, 2009 By DU Member: Britethorn Views on DU: 2844

 
Fred Armisen takes on Presidents Obama AND Ahmadinejad while new cast member Nasim Pedrad shows her stuff-- and Lady Gaga delivers one of the best performances the show has seen in many a year.

Obama:
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/clips/obama-address/1163263/
Ahmadinejad:
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/clips/update-mrs-ahmadinejad/1163291/
Digital Short:
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/clips/digital-short-on-the-ground/1163268/

They haven't posted the Lady Gaga performance yet.

[Drunken Irishman]

1. Yeah. That SNL skit was awesome!

If it were 2011.

But it's not.

To suggest Pres. Obama hasn't delivered is deceptive.

But I think SNL and you already knew that. But whatever...

[Britethorn]

2. Agreed

I still back the President 100%, but if the media delivers an image of a President who isn't getting anything done, he REALLY needs to put the pedal to the metal on some big picture issues.

[Drunken Irishman]

4. But it's like people are expecting everything in eight months.

And it's just not possible.

Take the Iraq aspect of this skit. Pres. Obama never claimed during the campaign he'd have all troops removed from Iraq by the 8th month of his first term. Anyone who expected that were fooling themselves.

Healthcare is still ongoing. The fact it's this far is pretty remarkable. I say this because we have zero history of real advancement of healthcare reform. Sure, Clinton pushed it and had a couple good weeks back in the early 90s, but it all fell apart quickly.

I get what you're saying, though. It is unfortunate the media has decided Pres. Obama needs to do everything in his first year. But it doesn't make it right. I think that's what made the skit so infuriating because this meme is starting to stick. You know, that Obama is ineffective and not accomplishing anything.

Well how many presidents have actually accomplished MORE in their first year? I can probably only name only a few, if that. In fact, only Johnson and Roosevelt come to mind and much of that had to do with the circumstances.

Johnson with Kennedy's death, Roosevelt with the Great Depression.

But I noticed the skit left out the stimulus, which was the single most important accomplishment of Pres. Obama's first term. I say that with complete confidence. When he's running for reelection in 2012, it will be the cornerstone of his campaign.

Yet it was as if that is an afterthought now. No one talks about the fact that while the economy is still far from being good, it managed to pull out of its total tailspin. No one talks about the stable markets and the fact we're probably better off today than we were a year ago.

That's just in eight months!

Is it enough? No. But that's why a president is given FOUR YEARS. If everything could be decided, fixed and resolved in one year, the term of a president would only last 365 days. But they don't and they don't because everyone knows it takes time to get things done.

Why isn't Pres. Obama allowed that time? Why is it that Pres. Bush was allowed to do what he pleased, hardly doing anything outside of getting his tax cuts through Congress in the first few months of his presidency, and yet Obama is being crucified because he isn't doing enough?

Well he's done a helluva lot more in his first eight months than Bush did in his entire eight year presidency.

That's what upsets me. The big picture should always remain, but we've got to understand that it takes time to paint the goddamn picture. Bob Ross was the master of speed painting, but even he needed a foundation for every work of art. He didn't just splash a bunch of paint onto the canvas.

Pres. Obama has had his mistakes. But to suggest he hasn't accomplished anything is extremely dishonest. It's disappointing that SNL would rather push this than actual honest to god true humor.

You can make fun of Pres. Obama and his lofty goals and the right-wing nuts who call him a socialist, but you don't have to fall into the same trap of making him look like a younger Jimmy Carter. That's what the media is doing. It sucks and it needs to stop.

I just hope the American people realize this is a work in progress and things aren't going to be easy. But then we're a society who is easily duped into believing such stuff. So it won't be a surprise if by the end of the year, every American is wondering why the country isn't 100% perfect.

You just have to look to SNL, who seem content on establishing the talking point that Pres. Obama has done absolutely nothing in his first eight months - while expecting him to feed the hungry, heal the sick and single handily stop global warming. Well I hate to break it to them, he ain't Superman.

Not yet, anyway.

[democracy1st]

6. we need financial regulations

[quark219]

10. No. We're expecting SOMETHING in eight months.

The only movement I see from the Obama administration on the major issues since it's taken office are moves in the wrong direction--or no movement at all.

I voted for him, and won over several friends and family members to do same. If I see actual progress on Guantanamo Bay, Iraq, Afghanistan, health care reform, a repeal of the Bush tax cuts for the rich, or torture prosecutions, I'd be delighted.

But the truth, for those with eyes to see it, is that Obama is a center-right politician. And that's exactly how he's governing. He is by no means a progressive leader. Would that he were!

[Drunken Irishman]

19. You're right, quark.

Obama has done absolutely nothing since entering office. He's sat on his butt the entire eight months twiddling his fingers, going on vacation, taking Michelle out for dinner and playing with his kids. That's it, right?

You might not like what he's doing, but he IS living up to much of his campaign promises.

I mean, you voted for him, so you should know that.

[Tx4obama]

24. Obama has actually done quite a lot so far...

Of the 516 Obama campaign promises that Politifact.com is tracking: so far 45 kept, 104 in the works
This does not include all of the other things he has done and is working on that were not campaign promises.

In my opinion he is doing a great job :)

[HopeOverFear]

11. ++++++1

That's why I refuse to even watch that skit.

[erpowers]

12. What Has Obama Done

Before I start let me say that I am by no means a fan of President Bush. However, what had President Obama accomplished outside of pushing a stimulus that had to be passed in the first eight months of his administration. SNL is not trying to say that Obama should have accomplished all those things in the first eight months of his presidency, but that he should have at least taken care of one of those things. In addition, I think the point of the skit was to say that Democrats are the people who should be angry.

