American Hypocrisy: Michelle Wolf vs. Kelly Sadler
After Michelle Wolf served as the entertainment for the White House Correspondents' Dinner, the media and the GOP went on a rampage against her. We haven't seen the same type of vitriol hurled toward Kelly Sadler, who thought it was funny to say John McCain's feelings toward a C.I.A director nominee didn't matter because he was "dying anyway." This, ladies and gentlemen, can be one of our greatest examples of hypocrisy and double standards.
I used to be a journalist. My primary job was to serve as a digital producer, where I built webpages, wrote all of the digital articles during my shift, and handled social media for the stations. In my last job in news, I took up producing political content because it was my passion and I felt there was a severe lack of political content making its way on our airwaves and online. I was proud of my work and I was even prouder to have press secretaries and campaign affiliates contact me with stories. One of my bucket list items is to attend a White House Correspondents' Dinner. Now that I'm not a journalist anymore and only do this as a hobby (I'm available to freelance, media outlets, hit me up), that bucket list item seems pretty fleeting. But maybe one day I will get to dress up and attend the Nerd Prom. This year, Michelle Wolf served as the Roaster in Chief. She drew some ire among the media for her joke specifically about Sarah Huckabee Sanders, where she stated:
I actually really like Sarah. I think she’s very resourceful. She burns facts, and then she uses that ash to create a perfect smoky eye. Like maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s lies. It’s probably lies.
Shortly after, members of the media took to Twitter to express their outrage that Wolf would dare to make a comment about a woman's looks. Which...wasn't at all what the joke was about. The joke was about her ability to lie, not what she looks like. I'd like to first point out Andrea Mitchell, who I idolized when I worked for two NBC affiliates.
Apology is owed to @PressSec and others grossly insulted ny Michelle Wolf at White House Correspondents Assoc dinner which started with uplifting heartfelt speech by @margarettalev - comedian was worst since Imus insulted Clinton’s
— Andrea Mitchell (@mitchellreports) April 29, 2018
This went on for a couple of weeks, dear reader, and I had fully planned to do a blog post about it. But then time got away from me and I felt it was too late for me to comment on it. Enter Kelly Sadler. If you're unaware, Gina Haspel has been nominated by President Trump to replace Mike Pompeo as the Director of the C.I.A. This week, she appeared before the Senate Intelligence Committee for a hearing and answered tough questions on her stance on torture. That is a topic for another day, friends. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) let it be known that he would not be voting to confirm Haspel because of her torturous background. Remember, McCain is a POW who was tortured during Vietnam.
Enter Kelly Sadler. See, Kelly Sadler thought it would be best to dismiss McCain's thoughts on the subject because "he's dying anyway." McCain is currently battling the same type of brain cancer that killed Ted Kennedy and Beau Biden. Where is the outrage? The White House acknowledged that Sadler said it. But they won't apologize for it. It's apparently just a "joke" that "fell flat." But Michelle Wolf's actual jokes weren't jokes? Michelle Wolf never made a comment that came even remotely close to that. Regardless of which party you subscribe to, if any, this isn't a partisan issue. This isn't even a war hero issue. This is a decent human being issue.
At the time of this posting, I checked Andrea Mitchell's Twitter feed. She has nothing to say about this issue save for the quotes her team are posting to her account from the guests on her show. I repeat, she has nothing to say on this. No outrage. An actual attack on a dying man who has brain cancer and nothing. Kelly Sadler should be fired. Anyone else would have been fired. Where's the media outrage? Is it because it's not one of your own and it's not affecting your access to the White House?
Or are you afraid to speak out because it might affect your access to the White House? Where's the GOP outrage? This is one of your own. Or are you so afraid of the occupants of the White House that you won't call out bad behavior?