SNL used fat behind Kennan Thompson to play Tiger woods of all people in a skit, how stupid, They will not hire a black person who can be as versatile as the white guy who plays Obama, will they use a talented black guy to play a white President , no way. SNL is like watching a raisin in the sun. a flash in the pan here and there. But it's a lame excuse that there is no black talent out there to become a star on SNL , to play President Obama.

Black-face done by whites is always RACIST! It conjures up memories of the 'original intent' of BF, to mock and demonize Blacks as they suffered in slavery. Picture a non Jewish comedian dressing up as Hitler and making fun of Jewishness etc. It would bring back painful memories. If you need an Obama impersonator, use an ACTUAL Black person of any ethnicity, they are NOT that hard to find.

I HAVE A DREAM...that one day, impersonators will be judged for the skill of their craft, and not the color of their skin!....

NObama is not black. What is it, bad to admit that half of you is caucasion? That's prejudice. And, yes, admitting that half of you is white is bad if you are hoping that blacks will vote for you merely because of skin color (not because of the content of your character). Manipulative and clever, that NObama.

Let's get real. Is NObama the man what he says he is? Belongs to a Christian church for two decades yet takes his oath of office on the Koran? Gives terrorist Louis Farrakhan a lifetime achievement award within the past year? A goose egg for foreign policy. Steals Hillary Clinton's ideas. Plagarizes speeches and then says that the plagarism doesn't matter. The man is a charismatic with character problems and the arrogance of W. Reminds me of David Koresh of the Branch Dividians.

Why not have NObama played by a white guy in black face? What a dumb argument. John Goodman as Lynda Tripp and Will Ferrell as Janet Reno - hilarious. THANK YOU SNL.

Who care who impersonates whom? They have women impersonate men and vice-versa...does that offend anyone? It DOESN'T MATTER.

I think your last paragraph is dead on, Joel. I don't have a problem with Armisen playing Obama, but I think this just reminds everybody of how lacking in diversity late night in general is. SNL is an easy target because it's a visible thing-- there are almost no minority performers-- but look at the writing staffs of any of the Late Night shows, and you're not going to find much diversity, in terms of gender or race.

I think Armisen's Obama was okay. He obviously needs to refine it a little bit, but I thought he was one of the better attempts I've seen. The sketch fell kind of flat to me, though.

I'm with Jennifer here.

Fred Armisen is a great talent. His AMTP producer just killed, and what about his President Ahmadinejad?

If his first time out of the box wasn't a home run, then so be it. I know many of the classic political character's in the past probably haven't been either.

I'll reserve judgement until he's done Obama a few more times.

Just get The Rock to do it. They sound alike already.

As one person mentioned above, Armisen is actually of German, Japanese, and Venezuelan descent. That's why he can pull of playing "Tino" in Anchorman, among other roles. Obama is half black/half white, so having someone who's fully African-American would "technically" be wrong if we're following exactly. But as mentioned, he's been playing Prince for years, as has Hammond been playing Jesse Jackson. It wasn't an issue before, it shouldn't be now. And as for how funny it was or wasn't, it was his first time playing the role, so if it was a bit lackluster, give him time to play with it!! Armisen is one of the funniest people on SNL right now (Bill Hader always slays me though) so I trust him with this new responsibility. :)

It goes to the weak writing on behalf of SNL. If the sketch was funny, black face would not be an issue. Freds take on obama is mild and that may have to do with the fact that he is not black? And would it really hurt SNL to get some color in the place anyway. Maya is gone so what about Obama's wife...thats gonna be the hat trick. will kristin start singing MAAAMEEE?