A Massachusetts sheriff has been forced to go on the defensive following a weekend joke he told about President Obama and Abe Lincoln’s assassination drew fire from the community.
Plymouth County Sheriff Joseph McDonald Jr., who’s a Republican, joked at a St. Patrick’s Day breakfast: Hey, have you heard about Mr. Obama’s latest dream? Mr. Lincoln visits him — and says he should go to the theater, The Associated Press reports.
Lincoln, of course, was shot at Ford’s Theatre in Washington in 1865.
Liberal bloggers took immediate offense, CBS reports, calling the joke “disgusting.” Several others also expressed outrage on the sheriff’s Facebook page, CBS says.
But Sheriff McDonald told the Patriot Ledger his comments were no different than what Democrats joked about former President George W. Bush going hunting with former Vice President Dick Cheney — after Mr. Cheney accidentally shot his hunting partner. And besides, the sheriff said to the paper, ’it was a joke” and taking offense is “absurd.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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