Sacha Baron Cohen became famous for his rendition of the character "Borat", filming a fake documentary on "behalf" of the government of Kazakhstan. During the creation of the film, Cohen fooled many, including former Congressman Bob Barr and a local news crew.
But his latest stunt goes well beyond that.
"Basically, what I wanted to do was create a practical joke so large and so profound that it wouldn't even seem funny." Cohen told us from his London loft, "It was around 2004 and I remember that lots of American folks were rambling on about that year's Presidential election, so I figured that I could create just a romping good laugh by faking my own election.
"So I went down to the studio and began to draw up a general idea of how we could create a 'fake' President of the United States. We picked an actor named James Stephenson and sent him over to the States to act in a role as 'Barack Obama.'
"The character Obama was a simple state senator from the most corrupt city in the country. That alone would cause a lot of alarm bells. And his record was hardly anything-- In fact, he had more legislation aimed at closing domestic industry and outsourcing jobs than anyone in the Illinois state senate. That would create red flags too.
"And we casted a bitch wife-- I mean a total, over-the-top full PMSing rage-oid. I mean, people were turned off by Hillary Clinton cause she wanted universal health care in 1993. Well, this broad-- excuse me-- young lady, was casted to say that she wasn't even proud of her country. We figured that even some of the left-wing types would pause and think about it.
"And we made sure that Stephenson (Obama) would go to the most extreme, radical church this side of Jonestown. And the preacher he went to, we didn't even script. Wright was perfect. Between accusing the government of creating and spreading AIDS and celebrating the 9/11 attacks, this would be a great way to turn people off. I mean, in the script Wright married Barack and Michelle and baptized their children, all while calling for a separation of races.
"But that wasn't enough. People just adored the guy still. We couldn't figure it out. We made sure that he never spoke in-depth about geopolitics, and whenever he did, he would just confuse Iran with a Flock of Seagulls song.
"And his upbringing was a treat. His mother was a drugged-out hippie who posed nude for pictures and his father was a deadbeat. This wouldn't keep people from voting for him, but it should make them stop and think of the values he was instilled with.
"And even in his own autobiography he clearly states that he tried to hang out with the Marxists and radicals. He followed them around and listened to their rants against American society.
"And the biggest kicker was that he launched his political career at the house of a wanted terrorist, who killed American civilians and bombed landmarks. Not only did he go to his house, but knew him personally as a Marxist agitator and murderer.
"But when we entered his name into the Democratic Party primaries, everyone loved the idea that he opposed the Iraq war, even though he publicly stated that the people there spoke "Iraqese." He couldn't speak without prepared speeches, but they loved that his meticulously-prepped lines made him seem authentic.
"And we got him on every TV show and with every celebrity possible, to make it seem like he had no idea how politics worked. But it just seemed to make him more popular.
"But somehow, with all of his shortcomings and parts of his life that just didn't make sense, he still beat Hillary Clinton. Why? Because he was deemed 'cool.' Not competent, but the type of guy who could burp the entire alphabet.
"So who did the Democrats vote for? A religious zealot who knew nothing about foreign policy and was a former cokehead. Gee, isn't that what Jon Stewart tried to say good ol' Georgie was for eight years? And they wind up electing the guy. That one's the kicker.
"And now he's actually in office. I've got to admit, we're running out of material to give the guy. He's just flailing up there. If you have any suggestions, send me an email."
Inter-linked at Jumping in Pools
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Filed under:
Satire
Tags: Humor, Obama, Sacha Baron Cohen, Satire
Comments (25)
Best explanation I've heard... (Below threshold)1. Posted by GarandFan | December 13, 2009 3:14 PM | Score: 19 (19 votes cast)
Best explanation I've heard so far.
1. Posted by GarandFan | December 13, 2009 3:14 PM |
Score: 19 (19 votes cast)
Posted on December 13, 2009 15:14
2. Posted by Rosie Bumme | December 13, 2009 3:35 PM | Score: 10 (10 votes cast)
Sounds like Mr. Cohen may be one them Joooooooooooos who is not enamored of the one we've been waiting for.
2. Posted by Rosie Bumme | December 13, 2009 3:35 PM |
Score: 10 (10 votes cast)
Posted on December 13, 2009 15:35
3. Posted by f1guyus | December 13, 2009 3:43 PM | Score: 8 (8 votes cast)
Fuh-Nee.
