What's "presidential" any more?

I have a sense of humor.  I like Jimmy Fallon.  I think the Slow Jam segments are some of his funniest stuff.  There is also the possibility that President Obama's involvement in that feature could be a stroke of genius in terms of relatability, likability, that "I want a President just like me" factor.

Well, I said it when they used that line to support Bill Clinton, and I'll say it now.  I don't want a President like me.  I want a President better than me.  And I want a President who respectfully passes on opportunities to do late-night TV comedy bits.

    The consistency test is:  would I want my party's nominee to do it?  And that's a hell, no.  There has been talk of Romney doing something on Saturday Night Live.  Please, Mitt, don't do it.  I don't care if you are cool.  I just want you to fix the country.  I don't care if you share my sense of humor.  I just want you to bring an agenda wholly different from the nightmare we are in today.  And I want you to be serious about it.  Not humorless, not severe.  Just above the silliness that some politicians have engaged in to score hipness points.  I know a lot of hip people, and most of them I wouldn't let wash my car.  I know a lot of people with stunted senses of humor, and some of them are geniuses.  Please, Mitt, just be presidential.  Ignore the modern tug to roll around in the mire of today's comedy culture.

    And again, I say this as a fan of that culture.  Watch the Obama slow jam with Fallon-- by any measure, it is truly funny.  But we have to figure out what we want our leaders to do and what we preferred they not do.  And it just so happens the RNC has assembled a brilliant ad featuring how Obama and Romney spent their evenings.  It illustrates the point perfectly.

Comments

[DontBullyMe1]

Presidential used to mean character, integrity and statesmanship.

Today, it means caricature, insanity and salesmanship.

[Scott Robison]

Sadly it predates Clinton. Nixon's "Sock it to me?" on Laugh in came practically a generation earlier.

[Chuck Thompson]

Really, that's just embarrassing. I'm happy you put the link up because I wouldn't have seen it otherwise. And I think the "slow jam" is a great idea - just not for the President of the United States making a political/campaign statement.

Maybe Fallon, Maher, SNL, etc. should do something related to the phony "Universities-for-profit" that are selling these kids on the value of going into debt for the rest of their lives for a "Criminal Justice" degree while lobbying for Gov guarantees on the loans which end up locking the kids into a debt situation as bad as debtor's prison.

[Julie Songy]

I'm sorry, it wasn't even funny to me because I was so nauseated watching what looked like a desperate attempt to be 'cool' (which he is not)and to get attention, from the person who is supposed to be the leader of this country. I'm not opposed to a president having a sense of humor, and participating in something funny, but this president goes overboard with this attention-getting stuff of non-substance on a regular basis because he is inept at being a leader and doing what he needs to for this country. HE thinks he is cool, I think he's a joke.