Leno Clowns on Fred Thompson's Lethargy

Mary Katharine Ham | November 05, 2007 10:00 AM

It's still making the rounds on the late-night shows as the most predictable joke of the political season. Jay Leno, last night:

"Hey, don't forget, you turn your clock back an hour this weekend. You get an extra hour of sleep. Kind of like watching a Fred Thompson speech."

Just jokes, right? But the fact remains that for the majority of the voting public, the only things penetrating their daily schedules and hectic lives about Fred Thompson are SNL's and Leno's references. Politicians, and Republicans particularly, are always gonna be the butt of easy jokes, which is why it behooves them not to give comedians unnecessary openings. Fred still has a lot to gain by pumping up the volume a bit (and, by some accounts, he's doing just that), but it'll likely be too late to stem the tide of tired and lazy "tired and lazy" jokes.

Maybe the strike will spare us.