Dick and Dubya

Arianna Huffington asked pundits of the right and left to pick the most comical (read: mockable) President. Dick Nixon inspired the funniest responses. Here's Harry Shearer:

Then, let's go to a personality so afraid of self-revelation that every defense was an orgy of accidental exposure, as when, in the middle of denying he was obsessing on Watergate, he referred to his meeting with the chief executive of Washington State, "Governor Evidence".

Paul Slansky:

...the man clearly despised himself so intensely that our abhorrence of him, while unavoidable, was redundant...

In the end, though, I wonder: Will W prove more laff-worthy? Nixon may have had a very cartoonist-friendly countenance, but he was also -- let's face it -- a bright guy. No-one would have laughed at that "How many is a Brazilian?" joke if Nixon were the target.

Crook that he was, at least Dick had the decency to look guilty. You always knew that the shade of his Quaker mother kept whispering in his ear: "I am very disappointed in thee, Richard." Dubya, by contrast, never shows remorse. His religiosity (presuming it's not an act) is of the "Jesus forgives me so I can do whatever I want" variety. That attitude is, or should be, the very stuff and essence of satire.