As expected, late night comedians have had a field day with the killing of Osama bin Laden, using it as a jumping off point for other political zingers. They’ve been generating a ton of jokes. Here’s a cross section of them:
“The news of bin Laden’s death interrupted this week’s episode of ‘Celebrity Apprentice.’ Which begs the question, how do we kill bin Laden again next Sunday?” –Conan O’Brien
“The Republicans are so happy about bin Laden they’ve granted President Obama full citizenship.” –David Letterman
“Osama bin Laden’s death has been in the news all day. Leftish stations are going, ‘President Obama saves the world.’ Stations on the right are going, ‘Obama kills fellow Muslim.'” –Craig Ferguson
“How about those Navy Seals. We’re getting our money’s worth there. They broke into Osama bin Laden’s compound with 12-foot walls topped by barbed wire, and fired a warning shot into his head.” –David Letterman
“There’s already been some trouble for Osama bin Laden in the afterlife. There was a mix up and he was greeted by 72 vegans.” –David Letterman
“The hot new drink around the country is the bin Laden. It’s a Colt 45 and a shot that goes right to your head.” –Jay Leno
“Bin Laden was buried at sea. Or as Dick Cheney calls it, ‘the ultimate waterboarding.'” –Jay Leno
“He’s up to 2,000 friends on Shot In The Facebook.” –Jimmy Kimmel
“President Obama gave the order for Navy SEALs to kill bin Laden. When President Bush heard about it, he was really upset, saying, ‘I could have used seals?'” –Conan O’Brien
“And so, Osama Bin Laden got his first bath in almost ten years. This could the best shark week ever.” –Jimmy Kimmel
“Osama bin Laden was apparently shot twice in the face. It looks like Dick Cheney may have been involved.” –Jay Leno
“Osama bin Laden is dead, which means the No. 1 threat to America is now the KFC Double Down.” –Conan O’Brien
“Bin Laden was living in a house with no Internet access, which explains why there were all those bin Laden sightings at the Islamabad Kinko’s.” –Conan O’Brien
“Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces. Everyone on TV has been really happy. Glenn Beck was crying — and then he found out about Osama.” –Craig Ferguson
“Bin Laden lived in this compound in Pakistan with all of his wives for 6 years. So he did suffer.” –David Letterman
“Oddly enough, bin Laden’s last words were, ‘I hope you at least use this to interrupt ‘Celebrity Apprentice.” –Jimmy Fallon
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.