Obama Roasts Rahm Emanuel At 2005 Fundraiser (VIDEO)

Recently, CSPAN rebroadcast a roast from 2005 where Barack Obama takes on his future White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. Discussed are Rahm's past with ballet and the accident in which Rahm lost his middle finger, a loss that Obama said essentially rendered Rahm mute.

WATCH:

Comments

[AnalyzeIT]

I see Brilliance......... in both.

Great job!!!!

[AlohaMark2]

Very funny, but I wonder if someone writes these jokes for all the speakers. Not to take anything away from Barrack, but these lines are so good you have to wonder. But it takes a Barrack to use words like Machiavelli in the delivery that make the joke convincing. You get the idea that he knows exactly what the words mean, and he uses them like a surgeon, all with an honestly affectionate smile. Brilliant combination I'm sure we'll enjoy for years to come.

High 4 and a half!

[ericabiz]

rahm seems like such a sweetheart!

and i was wondering what happened to his finger

i used to slice meat at a deli :/

[Fallout911]

Finally!
A president with a real sense of humor!

[roxn]

When I looked at the guy Rahm - Barack's Chief of Staff - I thought that guy looks a little bit crazy.

But if he is crazy to do the right things - that that’s the guy you need.


Obama’s got sharp wit ~ I knew he was a little bit rude.

But if he can turn this country around ~ that’s the rude we need.

[hunt49]

A little bit rude? Dude, it's a roast.

[SickStan]

Yeah that was reasonably tame for a roast!

[rdiaz921]

LMAO.

[danielsadicario]

He should have flipped his stubby middle finger at Barack at the end.

[Banji81]

"...lost his middle finger, which rendered him practically mute" LOL!!!!

[kid5rivers2]

That WAS the meat of the roast! lol

[sunzen]

Obama is somewhat cold in his style and not such a great off the cuff speaker. He gets into trouble and rambles a bit with a propensity to put his foot in his mouth...witnessed by his Nancy Reagan comment. His internal editor takes a break now and again.

[TrialDate]

Barack has a intelligence type of humor, where he does have to use profanity to get his point across, which is refreshing to see and hear. So, please don't look for chris rock or richard pryor.

[sunzen]

Barack is not a fully self actualized person yet...he is great delivering prepared remarks but when he stumbles for the right words he gets into trouble...also uses a lot of ums and uhs in the space between words. His stream of consciousness often is a bit cold and not free flowing.

[ListenPeople]

I'm so tired of people pointing out the ums and uhs. Your decision to point out his incredibly minor speaking imperfection, speaks volumes about your own inferiority complex. Oh and self actualization means many things, including being able to know your limitations, grow and learn, self-correct, and making the right judgments for you and those around you. It also means that you live life to your best potential and, I don't know, running for POTUS, winning, and being able to inspire millions in the US and billions around the world, that sounds like he might be living up to his potential.

[Bocado]

Some of talked about his ums and uhs and most drew the conclusion it's simply because he's an intellect and very introspective.
Obama likes to think things through, so when he's on the fly, he's on the fly and the ums and ahs are simply there to give him a moment or two to think to himself...and very quickly.

The last thing I'd is that his stream of consciousness is very poor, when in fact, it's quite the opposite.

[sylar]

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=fpZdv8YBdaE&feature=related

Please, let's get some context here.

[Libertynjustice4all]

It's evident that you feed off contrived controversies and misguided, presupposing, subjective critiques.

For the record, many of the most cerebral individuals in the world over-employ fillers such as "um" due to the fact that not only do their minds work exceedingly faster than they are able to verbalize it, but their deliberations have many more facets than the average person. Hence, they are constantly sieving through, prioritizing, dismissing and self-editing remarkably complex thoughts.

[Atcha]

It's really funny but hearing lines referring to Rahm's capacities to raise funds and escape legal scrutiny thanks to his ferocious lawyer (wink wink) shows a different Barack than the highly ethical personna that has been on display the last two years...

[Balzac]

I had already assumed the "street" side of Obama existed, or how else could he have gotten this far?

[sunzen]

I predict Rahm will get into trouble and be asked to resign sometime in the first term

[youngharry]

Lighten up people. This was a roast, not a public speaking engagement. Roasts are supposed to be raunchy. Obama's roast was tasteful by comparison to others, I'm sure.

[sylar]

"He was the first to adapt Machiavelli's, The Prince, for dance"

lmao

[CNBCSucks]

Barry has good delivery of jokes, but he needs to hold back on his own laughter just a little bit. He has good potential to be a humorist considering that humor is in stark contrast to the seriousness and gravity of his Presidency. Anyway, a very good performance here and you can see the affection that exists between Rahmbo and my Barry Obama.

[KillBillV2]

Hehehe..

[kellygrrrl]

Awesome!

[Jamchinadian]

Shrub is a joke - a sick, tired joke. McBushclone is also a sad and tired joke.

Barack is a serious intellect who is able to deliver actual jokes.

[nellie]

He's tough. And he's funny.

[AnAmericanWoman]

Love me some Rahm... and LOVE me some Barack!