Second, whether people like it or not and whether people like what he did or not Bush was able to accomplish a great deal in his eight years in office. It just happens that everything he did can be argued to have been a terrible idea. I know Obama has a full term to go, but he has not really accomplished that much during his firt eight months.

Third, before 9/11, George W. Bush was criticized during the firt few months of his presidency. Before 9/11 a number of people were beginning to notice how Bush was having trouble getting things done. People were beginning to discuss the fact that Bush was most likely going to have a hard four years. Also, there was the Comedy Central comedy show "That's My Bush", which was very critical of Bush as a person. I am not trying to say the show should not have been on TV just that it was on TV. After 9/11 people stopped being that critical of Bush. Congress rallied behind Bush and "That's My Bush" was cancelled.

So, in the end Obama is not going through much more if anything more than Bush went through when he was a new president. I do not think the media expects presidents to solve all problems in one year. I think they do expect them to accomplish more than one thing during that time.

[Drunken Irishman]

20. You're right. He's failed.

Why didn't I see it before? Thanks for making it so clear. He should resign because obviously he isn't up to the snuff.

I mean, the guy couldn't even end the economic crisis in his first eight months. How do we expect him to do ANYTHING?

It's so fucking obvious now. The guy is a total failure.

Thanks! I owe you a Coke.

[Tx4obama]

23. Obama has actually done quite a lot so far...

Of the 516 Obama campaign promises that Politifact.com is tracking: so far 45 kept, 104 in the works
The Obameter: www.Politifact.com
This does not include all of the other things he has done and is working on that were not campaign promises.

In my opinion he is doing a great job :)

[HughMoran]

16. I laughed - what the heck - a little fire under his ass from SNL won't hurt him

Yeah, it's been 9 months and they implied it was a year, but so what - it's a skit and it's not like Republicans haven't seen their share of ribbing on SNL.

[HopeOverFear]

21. fire under his ass is fine, but it should be based on truth

and not be disingenuous.

[Le Taz Hot]

3. I kept hearing the name

so I looked up Lady Ga Ga on YouTube. I think she missed her correct name by an extra "g" at the end. I see the music industry hasn't made any improvements in the last 20 years. :puke:

[Cash_thatswhatiwant]

5. Lady Gaga is the best thing that's come to music in the past few years

:)

[Le Taz Hot]

7. And isn't that a scary statement.

[bullimiami]

8. she actually does have musical talent. unfortunately its hard to see through

the silly posing and bad choreography.

[Berry Cool]

9. I get the impression she doesn't wear a whole lot of clothing.

Perhaps that's part of the reason so many seem to think she gave such an incredible performance.

Pardon me while I say this is one of my problems with modern female "pop music." It seems to be no longer about how you sound, but about how you dance and how little you can get away with wearing on stage.

[paranoid floyd]

13. Music Like Politics

Have we set the bar so low for music that Lady GaGa is considered one of the best in recent years? Wow.

[bullimiami]

18. yes.

[JBoy]

14. She reminds me of Christina Aguilera, but with "weirdness" dialed up to 11.

[The Animator]

15. Of all the modern femaile vocalists, I have to say

the only one that really impresses me is Christina Aguilera. She got some serious pipes, and I've noticed she's been trying to give herself a more classic look. Her performance at the MTV video awards gave me the impression of a vintage jazz singer.

That being said, in general I haven't really paid attention to the pop music scene since the early nineties. It's pretty obvious the major record labels have been more concerned with style than substance for a long time.

If the Aerosmith were attempting to break into the music industry now, they wouldn't have a snowballs chance. Even when they were young, none of them could honestly be described at pretty. The powers that be in the modern music industry don't give a damn how much talent you have. If you can't be marketed at a sex symbol your music worthless.

Of course they fail to realize that looks aren't the only thing that make someone attractive, or desirable. Success itself is an aphrodisiac. In the early nineties women across the south were throwing themselves at Garth Brooks, despite the fact he was overweight and balding at the beginning of his career. If Ringo Star drove a bus, instead of playing drums for the Beatles, no one would have given him the time of day.

The road to success in the music industry is the same in any other arts or entertainment industry. It's about exposure. The more people that are exposed to you work, the more likely your success becomes. The record labels used to be the gatekeepers of the industry, it was they, who decided who got their music on the air, and as a result, who sold records.

That is changing. Every once in a you come across a viral video of someone who just completely blows your doors off. Remember the Paul Pots, and Susan Boyle videos from Britain's Got Talent?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPOjA-zqXJM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxPZh4AnWyk&feature=related

Those clips serve to remind people that yes, people who aren't supermodels can sing too. Beauty is not a prerequisite of talent. It still makes me cry.

People who are video taping their own unique talents and uploading them to sites like youtube or myspace video, are creating their own opportunities.

[Wizard777]

17. I hate this! I expect to see Lady Gaga.

Instead I end up with some asshole and his opinion or as that combination is more commonly called a critic. :eyes: So apparently the only thing more irrelevant who ever he's criticizing this time is him. If he wasn't so damned irrelevant he wouldn't have to trick people into watching him.

Disclaimer: The only thing that is even more irrelevant than this asshole and his opinion is me. A Critic Critic.

[JBoy]

22. Here's a clip of her performance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxjeioNi5Ao

[Wizard777]

26. Thank You!

:yourock:

[Tx4obama]

25. In the past eight months President Obama HAS done a lot ...

Of the 516 Obama campaign promises that Politifact.com is tracking: so far 45 kept, 104 in the works
The Obameter: www.Politifact.com
This does not include all of the other things he has done and is working on that were not campaign promises.

In my opinion he is doing a great job :)