Time to pull plug on Correspondents’ Dinner

The 2018 White House Correspondents’ Dinner. It was a festive evening. Everybody in a good mood. All dressed up. Journalists, members of Congress, newsmakers, guests, administration officials. Rubbing elbows and clinking drinks. Handing out scholarships. Honoring some of the best reporters in the business. Celebrating a night off and a time-out from the tense usvs-them attitude that usually permeates Washington.

So what if President Trump wasn’t there? Nobody cared. We were all having a good time for a good cause. Until the entertainment started. Until Michelle Wolf scorched the earth. And it was downhill from there.

Everybody at the dinner or watching from home has their own opinion about Michelle Wolf’s comedy routine. Here’s mine. I like biting political humor, but I found her act crude, cruel, vulgar, in bad taste, mean-spirited, obscene, and not even all that funny. Otherwise, it was fine.

There are those who argue against the very idea of an annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner, where journalists socialize with the sources they cover. I disagree. We may be on opposite sides of the table, but we’re not mortal enemies. Surely for just one night a year we can break bread together, recognize the importance of a free press to our democracy and enjoy a few laughs. Frankly, I wish members of Congress would occasionally do the same.

But the rule for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner has always been the same as the official rule for the annual Gridiron Dinner: “The gridiron shall singe, but never burn.” In other words, with complete irreverence, you can come close to the line. But with due respect, you don’t cross the line. Michelle Wolf obliterated the line.

The best part of her 19 minutes was when she skewered the press, especially when she accused the media of trying to have it both ways on Trump. “You pretend like you hate him, but I think you love him.” Because, she pointed out, “he has helped you sell your papers, and books, and TV. You helped create this monster and now you’re profiting off of him.” Bingo.

But, along the way, she frequently used the “p” word. She actually told an abortion joke about Mike Pence. She wished a tree would fall on Kellyanne Conway. And she called Sarah Huckabee Sanders a liar and made fun of her makeup while she was sitting six feet from her at the head table, as the White House Correspondents’ Association’s honored guest.

Now, I know: As a liberal, I’m supposed to defend Wolf on two grounds: One, that she has a First Amendment right to make those remarks; Two, that no matter how ugly her personal attacks, Donald Trump has said and done a lot worse. Both of which points I agree with, but neither of which is an excuse for Wolf’s performance.

Of course, no matter how offensive, nothing Wolf said that night was as disgusting as what we hear from Donald Trump every day. Indeed, several of her jokes were mocking Trump’s own liberal use of the “p” word on the “Access Hollywood” tape. But the answer to Trump’s vulgarity is not to crawl into the gutter with him. Once we do, he wins.

And no one disputes that Wolf has a constitutional right to say anything she wants about Donald Trump, Kellyanne Conway, Sarah Huckabee Sanders or any other public figure in the room — just like the skinheads in Charlottesville had a right to chant “Jews will not replace us.” Her routine would have rocked a comedy club. But was the White House Correspondents’ Dinner the right time and place for such vulgarity? I think not.

To me, that’s the key. I’m a member of the White House Correspondents’ Association. This is our dinner. We gather to celebrate good journalism. We invite our friends and the people we cover to join us. And then we hire a stand-up comic to personally attack them? I wouldn’t do that to a guest in my own home. We shouldn’t do it at our annual dinner, either.

Remember: the goal of the evening was to reaffirm the importance of a free, fearless and independent press. Michelle Wolf did nothing to help journalism. Instead, she gave Donald Trump even more ammunition to attack the media.

Looking ahead, members of the WHCA have a lot of soul-searching to do and changes to make. No more comedians, for one. Or, better yet, no more annual dinner.