It turns out that Congressman Joe Wilson wasn’t the only rogue during Obama’s speech to a joint session of Congress.  Rapper Kanye West interrupted Obama’s discussion of health care reform to plug Beyonce’s new video.

Joe Wilson was one of only seven members of the South Carolina Senate to vote to keep the Confederate battle flag flying over the state house in 2000.  Now he has one other grand accomplishment to add to his distinguished resume: Wilson shouted “you lie” during Obama’s speech to Congress.  Of course, that statement is a bit ambiguous in a room full of professional liars.

Saturday Night Live has apparently figured out why Wilson made his historic outburst:

President Barack Obama said what the country was thinking in an off-the-record comment that was caught on tape and posted around the Internet.

“The young lady seems like a perfectly nice person.  She’s getting her award.  What’s he doing up there?  He’s a jackass.”

When the crowd in the room erupted in laughter, Obama instantly realized his offhand remark would make news.  “C’mon guys,” Obama said, “Cut the president some slack.”

There’s a joke floating around the Internet that asks:

Has anyone wondered about the coincidence that Obama is on vacation during the month of Ramadan?

At least I’m assuming this was sent as a joke, because it’s a flawed implication.

#1. Congress and the President have been vacationing in August almost since our country’s inception, which is no surprise given how oppressively hot it is in D.C.  In 1970, finally facing the reality of long sessions, Congress mandated an August summer break as part of the Legislative Reorganization Act.  The President has also traditionally vacationed during this time.

#2. Because Ramadan is based on the lunar calendar, it begins about 11-12 days earlier each year.  This year Ramadan started on August 21st.  Wait about 15 years, and Ramadan will coincide with Easter.  So does that imply Jesus was a Muslim?  I think not.

#3. Obama took his vacation at the same time of year as George W. Bush did during his presidency.  If Bush was still in office, do you think people would be asking about this coincidence?

#4. The implication is that Obama is a Muslim.  So what if he is?  The comment smacks of religious bigotry and intolerance.  Which is ironic, considering that’s a complaint often leveled against Muslims.

Now if you want to tell a Muslim joke about Obama that’s funny and intelligent:

A Christian, a Jew and Barack Obama are in a rowboat in the middle of the ocean.  So Obama says, "This joke isn’t going to work because there’s no Muslim in this boat."

From Late Night with Conan O’Brien:

Reporters in Washington are saying that President Obama’s hair has gotten visibly grayer in the seven months since he took office.

Amazingly, each of his gray hairs is the result of a black hair and a white hair being brought together by Obama to share a beer.

President Barack Obama turned 48 today.  He led the White House press corps in singing “Happy Birthday” to veteran reporter Helen Thomas, who turned 89 today.

President Obama and Vice President Biden sat down for a beer at the White House with a top African-American professor and the police officer who arrested him earlier this month.  After the meeting, Obama said in a statement he was thankful to Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Sgt. James Crowley for joining him for “a friendly, thoughtful conversation.”  (CNN)

However, the meeting could have turned out another way:

From xkcd: A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language

From a National Review editorial:

President Obama was born on August 4, 1961, at 7:24 p.m, in Honolulu County, Hawaii, on the island of Oahu.  The serial number on his birth certificate is 010641. 

Baby Barack’s birth was not heralded, as some of his partisans have suggested, by a star in the east, but it was heralded by the Honolulu Star, as well as the Honolulu Advertiser, each of which published birth announcements for young Mr. Obama.

Much foolishness has become attached to the question of President Obama’s place of birth, and a few misguided souls among the Right have indulged it. … Like Bruce Springsteen, he has a lot of bad political ideas; but he was born in the U.S.A.

In April, Slate came up with a highly original way to recap Barack Obama’s first 100 days in office: a parody Facebook feed marking key events in his early presidency.

See the rest of Obama’s Facebook page

President Obama sure knows how to use a teleprompter and cue cards!

He certainly has a smile that can light up a room.