Every comedian knows when they go over the line they hurt someone, they also know even when they are funny, and the audience laughs rather than groans, someone’s butt is still being skewered; and when politicians fail to use good judgment, using self-depreciating humor on themselves rather than directing  it at others they too go over the line.

And so it was at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner last Saturday when both President Barack Obama and Comedian Wanda Sykes stepped into the zone of not being funny and drew groans rather than laughs.

Now as we all know the annual correspondents’ dinner is a roast.  And they are usually a fun evening, but good taste and judgment was lacking at this year’s event.

It began with the President opening with some good humor about his use of the teleprompter and he deftly made reference to Michelle Obama’s ‘right to bare arms’, but I thought he stepped over the line when he with an attempt at humor tried to cast away the New York fly-over of Air Force One on his kids: “Now Sasha and Malia aren’t here tonight because they’re grounded.  You can’t just take Air Force One on a joy ride to Manhattan.”

And while referencing the following day as being ‘Mother’s Day’ Obama said, “I do have to say, though, that this is a tough holiday for Rahm Emanuel because he’s not used to saying the word ‘day’ after ‘mother.’  That’s true.”

Interesting that a black President would be using such a reference when the term originated from his own ethnic race.

Then he went after the former Vice President, “Dick Cheney was supposed to be here but he is very busy working on his memoirs, tentatively titled, “How to Shoot Friends and Interrogate People.”

He went on to say, “In the last hundred days, we’ve also grown the Democratic Party by infusing it with new energy and bringing in fresh, young faces like Arlen Specter.”  Of course he is the Republican turncoat, but more importantly he is 79 years of age, fighting to stay in the Senate and has survived 3 bouts of cancer.

Now Obama took some shots at Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who he said had something to do with the Specter split, “Arlen, you know what I always say — “if you cant beat them , join them.”

“Which brings me to another thing that’s changed in this new, warmer, fuzzier White House, and that’s my relationship with Hillary.  You know, we had been rivals during the campaign, but these days we could not be closer.  In fact, the second she got back from Mexico she pulled into a hug and gave me a big kiss.  Told me I’d better get down there myself.  Which I really appreciated.  I mean, it was — it was nice.”

I’m sure this line struck a funny bone with the families of the thousands of persons who lost their lives to swine flu.

Then there was the shot across the bow of Tim Geithner our tax evader Treasury Secretary when Obama said, “In the next hundred days, we will house train our dog, Bo, because the last thing Tim Geithner needs is someone else treating him like a fire hydrant.”

But the best of the over the line comments that sent the cringe-meters off the charts came from Comedian Wanda Sykes who accused conservative radio show host Rush Limbaugh of treason comparing him to Osama bin Laden and wished for his physical collapse.

She went on to say, “Rush Limbaugh said he hopes this administration fails, so you’re saying, “I hope America fails,’ you’re like, “I don’t care about people losing their homes, their jobs, our soldiers in Iraq.’  He just wants the country to fail.  To me, that’s treason,” Sykes said.

“He’s not saying anything differently than what Osama bin Laden is saying, ” she continued, before addressing the guest of honor, President Obama.  “You know, you might want to look into this, sir, because I think maybe Rush Limbaugh was the 20th hijacker. But he was just so strung out on OxyContin he missed his flight.”

The crowd groaned, Obama smiled and Sykes may have noticed a little discomfort in the room.

“Too much?” she asked.

But then piled it on:

“Rush Limbaugh, ‘I hope the country fails’ — I hope his kidneys fail, how about that? . . . He needs a good waterboarding, that’s what he needs.”

Obama joined the crowd in laughing at the crack about Limbaugh’s “kidneys.”

It was an evening filled with sick liberal humor.  The relatively low-key media coverage of Sykes’ jokes, Obama’s hurtful lines and his inapproprate laughter at physical harm to one that opposes his views and policies underscores the liberal slanted take on what’s hateful and what’s not — all of whch the President of the United States participated.