Boy Yawns, CNN Bumbles, Letterman Yelps

[Van_Smack]

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Did the White House find weapons of mass destruction at the Ed Sullivan Theatre, or did CNN mess up its report on a "Late Show with David Letterman" segment poking fun at President Bush?

Monday night Letterman debuted a new bit on his show, called "George W. Bush Invigorates America's Youth." What followed was a series of very brief clips from a recent speech in Florida in which the president said things like "it will not happen on my watch" and "we stand for the fair treatment of faith-based groups who will receive federal support for their work" to a Norman Rockwellian group of average citizens. Among them was one apple-cheeked boy of about 12 in a red baseball cap, rugby shirt and chino shorts, who is caught on camera yawning uncontrollably, twisting his head from side to side, checking his watch and otherwise looking pretty thoroughly bored, while the other people serving as background ignored him.

The folks at CNN got a kick out of it and the next morning, during "CNN Live Today," ran the clip, crediting Letterman. CNN host Daryn Kagan quipped, "What is funnier, the kid or that everybody around him -- not a single person even reacts to those high jinks?"

Then CNN cut to commercial break. Right after the break, Kagan told viewers: "All right -- had a good giggle before the break, that video was from David Letterman. We're being told by the White House that the kid, as funny as he was, was edited into that video, which would explain why the people around him weren't really reacting. So, that from the White House."

That night, Letterman struck back. He showed Kagan telling viewers that the White House said the footage had been doctored.

"Now that, ladies and gentlemen, as sure as I'm sitting here, is an out-and-out, 100 percent absolute lie. The kid absolutely was there and he absolutely was doing everything we pictured via the videotape."

Two comedy bits later, Letterman read one of his trademark cards that he's always fiddling with, and started to laugh: "God almighty, my life just gets more and more complicated. You know, just a minute ago . . . I was ranting and raving about the White House. According to this, CNN has just phoned and, according to this information, the anchorwoman misspoke, they never got a comment from the White House. It was a CNN mistake.

"What good does that do me? . . . I've already now called them liars. I think from now on we're going to have to start looking into things," Letterman said.

"Why start now?" his bandleader Paul Shaffer said.

"Because everything was fine, except now I've called the White House liars, and you know what that means -- they're going to start looking into my taxes!"

[Dutabi84]

I saw that clip on Letterman. That was one of the funniest things I've seen in a while. I thought it was strange that nobody reacted to him, but man that was good.

[AKA]

Yawning Boy

By Matt Bivens
The Nation

If you missed the footage of the 12-year-old Florida boy who sleepily shared a stage with George W. Bush, you can view it here (or read about it, and see some still photos from it, here).

It's very funny, which was why it made the Late Show with David Letterman: While the President drones on from the podium, the young man standing a few feet behind him in khaki shorts, a black polo shirt and an orange baseball cap goes through some jaw-unhinging yawns (without covering his mouth because his hands are in his back pockets), lolls his head around to loosen up a stiff neck, claps and yawns, claps and checks his watch and yawns; and then, as things grow progressively more desperate for him, engages in must-stay-awake stretch exercises; takes a knee for a time; and ultimately seems to fall asleep while standing, only partially waking up when the applause starts again -- at which point he smiles sleepily and claps with everyone else.

Pretty amusing stuff, right?

Wrong!

There is no laughing at the President of the United States!

CNN the following morning picked up the Letterman footage, for fun, but then began to assert it had heard from the White House the footage was fake. Letterman responded in outrage; CNN then backpedaled, saying the footage was real -- and also now denying that it had ever heard from the White House. Letterman's website counters that "our source, a very good source, confirms the White House DID call CNN." Who to belive? Me, I'd say Letterman has the better ethics track record.

So what started out as a chuckle becomes yet another weird suggestion that no criticism of any kind, not even a 12-year-old's yawn, can slip unchallenged beneath the Bush-Cheney radar. The good news is that, rather than destroy this particular critic (who apparently had the good sense of proportion to have laughed uproariously when shown his own antics), the White House is chucking him under the chin and adopting him.

As The Washington Post reports today, "The White House, trying to get out in front of the Yawning Boy story, is now in charge of media access to the young man."

He's even going on Letterman tonight -- because as White House assistant press secretary Reed Dickens tells The Post, "He's a young person who strongly supports the president and is excited about getting a chance to talk about it."

As to the fun at the President's expense, Dickens adds, "We think it's all in good nature, very good-humored."

Sure, that's what they say now. But the boy's father -- Richard Crotty, the chairman of Orange County, Florida, and a major Bush fund-raiser -- was initially pretty uneasy. An Orlando Sentinel columnist who spoke with him reports dad was "more than a bit anxious about the incident":

"I accept full responsibility for that," Crotty told Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell. "His mother was out of town, and I let him stay up too late. I should have prepped him better." (To which Maxwell replies incredulously, "Prepped him? Come on, chairman. He's a 12-year-old, not Karl Rove.")

Letterman's take, meanwhile: "This whole thing just smells. Doesn't it smell a little bit?"

"I mean, it just seems all just a little too tidy, just a little too neat. And now, the guy, the kid in Florida -- and his old man -- was really upset in the beginning. ... Well, now everybody down there loves it. Everybody couldn't be happier; everybody thought it was hilarious. So you see, it's just a little too tidy. Stuff like this never ends happily, certainly not happily for me. I was waiting for the lawsuit, I was waiting to be arrested, I was waiting to be beaten to a pulp, and now, oh ... we couldn't be happier."

[Brent88]

I thought it was funny. He was interviewed and said he was tired, but he is a Bush supporter(that must burn the Nation up! )

[AKA]

Originally posted by Brent88
...but he is a Bush supporter(that must burn the Nation up! )

Oh, yes. I'm sure the staff at The Nation is losing sleep over it.