The Don Rickles Presidency

I wrapped up my blog yesterday with a comment about our tough, smart senior citizens. Case in point: The King of Insult, Comedian Don Rickles, age 84. Last month he appeared on the Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson, where he insulted Mr. Ferguson (“He’s a lonely guy”), Mr. Ferguson’s Scottish homeland (“Have you been over there?” “No…we like to go to places where we can have fun”), Frank Sinatra (“got lucky”), and an elderly man in the audience (“You can always tell when they get old cause the mouth can’t close. Dad you gotta keep the mouth closed. Otherwise they come at you with the hook and you’re in a box.”). If none of that seems funny when you read it on the computer screen, you got to watch the video. The audience laughs for thirteen minutes straight.

Clearly Mr. Rickles is a role model for those who never want to retire. Unfortunately, he also seems to be a role model for President Obama. The President has developed an insult routine of his own, and he’s taking his act on the road. In San Francisco he told a fundraiser that rural Pennsylvanians “cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them” (Audio: Barack Obama's small town guns and religion comments, April 6, 2008). In Boston, he said that those of us who are so eager to eject his allies from Congress are not thinking "clearly" because we're "scared". We can't help it though; we're "hard-wired" that way (Remarks by the President at DSCC Fundraiser, October 16, 2010). In Portland, Maine, shortly after the passage of ObamaCare, he ridiculed those concerned about its provisions: “After I signed the bill, I looked around. I looked up at the sky to see if asteroids were coming. I looked at the ground to see if cracks had opened up in the earth. You know what, it turned out it was a pretty nice day. Birds were still chirping. Folks were strolling down the street. Nobody had lost their doctor. Nobody had pulled the plug on Granny. Nobody was being dragged away to be forced into some government-run health care plan.” ( Remarks by the President on Health Insurance Reform, April 1, 2010).

Politics ain’t beanbag. Those who run for office, pontificate on TV, or even write a blog choose to put themselves out there. They’re fair game for comedy. But it’s not good leadership, and it’s not right, to ridicule average Americans for going to Church, wanting good health care for their families, and worrying about the direction of our country. I’ve been following politics for some years now and this is the first time I can remember a President of the United States doing so routinely and publicly. Richard Nixon did refer to anti-war protestors as “bums”, but that was a one-off incident. (How’s that for insult humor – accusing someone of having less grace than Richard Nixon?)

Although Mr. Obama and Mr. Rickles have embraced the same form of comedy, there is an important difference between them. Don Rickles actually has affection for the targets of his insults. You can see that in the Craig Ferguson video. He might have told Mr. Ferguson, “I don’t like you. I never liked you.” But he wrapped up with “May God be good to you and your lovely wife. I mean it from my heart. You are indeed a gentleman and a great deal of class.” There is a reason that Don Rickles is called “Mr. Warmth”. Even when he is making fun of his own wife of forty-five years, you can tell that she’s the one who keeps him grounded.

I doubt President Obama has warm feelings for the targets of his contempt because, as a liberal, contempt is what he really feels. Liberalism is based on the notion that average members of the public like us are too busy, too greedy, or just too plain stupid to make decisions about choosing an insurance plan, investing for retirement, or buying a light bulb. It is therefore necessary for enlightened individuals, such as Mr. Obama, to make those decisions for us, and, if we resist, use the full force of the United States Government to impose them on us. (If you think that is a good philosophy of governance, vote Democrat on November 2.)

There’s one other important difference between Mr. Obama and Mr. Rickles. It cuts to the heart of why Mr. Rickles has been so successful as a comedian and Mr. Obama is doomed to failure. The difference is that Mr. Rickles is funny. Again, you got to watch that video. And let's help Mr. Obama retire before Mr. Rickles.