President Obama has a lot of fans—and probably as many haters as Taylor Swift and Kim Kardashian combined. But the Commander-in-Chief also has a fantastic sense of humor and proved he isn't afraid to confront his online bullies when he visited Jimmy Kimmel Live! Thursday night and read some of the many mean tweets people have posted about him. The only question is: why was this necessary to do now?
When you've been entrusted with the task of leading an entire nation, you also open yourself up to criticism and ridicule. I guess it doesn't help that Obama sometimes seems so relaxed and at ease that some folks can't help but wonder whether the White House is located on a different planet.
Two police officers were shot in Ferguson just hours before his appearance on the show? Don't worry—he addressed it. But he also decided a little comedy was in order.
GOP Senators went over his head this week and wrote a letter to Iran? Whatever. Obama just shakes it off. What to do?
Wait, I know! Visit a late-night comedy show and give everyone the finger by reading mean tweets about yourself!
To be fair, I think Kimmel went easy on Obama because we've all read tweets about the prez that are a lot meaner than any of these, but he had to make some effort to keep things light. Here are a few examples I love:
Obama's hair is looking grayer these days. Can't imagine why since he doesn't seem to be one bit worried about all that's going on.
and
Is there any way we could fly Obama to some golf course halfway around the world and just leave him there?
As you can guess, some people, myself included, are torn on whether they think it's even appropriate for the president to be cracking jokes a few hours after the latest Ferguson unrest—and, well, ISIS. And Iran. And .. wait, we could be here for awhile.
More from The Stir: 'Obama Love America' - Or Does He? Twitter Hashes It Out
Personally, I would prefer my president to come across as a serious, take-charge heavy hitter and I do find Obama's laidback attitude unsettling at times. I also can't help but wonder if he's going out of his way to let the GOP and Republican voters know just what he thinks of them. He MUST know (I mean, he must) that Republicans are going to jump on this and use it as an opportunity to say, "See? Obama cares more about his celebrity than the issues at hand."
But I don't think his appearance on Jimmy Kimmel or the fact that he can poke fun at himself indicates an inability to do his job. Apples and oranges.
Whether I feel he's doing his job well—that's a story for another day.
In the meantime, I have to admit his reactions to the tweets are pretty funny:
See this video on The Stir by CafeMom.
Do you think it's appropriate for Obama to be cracking jokes on a late-night show?
Image via YouTube