Over the weekend, Al Gore showed up on Saturday Night Live. I didn't see it, but I've seen the clip of his "Oval Office Address" on a LOT of web sites since yesterday, and have had numerous opportunities to see it. And I find myself disagreeing with a lot of folks I normally side with (such as Rob Port) in saying that I loved it.
I like it when politicians are funny. (Note to Hillary Clinton: I said ARE funny. Not "politicians who try to be funny, and fail miserably.") It humanizes them, it shows that they are actual people and not drones. And Gore was pretty damned funny.
I loved the reference to "Mexifornia" and "El Presidente Schwarzenegger." (Even though under Mexican law, he could never hold elective office, as he wasn't born in Mexico.) I immediately heard "Hasta la vista, baby."
Glaciers? When aren't glaciers funny?
Someone said he should have tied them together, mentioning how we now were beset with Canadian glacier refugees streaming across our northern border.
For the most part, it was a good blend of self-deprecation and absurdism, and the partisan digs were not too mean-spirited. I can actually see Bush as baseball commissioner after he leaves office -- he really does love the game, he was one of "them" for a while, and it'd be a pretty good PR move for baseball.
In historical context, Gore was a lot funnier than Steven Colbert was at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, but not as funny as Bush was on the same occasion.
Comments (10)
Personally, I thought Gore ... (Below threshold)1. Posted by Jamie | May 15, 2006 9:04 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Personally, I thought Gore was hilarious on South Park a couple weeks ago in the "ManBearPig" episode.
1. Posted by Jamie | May 15, 2006 9:04 AM |
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Posted on May 15, 2006 09:04
2. Posted by cubanbob | May 15, 2006 9:33 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Why doesn't Al Gore just disappear? He is making a parody of himself. Embarrassing and humiliating his family. Goodbye and goodnight Al, go home.
2. Posted by cubanbob | May 15, 2006 9:33 AM |
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Posted on May 15, 2006 09:33
3. Posted by astigafa | May 15, 2006 10:09 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Why doesn't Al Gore just disappear? He is making a parody of himself. Embarrassing and humiliating his family. Goodbye and goodnight Al, go home.
Nah. Let's have an official goodbye and goodnight -- no, goodbye and good luck -- to Tom Delay. I don't think this was even mentioned here. And save a little of that elegiac language for the Republican White House and likewise the dinosaurs in the Republican house & senate for sure. Bye bye.
And bye bye to you, cubanbob. Have a nice day.
3. Posted by astigafa | May 15, 2006 10:09 AM |
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Posted on May 15, 2006 10:09
4. Posted by Economist | May 15, 2006 10:50 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Cuban Dog
Gore has a sense of humor, and an intellect. Additionally, he knows that sentences have both verbs AND nouns. That's three over you.
4. Posted by Economist | May 15, 2006 10:50 AM |
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Posted on May 15, 2006 10:50
5. Posted by cubanbob | May 15, 2006 11:16 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I got the marxist hound twins baying at the moon this morning!
Al Gore, all the humor and intellect of Nixon ( not!)minus the charm. At least De Lay resigned which is a lot more than one can say for teddy & son. Say whats up with the two Democrat congressman who are under investigation for bribery, have they resigned yet?
5. Posted by cubanbob | May 15, 2006 11:16 AM |
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Posted on May 15, 2006 11:16
6. Posted by meep | May 15, 2006 11:26 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I thought Gore was pretty funny on his two appearances on Futurama. And yeah, one was about global warming (Al Gore: First Emperor of the Moon... and he had a bestseller =Harry Potter and the Balance of Earth"). In the other one, he was some kind of time cop. Or something. Teamed up with Nichelle Nichols, Gary Gygax, Deep Blue, and Stephen Hawking.
6. Posted by meep | May 15, 2006 11:26 AM |
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Posted on May 15, 2006 11:26
7. Posted by Publicus | May 15, 2006 12:13 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
My favorite humorous comment by a politician was by Bush senior. During the 1992 campaign, a supermarket tabloid "reported" that the space alien had switched his allegiance from Bush to Clinton. Bush said "I never did trust that little guy." His delivery was perfect!
7. Posted by Publicus | May 15, 2006 12:13 PM |
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Posted on May 15, 2006 12:13
8. Posted by Angela B | May 15, 2006 1:36 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
"it'd be a pretty good PR move for baseball"
Are you crazy? The way he's sinking now, by the time he serves out his term his popularity ought to be in the negative numbers. The last thing anybody will want to see is Alfred E. Bush in the public eye.
8. Posted by Angela B | May 15, 2006 1:36 PM |
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Posted on May 15, 2006 13:36
9. Posted by Jacob | May 15, 2006 7:36 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Gore was really funny when he hosted Saturday Night Live a few years ago. Far better acting then you see from most of the celebrity hosts. But he wasn't just poking fun at himself (which he did for a couple of scenes). He did a great Trent Lott, "Awh wasn't saying Strom Thurmond should've been President because of segregation. It was for his other ideas, like that black people... and white people... shouldn't get married." And he also played Willy Wonka's anal-retentive accountant brother, "Come on William, tThe INS is snooping around over the oompa-loompa's and we're just not cost-effective. We have a river of chocolate! And I'm pretty sure a fat kid just drowned in it."
9. Posted by Jacob | May 15, 2006 7:36 PM |
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Posted on May 15, 2006 19:36
10. Posted by Christastrophe | May 16, 2006 1:35 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Oh man, Jacob. Thank you a thousand times for reminding me of that Willy Wonka sketch. I loved that, if only because it's one of those sketches that you KNOW had been on the bulletin board for a year or two and it kept getting bumped and they couldn't find anyone to do it (Ryan Gosling? Freddie Prinze Jr.?). And then Al Gore walks into the table reading and it hits everyone at once. And he was pretty damned funny and had some pretty great delivery in that scene.
10. Posted by Christastrophe | May 16, 2006 1:35 PM |
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Posted on May 16, 2006 13:35