The First Comedian

We have a funny administration.

Excerpts from the Newsweek "How He Did It" story:

• Obama's plane was taking off from Denver airport around 9 a.m. when Axelrod got confirmation that McCain had indeed picked Palin as his running mate. He went to the front cabin to tell Obama and his new running mate, Joe Biden. Biden asked, "Who's Palin?"
• In the debates, it was critical that Obama come across as looking like Dad. His hope was that McCain would appear to be the crotchety uncle who lived up in the attic.
• Obama can be a little bloodless and dull in his preternatural calm, but his goofy side showed up at debate prep. He would appear very somber and emphatic when he accosted Craig/McCain for refusing to speak to the president of Spain. "You wouldn't even talk to the president of Spain!" he would intone with mock gravity. Then he would begin to giggle. He was told that he should attack McCain for saying that it was enough to "muddle through" on Afghanistan. "Muddle through!" Obama would exclaim and dissolve into giggles. It was as if he refused to take the theater of mock indignation too seriously.

And an excerpt from The Audacity Of Hope about meeting with Dubya right after being elected to the Senate. Remember, Obama wrote this himself, no ghostwriter:

• The president turned to an aide nearby, who squirted a big dollop of hand sanitizer in the president's hand. "Want some?" the president asked. "Good stuff. Keeps you from getting colds." Not wanting to seem unhygienic, I took a squirt.
  
  "Come over here for a second," he said, leading me off to one side of the room.
  
  "You know," he said quietly, "I hope you don't mind me giving you a piece of advice."
  
  "Not at all, Mr. President." He nodded. "You've got a bright future," he said. "Very bright. But I've been in this town a while and, let me tell you, it can be tough. When you get a lot of attention like you've been getting, people start gunnin' for ya. And it won't necessarily just be coming from my side, you understand. From yours, too. Everybody'll be waiting for you to slip. Know what I mean? So watch yourself."
  
  "Thanks for the advice, Mr. President."

"Not wanting to seem unhygienic, I took a squirt" - that's pretty funny.