The Arizona Daily Star
Bush is target of 90 minutes of steady vitriol in ‘Emergency’ tour
By Cathalena E Burch
Published: October 8, 2004
| The Tucson Convention Center was not the place to be Thursday
night if you supported President Bush. At dinnertime, Teresa Heinz Kerry -- wife of Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry -- dished up an anti-Bush entree to 2,500 in the TCC Arena. A couple hours later at the smaller Music Hall, comedian Margaret Cho served dessert to 1,300 -- 90 minutes of anti-Bush barbs that would prompt even the staunchest Bush-ite to slink out the door in horror. From the applause, hoots, howls and supportive laughter, it was safe to say there were no Republicans or Bush supporters among Cho’s audience. Cho paid Tucson a visit as part of her national “State of Emergency” anti-Bush tour that is hitting mostly swing states from now to the Nov. 2 presidential election. When Cho booked Tucson several weeks ago, Arizona was considered a swing state -- meaning voters could swing either Republican or Democrat. Opening comic Bruce Daniels acknowledged that’s no longer the case, “but we’re here anyway.” Daniels, who has long toured with Cho, greased the anti-Bush wheels when he loudly proclaimed, “I just want a president that’s a little smarter than me. And I’m not that smart.” It was a perfect segue to Cho, the oftentimes raunchy comedian who’s not afraid to delve into topics as explicit as sex and as controversial as same-sex marriage. She’ll put you through doubled-over fits of laughter when she channels her Korean-born mother then hit you up the backside with a reality check when she stubbornly shouts out that President Bush was a liar when he claimed Iraq had weapons of mass destruction that warranted the U.S. invasion. “All they (weapons inspectors) found was some people who needed to put registration stickers on their cars,” Cho joked about a recent report that confirmed there were no such weapons in Iraq. Then in her trademark, almost whiny scream, she ranted: “We don’t have any weapons of mass destruction! Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go! There’s no reason for us to be (in Iraq) anymore!” If there were any Republicans among the audience, they kept silently to themselves as the audience howled in agreement. Cho didn’t stray long or far from her anti-Bush message, accusing the president of being at war with everyone, from homosexuals to pro-choicers. When she did get off topic, she quickly shot back. Bush, she told the audience, makes you long for the Reagan years. Which made Cho wonder aloud when she heard that Reagan had died: Isn’t he already dead? “He died twice?” she said, then cringed her face in a look of confusion before continuing her rant. “They would not bury him,” she observed. “They dragged him everywhere, from California to Washington. It was ‘Weekend at Bernie’s.’ Put that man in the ground!” Then Cho returned to her mission of putting Bush in the ground with her strongest weapon: humor. |