3. Posted by f1guyus | December 13, 2009 3:43 PM |
Score: 8 (8 votes cast)
Posted on December 13, 2009 15:43
4. Posted by Stopthepresses2 | December 13, 2009 4:11 PM | Score: 10 (10 votes cast)
Too bad so many fell for the practical joke.
4. Posted by Stopthepresses2 | December 13, 2009 4:11 PM |
Score: 10 (10 votes cast)
Posted on December 13, 2009 16:11
5. Posted by Upset Old Guy | December 13, 2009 4:26 PM | Score: 13 (13 votes cast)
Cohen is right, I'm not laughing, t least not ae "the won". I find him deadly serious. Heart attack serious.
But I have absolutely no way of rationally explaining Obama as POTUS, so in the absence of that I accept Cohen's explanation as it's more rational that what I saw happen.
5. Posted by Upset Old Guy | December 13, 2009 4:26 PM |
Score: 13 (13 votes cast)
Posted on December 13, 2009 16:26
6. Posted by Upset Old Guy | December 13, 2009 4:30 PM | Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
Crap, it was right when I hit the send button - Cohen is right, I'm not laughing, at least not at "the won".
6. Posted by Upset Old Guy | December 13, 2009 4:30 PM |
Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
Posted on December 13, 2009 16:30
7. Posted by proof | December 13, 2009 4:43 PM | Score: 12 (12 votes cast)
At least Cohen admits his documentaries are fakes. When is Michael Moore going to come clean?
7. Posted by proof | December 13, 2009 4:43 PM |
Score: 12 (12 votes cast)
Posted on December 13, 2009 16:43
8. Posted by Rich Fader | December 13, 2009 6:00 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
So the president is a bleached arschenhaller?
8. Posted by Rich Fader | December 13, 2009 6:00 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on December 13, 2009 18:00
9. Posted by Sabba Hillel![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://wizbangblog.com/nav-commenters.gif)
| December 13, 2009 7:43 PM | Score: 1 (3 votes cast)
Reminds me about the joke that I wrote for the soc.culture.judaism FAQ
Subject: Question 19.10: Who was the sixth Marx brother?
Answer:
The sixth Marx brother Karl turned his comedic skills to literature. He wrote a spoof of an economic treatise which parodied the ponderous "scientific" tomes of his day. Unfortunately, people with no sense of humor took him seriously and attempted to carry out the philosophy he used in the book. It was as if the English had attempted to carry out Jonathan Swift's "A modest proposal" and the results were just as tragic.
The last czar of the Russian Empire (Mikhail I of the House of Gorbachev) finally admitted this and abdicated, and there was much rejoicing.
[For the humor-impaired, to quote Foghorn Leghorn, "the above was a joke, son."]
Read more: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/judaism/FAQ/11-Miscellaneous/#ixzz0ZcRuobMH
9. Posted by Sabba Hillel![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://wizbangblog.com/nav-commenters.gif)
| December 13, 2009 7:43 PM |
Score: 1 (3 votes cast)
Posted on December 13, 2009 19:43
10. Posted by smitty | December 13, 2009 10:30 PM | Score: 6 (6 votes cast)
I want to laugh at this, but it's too close to the truth.
10. Posted by smitty | December 13, 2009 10:30 PM |
Score: 6 (6 votes cast)
Posted on December 13, 2009 22:30
11. Posted by GarandFan | December 13, 2009 11:07 PM | Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
Not all "practical jokes" end up being "funny".
11. Posted by GarandFan | December 13, 2009 11:07 PM |
Score: 4 (4 votes cast)
Posted on December 13, 2009 23:07
12. Posted by Burt | December 13, 2009 11:07 PM | Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Wow! this comes as a total surprise to me. All this time, I have been blaming Ashton Kutcher. OK, I'll admit that I have also been keeping my eyes open for Allen Funt.
12. Posted by Burt | December 13, 2009 11:07 PM |
Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Posted on December 13, 2009 23:07
13. Posted by Matt | December 13, 2009 11:20 PM | Score: 7 (7 votes cast)
Finally, an explanation that makes sense!
