Kenneth Walsh writes in
U.S. News:
President Barack Obama is scheduled to jump back into the pop culture world Thursday night with an interview on the quirky ABC show "Jimmy Kimmel Live."
It will be Obama's latest foray into the entertainment world as he continues to appear in venues that his predecessors disdained, such as on late-night comedy programs. Other presidents felt that appearing on such shows would have lowered the stature of their office. Obama doesn't.
As I point out in my new book, "Celebrity in Chief: A History of the Presidents and the Culture of Stardom," Obama thinks he must reach out to voters "where they are," such as on the Zach Galifianakis-hosted "Between Two Ferns," daytime TV, YouTube and various forms of social media.
Obama recently told Vox.com, "The Balkanization of the media means that we just don't have a common place where we get common facts and a common worldview the way we did 20, 30 years ago." [Does this idiot even know what "balkanization" means?] He added: "My advice to a future president is increasingly try to bypass the traditional venues that create divisions, and try to find new venues within this new media that are quirkier, less predictable."
Kimmel's other major guest along with Obama Thursday night will be actor Sean Penn, the show's producers announced. [Oh good, another Marxist]
Obama appeared on Kimmel's show via satellite in June 2008 during his successful presidential campaign. Since then, attempts to get him back on the show had fallen through, until now. First lady Michelle Obama appeared on Kimmel's program in 2012, however, joining a comedy sketch designed to urge people to vote in that year's election.
While he is in Los Angeles to appear with Kimmel, Obama also plans to attend a fundraiser for the Democratic Party.
I wrote the comments in red, not Mr. Walsh. ^-^
