WHITEHOUSE.ORG
WHITEHOUSE.ORG was a long-running political parody website I produced & edited during two separate tenures spanning vastly different political and internet realities.
The Bush Era: 2001-2009
During the slow-motion train wreck that was the George W. Bush Administration, we entertained millions of people per month, sold a ton of silly swag, published a spin-off book with Penguin USA, staged a critically-acclaimed off-Broadway play, and (best of all) invoked the wrath of Vice President Dick Cheney himself. Good times.
“Hilarious” – The New York Times
“In” – Vanity Fair
“Spot on” – BBC
“Hysterical… Searing political parody” – CNN
“Brilliantly ham-fisted” – TIME
“Scathing… Wickedly funny” – Detroit Metro Times
“Offensive, irreverent… bitingly funny.” – Orlando Sentinal
“The jury's out on Wooden’s ability to make anyone laugh.” – New York Post
Alas, the satire was sometimes lost on the humor-impaired...
...and yet somehow not on the actual White House Press Secretary:
(When Ari Fleischer’s Target.com wedding registry leaked, I couldn’t resist sending the happy couple a little something.)
Dear Dubya – The Play
“Dear Dubya” is an off-Broadway play I wrote in 2005, based on thousands of emails written to George W. Bush by the general public that were accidentally sent to WHITEHOUSE.ORG.
“A minor triumph” – The New York Times
“Go to laugh; stay to weep.” – TimeOut NY
“Powerful” – NYTheatre.com
“Disturbing… quite funny” – Theatremania
“Potential Cult Hit” – Ben Brantley, NYT
The Trump Era: 2017-2018
In 2017, I rebooted WHITEHOUSE.ORG with the original writing team after an eight-year hiatus. Sadly, with the internet having grown so toxically post-reality, and Donald J. Trump already being a grotesque parody, we soon concluded he couldn’t be satirized without treading in waters too putrid for even our vile tastes. So we walked away. Alas, irony died so… ironically.
