Another great TV moment

Another office older has "wandered off the Meet the Press reservation (love that phrase) and further blurred the line between politics with entertainment. Yes, it's President Obama,  sitting down to play Roses and Thorns with perhaps the four silliest people on television:

The president joked that he decided to appear on "The View" because it was the only show his wife Michelle watched.

"I was trying to find a show that Michelle actually watched, and so I thought this is it, right here," he said.

"All those new shows, she's like, eh, let me get the clicker."

Har, har. The truth is, say the pundits, he's trying to appeal to The View's "mostly female audience." Some will blame this populist pandering on Richard Nixon, whose brief appearance on "Laugh In" started us on this road to hell. He was looking for votes, too, by playing against his dour image and paranoid personality. And it worked. I remember seeing that episode (it was the No. 1 show on TV at the time), and it was all anybody talked about for days.

But New York Mayor Fiorella La Guardia was the early master. From 1933 on, he had a radio show he used to talk New Yorkers through the Depression:

Mayor La Guardia used his electronic bully pulpit to inveigh against reporters and bookies and other miscreants and people who wasted gasoline during the war years. During the show the Mayor also shared stories about his family and, like a favorite uncle, offered shopping and cooking tips. For something for which he became most famous during and after one of New York City's infamous newspaper strikes, La Guardia also gave dramatic readings of Dick Tracy, Superman and other Sunday comic strips, a special treat for the listening children.

Me, I'd like to see, in addition to debates, the next round of presidential candidates do a guest appearance on "Jeopardy!" That would tell us more than 20 visits to "Meet the Press" or "ABC's This Week." Oh, and a "Top 10" list from the pope would be