Obama's fake ID scandal

Someone call the Birthers -- the president admits he may have used a fake for a very important purpose

Published December 8, 2009 12:04AM (EST)

OK, so it's not actually a scandal, and it's not even at all clear that he was actually admitting to having a fake ID, but there was a funny moment during President Obama's remarks about the Kennedy Center honorees on Sunday night, when he at least jokingly admitted to a youthful indiscretion of sorts.

One of the honorees was Mel Brooks, the director of -- among many other things -- "Blazing Saddles." As he spoke about Brooks, Obama said, "Unfortunately, many of the punch lines that have defined Mel Brooks' success cannot be repeated here. I was telling him that I went to see 'Blazing Saddles' when I was 10. And he pointed out that I think, according to the ratings, I should not have been allowed in the theater. That's true. I think I had a fake ID. But the statute of limitations has passed."

That's not the only funny part of Obama's remarks, which you can watch below. (My personal favorite: "[A]s Mel Brooks explains it: 'Look at Jewish history -- unrelieved lamenting would be intolerable. So every 10 Jews, God designed one to be crazy and amuse the others.' According to Mel, 'By the time I was five I knew I was that one.'")


By Alex Koppelman

Alex Koppelman is a staff writer for Salon.

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