In my public speaking class, each person offered a topic for an upcoming group project. I offered the most obvious topic: The war in Iraq. I was hit with responses of, “Does anyone care about the war?” and “Do people even know what the war is about?” I was asked to explain our military occupation, and I suggested that my classmates Google it. News polls show that a large percentage of Americans do not have a clue about this war but I guess anything is possible in a country run by a president who has become the nation’s quintessential dumbass.
For nearly eight years, Bush has given America endless comedic material. Saturday Night Live showed President Bush’s idiocy and childlike behavior through Will Ferrell’s mastery of impersonation. Frank Caliendo mastered the dim-witted Texas twang on MADtv. Comedy Central is no amateur at creating Bush-related humor either. This summer’s “Transformers” portrayed Bush as a bed-lounging, Ding Dong-craving president aboard Air Force One. Clearly he’s not the smartest gunslinger in the Lone Star State.
It’s heartbreaking that our country is being managed by a caricature of a walking cartoon. Good observers will always find fault or idiosyncrasies in people, but never has a president been the brunt of so many jokes. Our president’s portrayal as an incoherent buffoon is far from adoration. He has transcended mockery as a form of flattery. Now the joke is on the American people who felt it necessary to reelect him.
Despite the many laughs Jon Stewart gives us on a nightly basis with his updates on “Mess O’ Potamia,” any person who is not clouded by right-wing endearment must realize the great embarrassment our country has suffered as our actions have slowly isolated us from everyone else. As the rest of the world watches our every move, a cartoon portraying Dick Cheney as a little boy who grunts and eats live animals doesn’t help our image. If Osama bin Laden has cable in his cave, he is certainly being entertained at our expense.
Fortunately and unfortunately, time is dwindling for Bush-related humor as his second term slowly comes to an end. The next elected president may lend his or herself to more comedic antics; we will have to wait two years to find out. No candidate will ever be safe from Jon Stewart, David Letterman and Matt Stone and Trey Parker of “South Park” (who have already made Hillary Clinton and her private parts the joke of an episode). If nothing good has come out of President Bush’s tenure in the White House, at least we’ve shared a lot of laughs. Unfortunately, these laughs come with great pain and suffering for our country and the rest of the planet.
Sam Rega is a senior majoring in motion pictures and philosophy. He may be contacted at s.rega@umiami.edu. Visit his personal blog at samrega.blogspot.com.