Anywyay i don’t have much to add except to say that I think that this: “probably stems from the mean-spirited Ur-joke about S.O. that we all absorb without thinking about as kids and retain somewhere in our brains whether we want to or not.” by Elly is exactly right.

I am also impressed at how he avoided the decision of choosing a mutt or a purebred for the White House dog. I have never seen the public demand accountability on any issue as they did on his comment about adopting a mutt from the pound. Score another point for Obama, he got around having to make that decision by accepting a gift from an ailing Kennedy. Checkmate.

It’s good to catch up on the blog. I’d be interested to hear where you put the odds of Jon Stewart ever interviewing the president after the Jim Cramer episode. I can appreciate Jon Stewart’s conviction during an interview, but it seems misdirected when he holds Jim Cramer to answer for the entire financial crisis. I once saw him ask very hard-hitting and important questions about Dick Cheney… to Cheney’s biographer.

Keep up the good work!

But the thing that really, really disturbed me was that the President showed more than a passing familiarity with American Idol. Like he might actually [i]watch[/i] it. That scares the crap out of me. Honestly.

Oh, I couldn’t agree. More. I’ve had that queasy Carter Re-run feeling ever since the election, and Obama’s subsequent earnest attempts at setting politics aside for the greater good. It seems to already be making him as popular with Congress as Carter was. Especially if the House vote on his first attempt at an “economic stimulus package” is any indication of the future. The Republican team just took their ball and went home, and 11 Democrats “reached across the aisle” and went with them.

But, say what you will about Carter, at least we know that SOMEBODY said all the things about energy, the environment, and the future if we stayed on the slash and burn route… 0ver 30 FRICKIN’ YEARS AGO!

I will say though, that talking about malaise and the moral equivalent of war were not the words that could turn us around.

Plain speaking and earnestness, unfortunately, are not sufficient communication tools for a President. They really aren’t–even if they’re the truth.

I wish Obama would have said a few things in his Inaugural Address that weren’t referencing Kennedy’s Moonshot rhetoric or Lincoln’s or Washington’s Darkest Hours, but rather FDR’s “All we have to fear…” . Instead he sent a “What each and every one of you has to do…” message, and in some ways ended up sounding more like a scold than a sage.

It’s a fine line. For all of Reagan’s gaffs and screw-ups and horrible policies, I’ll never forget how he dismissed reporters’ questions about the ‘87 market crash with a wave of his hand and a “Well, they tell me that doesn’t really matter” comment that was essentially swallowed by America and the stupid “market” and, I think, diverted a real disaster.

The economy is a funny thing, it’s what people THINK is going to happen that makes it happen. Even if it’s a lie. Obama has a lot of credibility now, and he needs a good “things-ain’t-so-bad” sound bite that people can hum a happy tune to: “Look up America, it’s a Bright Shining Pie in the Sky.” People love that shtik, and it can actually work if it’s done right.

But I do watch movies and follow David Lynch’s stuff in particular, and I do believe that Leno is leaning against his Camaro right in front of the Bob’s Big Boy that David Lynch eats at EVERY DERN DAY!

At least breakfast, which consists of coffee with sugar and vanilla malts until his hair gets like that.

Back to Leno–he sure looks like he’d fit into a really spooky Lynch movie in that swell picture. It could be a promo shot for Eraserhead Returns.

your friend,

rs.

p.s.,

i can also be reached on facebook.

p.p.s.,

please excuse the lack of Proper Capitalization, as i just have a thing about that in emails, as well as poetry.