It's A Sad Funny Ending

So last night was President Bush's last White House Correspondents' Dinner (that's the one where, two years ago, Stephen Colbert was wickedly funny, except that none of the press were amused). The news reports on what was supposed to be his "joke" about the Democratic candidates -

But it was Bush who received the night's loudest laughter, as he poked fun at Clinton and Obama's absence ("Senator Clinton couldn't get into the building because of sniper fire, and Senator Obama is at church"), and who received a rousing ovation as he and the Marine Band finished.

Okay, so I understand that it's a joke on Senator Clinton and her Bosnia trip exaggerations, but why is it a joke to say "Senator Obama is at church"? Yes, the press has created a storm with mini-clips from some of Reverend Wright's sermons, creating a false picture of the man, the sermons, and the church he pastored until his retirement. But, these "news people" should be aware that it's a false picture, shouldn't they? More likely, they don't really care.

Senator Obama's membership in Trinity UCC is not the equivalent of Senator Clinton's phony Bosnia stories. And "Senator Obama is at church" shouldn't be a punch line - especially since it's a punch line that says, "Senator Obama is at one of those scary black churches, where a scary black man says scary things in a loud voice."

I don't think that's funny at all. And the press corps is full of a-holes, if they all thought it was funny.