Ron Swanson Would Be Disappointed, Senator
Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky apparently backed out of a cameo appearance on the hit show Parks & Recreation, which just recently ended its 7-year run. Paul was set to appear in an episode filmed in Washington, but may have been afraid that he was going to be made fun of.
That’s why you check the script, senator!
Paul may have feared similar treatment that his politician father Ron Paul received at the hands of shock humorist Sacha Baron Cohen, who famously tricked the elder Paul into an interview for his risque film “Bruno.” Of course, that was an unscripted scene, so Ron Paul wouldn’t have known he was going to be lampooned. But what’s the excuse for Rand Paul? Parks and Rec was a scripted comedy show, and a popular one at that, featuring many famous politicians, including Joe Biden, Michelle Obama, Kirsten Gillibrand, John McCain, and Barbara Boxer.
Michael Schur, a co-creator of the show, said “We also wanted Rand Paul to be in the Washington episode, and he agreed, but then bailed at the eleventh hour. I think he thought we were making fun of him or something, which we were not, at all.”
”I get the sense that maybe interpreting writing and humor is not his strong suit,” Schur also said.
Ouch!
Paul’s staff should have been keenly aware of the fantastic opportunity that appearing on Parks & Rec would have been. The show featured one of the greatest (fictional) libertarian characters in modern history, Ron Swanson. The Daily Beast recently featured a fantastic column dissecting Swanson’s appeal to right-wingers titled: “How ‘Parks and Rec’s’ Ron Swanson Became the Unlikely Libertarian Hero of the Obama Era.”
From The Daily Beast:
Swanson’s demeanor and staunchly libertarian outlook have made him a (regrettably fictional) hero to conservative observers. “He is, let’s say, an unlikely hero in the age of Obama,” National Review declared. “Ron Swanson’s 12 wisest quotes about the government,” The Daily Caller compiled. “Swanson’s staunch libertarianism is sprinkled throughout the series—and he’s a hero of the show, not a heel of all the jokes (as you would expect from Hollywood),” the Heartland Institute raved. “[A] lovably awesome libertarian character,” Reason blogged. The libertarian Cato Institute has cited the character both on social media and inpolicy analysis. And The Washington Free Beacon named Swanson “Man of the Year” in 2012.
Moreover, Republican Congressman Joe Wilson (of “You lie!” fame) wrote an op-ed for Politico in 2010 that praised Swanson: “America has a new champion of limited government and spending restraint,” the piece reads. “Regrettably, Swanson is not running for Congress.”
[…]
“[Swanson] has done more to persuade my (French) wife about libertarianism than I have,” Matt Welch, editor in chief of Reason, told The Daily Beast. “Though in fairness we’ve only been married 17 years.”
Now, if only we could get someone to persuade Senator Paul not to miss these kinds of opportunities, he might have a chance at winning the presidency. Oh hell, if he can’t figure that out then I’m casting my vote for a man who doesn’t even want it. I’m voting…
3 comments