13. Posted by Matt | December 13, 2009 11:20 PM |
Score: 7 (7 votes cast)
Posted on December 13, 2009 23:20
14. Posted by MotherMary | December 13, 2009 11:32 PM | Score: -10 (10 votes cast)
You people wipe ass regularly.
14. Posted by MotherMary | December 13, 2009 11:32 PM |
Score: -10 (10 votes cast)
Posted on December 13, 2009 23:32
15. Posted by 914 | December 14, 2009 12:08 AM | Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
So wheres the punchline?
15. Posted by 914 | December 14, 2009 12:08 AM |
Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Posted on December 14, 2009 00:08
16. Posted by 914 | December 14, 2009 12:15 AM | Score: 2 (4 votes cast)
Forget it I figured it out..Its the 10,000,000 jobs lost and 12 trillion debt.
16. Posted by 914 | December 14, 2009 12:15 AM |
Score: 2 (4 votes cast)
Posted on December 14, 2009 00:15
17. Posted by Brian Richard Allen | December 14, 2009 8:23 AM | Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
This recap of the ascent to office of the Chance-the-gardener-clone sail-eared-simpleton presently pretending to our presidency almost -- but not yet -- makes up for that un-and-anti-American and decidedly-unfunny "comedy" Herr Sacha Baron Cohen made a while back.
17. Posted by Brian Richard Allen | December 14, 2009 8:23 AM |
Score: 3 (3 votes cast)
Posted on December 14, 2009 08:23
18. Posted by Dr Carlo Lombardi | December 14, 2009 11:43 AM | Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
"You people wipe ass regularly.
14. Posted by MotherMary | December 13, 2009 11:32 PM"
Ahh, erudite and persuasive leftist polemics at its best.
18. Posted by Dr Carlo Lombardi | December 14, 2009 11:43 AM |
Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Posted on December 14, 2009 11:43
19. Posted by OregonMuse | December 14, 2009 1:45 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Well, I hate to be the turd in the punchbowl here, but...
Funny as this is, I can find no evidence that Cohen actually said it. JumpingInPools provides no link to an actual source, and Google searches mostly point back to either JIP or Wizbang, or other blogs and twitters that point to either JIP or Wizbang.
So, I guess we've been punk'd.
19. Posted by OregonMuse | December 14, 2009 1:45 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on December 14, 2009 13:45
20. Posted by bryanD | December 14, 2009 2:37 PM | Score: -1 (1 votes cast)
"So, I guess we've been punk'd."
19. Posted by OregonMuse
Speak for yourself, Slowpoke.
Solipsism is Wizbangblog's primary characteristic.
20. Posted by bryanD | December 14, 2009 2:37 PM |
Score: -1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on December 14, 2009 14:37
21. Posted by Flu-Bird | December 14, 2009 2:54 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Anyone for one of those little lepel flowers that squirts water in a liberals face?
21. Posted by Flu-Bird | December 14, 2009 2:54 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on December 14, 2009 14:54
22. Posted by OregonMuse | December 14, 2009 2:57 PM | Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
I don't care who you are, being called "solipsistic" by Wizbang's resident glue-sniffing conspirazoid is pretty damn funny.
22. Posted by OregonMuse | December 14, 2009 2:57 PM |
Score: 2 (2 votes cast)
Posted on December 14, 2009 14:57
23. Posted by bryanD | December 14, 2009 6:40 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Hmmm. Being branded a "resident" by confirmed resident nonpareil while said resident nonpareil patrols the Wizbang comments thread and executive cheese cache while dribbling Oregon whine forensically traced to 1:45pm (late breakfast) and 2:47pm (pre-brunch)...
Priceless. Or free. Whatever.
23. Posted by bryanD | December 14, 2009 6:40 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on December 14, 2009 18:40
24. Posted by Dr Carlo Lombardi | December 15, 2009 4:57 AM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
23. Posted by bryanD
You okay, honey?
Or are you just testing your random word generating algorithm?
24. Posted by Dr Carlo Lombardi | December 15, 2009 4:57 AM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on December 15, 2009 04:57
25. Posted by Tammy | December 15, 2009 12:13 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
I would think wiping ass regularly (as in my own) would be a good thing. The opposite would be a lot of dirty assed people.
25. Posted by Tammy | December 15, 2009 12:13 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on December 15, 2009 12:13