Displaying a caricature of a celebrity enraptured by President
Barack Obama, although apparently quite serious in the underlining
attitude he conveyed in an over the top manner, on Friday's Larry King
Live actor Denis Leary (IMDb page [1]) proclaimed: "I
think that President Obama is the greatest President in the history of
all of our Presidents and that he can do no wrong in my book."
Asked about Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor, Leary, co-producer and star of FX's Rescue Me [2], exclaimed: "Fantastic!"
Guest host Joy Behar prompted him to affirm: "You love her?" He
repeated his earlier mantra: "Everything you ask me about President
Obama I'm just going to say it's the greatest thing ever. I love the
guy!"
Leary, who made the appearance ostensibly to plug his book, 'Why We Suck: A Feel Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid [3]',
as a Father's Day gift, also related how he likes to "torture" pro-Bush
friends and colleagues by gloating over Obama. "I do have to say that I
enjoy upsetting people - friends of mine who might be in the
Republican world" by telling them: "President Obama is the greatest
thing that ever happened."
Audio: MP3 clip [4] (20 seconds)
From the not so live (the interview was pre-taped) Friday, May 29 Larry King Live on CNN:
DENIS LEARY: I do have to say that that I think that President Obama is the greatest President in the history of all of our Presidents and that he can do no wrong in my book. So how's that for prejudice on the Democratic side?
JOY BEHAR: It's hard to make jokes about Barack right now.
LEARY: I don't think it is. Because I just - I did a tour - a comedy tour with the Rescue Me guys, Lenny Clarke and Adam Ferrara. We went around the country pushing the rebirth of the show because we were off the air for a year-and-a-half. And, truthfully, I mean I make fun of his smoking. I make fun of, you know, several things about him. Niki DiPaolo, who is on Rescue Me and also was on the tour made fun of his wife's arms. I mean there - you know, it doesn't matter who's in the White House you can find something to make fun of.
But I do have to say that I enjoy upsetting people - friends of mine who might be in the Republican world by - like Lanny Clark, who's on Rescue Me who-
BEHAR: He's a right-winger?
LEARY: Well, he's a, yes. He's a supporter - he was a supporter of the previous eight years. So I would love to wake up in the morning and go to work on Rescue Me and just go, President Obama is the greatest thing that ever happened, just to-
BEHAR: Just to torture him?
LEARY: Yes.
BEHAR: To torture him?
LEARY: Yes.
BEHAR: But wasn't it fun for the comedians to take on Bush all those years? So it's hard to let go of those jokes.
LEARY: It was manna from heaven.
BEHAR: Manna.
LEARY: It really was.
....
BEHAR: What do you think of Obama's pick of Sotomayor?
LEARY: Fantastic!
BEHAR: You love her?
LEARY: Everything you ask me about President Obama I'm just going to say it's the greatest thing ever. I love the guy!
- Brent Baker [5] is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center