Jokes About Obama, Politicians Emerge in Aftermath of Today’s Earthquake

posted at 8:47 pm on August 23, 2011 by Howard Portnoy
[ Obama ]   

Luckily, the earthquake that rattled windows and jangled nerves throughout the northeast part of the nation today did little beyond that. Some buildings in DC sustained minor damage, among them Reagan International Airport, which lost a few ceramic ceiling tiles, and National Cathedral, which experienced cracks in its masonry. None of the damage was severe enough to be costly or beyond repair.

The bruised egos of Washingtonians, and especially its political class, is another story, at least for those too thin-skinned to take some good-natured ribbing. Much of the comedic jabs were broadcast via Twitter. Here are several (h/t Washington Examiner):

@calebhowe: Breaking: Obama administration points out they ‘inherited’ fault lines from previous administrations.

@comradescott: Evidently the quake occurred on a little known fault line outside of DC called ‘Bush’s Fault.’

@charliespiering: I won’t stop shaking until Obama makes a speech telling me that everything is ok and that he has a plan.

@Ben_Howe: As all of DC leaves work at the same time, the United States experiences a brief economic recovery.

@TPCarney: Krugman says it wasn’t big enough.

@MaizeBlueNation: Fox News claims the Washington monument is leaning to the right, MSNBC claims it’s leaning to the left. More news at 11.

@politicoroger POLITICO had the earthquake story yesterday.

Charles Babbington of Associated Press offers a few more, minus attributions.

S&P has downgraded earthquake to a 2.0.

Rick Perry denies earthquake.

Michele Bachmann vows to bring all U.S. earthquakes down to a 2.9 magnitude.

There was just a 5.9 earthquake in Washington. Obama wanted it to be 3.4, but the Republicans wanted 5.9, so he compromised.

Not all of the barbs came from Twitter. The Wall Street Journal, noting that the quake reached Martha’s Vineyard, where President Obama was in the process of putting, wondered if “the temblor caused his ball to fall from the lip into the cup and help him win the hole, a la ‘Caddyshack.’”

Considering the kind of luck the president has been having lately, I’d be inclined to doubt it.

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