It seems Danny DeVito wasn't the only comic working the Bush administration last week.
Believe it or not, comedians on Iranian TV did a sketch with puppets portraying President Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzennegger, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
And you thought Arnold gave up acting.
Most likely this was a repeat, considering Rumsfeld will be leaving his post as soon as his replacement is named. And boy, this stuff was funny, with comic gems like these:
Tony Blair: I'm embarrassed to say ... I must tell your excellency that I must slowly pack my bags, and, in the words of the poet, I must sing my farewell serenade.
George Bush: You should talk more like me, so I can understand what you're saying.
Tony Blair: I am saying that ... I don't want to bother you anymore.
George Bush: Again, I didn't get what you're saying.
Tony Blair: I won't be able to accompany you any longer. I am unable to have the honor of your company anymore.
George Bush:"Calm down a minute ... Condoleezza! Condoleezza! Condo! Condoleezza! Oh, may she drop dead. Condoleezza!
Condoleezza Rice [waking up and yawning]: Condoleezza will choke to death in two hours...
George Bush: The hell with you, what kind of language is that?
Condoleezza Rice: I just wanted to lay down and die.
George Bush: I hope you go to sleep and never wake up. I hope a scorpion stings your bulging eyes, the hell with you. I hope a tarantula bites you in the neck. I hope a two-headed snake coils around you, so I can get rid of you.
Condoleezza Rice: Oh, somebody stop him. Soon he'll have all the animals here.
Somebody stop me from laughing. I can't take it anymore.
If this is what goes for comedy in Iran, it's no wonder they're so angry out there. Maybe DeVito can make an appearance and show them how to really make fun of President Bush, like only a big-time American comic can.
And no, I'm not suggesting DeVito is allying with Iran, so please spare me the e-mails.
DeVito was admittedly inebriated during his appearance on "The View" last week, and he made some drunken comments about Bush and recounted how he and wife Rhea Perlman made whoopie in the White House during President Clinton's administration.
Wow. There's a shock.
But making love in the White House is not the Grrr. DeVito and Perlman are married after all, and their loving relationship and family certainly goes against the grain of most Hollywood couples who divorce after two years and fight for custody of their nannies -- err -- children.
No, the real Grrr was even talking about it in the first place. This was "The View" on ABC, not "Bill Maher" on HBO, and we all know that morning talk shows are not the most appropriate place for such discussion.
But enough about DeVito, who gets a huge pass here. DeVito is a great performer, a terrific producer, and we all know he knows comedy better than most. It's safe to say while he may genuinely feel President Bush is a "numb nuts," he has also apologized for making his appearance in the state he was in.
The point is, while comedy is and should be a safe haven for dissention, it would be nice if instead of going for jugular -- as we saw on HBO's "Comic Relief" and nearly nightly on "Comedy Central" -- our pop culture's beloved comics went for the joke, instead.
We have real enemies going for our jugular, literally and figuratively these days.
It's time to turn the canons in another direction. What would Red Skelton do?
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