President Obama was in Century City on Wednesday night to accept a serious award from the USC Shoah Foundation — but his warmup act, comedian Conan O'Brien, still wasn't over what Angelenos were calling Wednesday's #Obamajam on major routes around town.
"As a resident of Los Angeles, I'm furious about what you do to traffic when you visit this city," O'Brien said to laughter at the 20th anniversary gala of USC's Shoah Foundation. "What the hell? I know you left Washington six hours ago, but I left Burbank seven hours ago."
"There are two things that make traffic shut down in this town — a visit from the president and a light drizzle," O'Brien continued. "Now I mean! this with the greatest respect, Sir, but do you have to physically come here? We love you. This town loves you. You've got our vote. You're good.
"Audience, what do you say to – next time we give President Obama a Los Angeles award, we mail it to him? And then we fly down the 405," the comedian said.
In his speech, Obama paid tribute to Holocaust survivors who have told their stories through the USC Shoah Foundation, which has an archive that now includes more than 107,000 hours of testimony and interviews. He spoke at length about the importance of storytelling in overcoming indifference and preventing future atrocities.
Los Angeles TimesSource : http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/politicsnow/la-pn-conan-obrien-la-traffic-obama-20140507-story.html
