Michelle Obama on 'Letterman': How funny was her Top 10 list?
First lady Michelle Obama was on the 鈥�Late Show with David Letterman鈥� Tuesday night in honor of the publication of her new book, 鈥淎merican Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden.鈥� She delivered the Top 10 list: Top 10 Fun Facts About Gardening. How did it go? Was she funny?
Well, you can , and make your own conclusion. From our point of view, she was funny, since the Letterman writers could wring a laugh out of anything. (Our favorite was No. 4: 鈥淚f you have an actual green thumb, it might be scurvy.鈥�) But she wasn鈥檛 FUNNY, if you know what we mean. The chuckle-meter wasn鈥檛 set to 鈥渟tun.鈥�
Mainly that鈥檚 because gardening is not inherently humorous. Names for Newt鈥檚 moon colony, Joe Biden nicknames 鈥� those are topics with comedy juice. Gardening is all heirloom mulch and where-should-we-put-the-salvia. It鈥檚 earnest and good for you. That鈥檚 hard to mock. Or hard to mock without going too far. Mrs. Obama might as well have been doing 鈥淭op 10 Fun Facts about Fresh Air.鈥�
(OK, we did like the bit about 鈥淲eed Whacker One.鈥� But 鈥済ardening was invented in 1822 by Albert Gardener鈥�? That鈥檚 too subtle for our taste.)
Also, the first lady can鈥檛 just let fly with the yuks. She鈥檚 got a positive, restrained image to uphold. There鈥檚 a reason she鈥檚 got the highest approval rating in the White House 鈥� 65 percent in the latest CNN poll. Her husband is probably wondering if he can dump Joe and run her as VP.
That鈥檚 probably why the list touched only tangentially on fighting obesity. (No. 7: 鈥淚n his lifetime, the average American will eat half a radish.鈥�) New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg鈥檚 proposal to ban big sodas has become kind of a partisan flash point. Conservatives see it as an example of big government going too far. Liberals see it as an example of right-size government going too far. A poll shows a majority of New Yorkers oppose the move. So the whole issue of the government telling you what to consume is fraught, at the moment.
In the past, Mrs. Obama鈥檚 鈥淟et鈥檚 Move鈥� initiative to get kids to exercise has drawn some grumbling about nannyism from the right. So she has had to be careful what she says about sodageddon. She has said she rejects a 鈥渙ne-size-fits-all鈥� approach to fighting fat, and thus would not support a federal soda ban. But at an event on Tuesday she added that 鈥渨e applaud anyone who鈥檚 stepping up to think about what changes work in their communities.鈥�
So that鈥檚 why the Letterman list wasn鈥檛 鈥淭op 10 New Manhattan Soda Sizes.鈥� Got any ideas for that one? (Or for Joe Biden nicknames?) Leave them in comments below.
