Blowed Up Real Good

So it has come to this: President Obama, leader of the free world, is going to appear on “Mythbusters.”

Has already taped the episode, to air Dec. 8. Will observe (or participate in, or don a crash helmet for) an experiment “consider[ing] whether Greek scientist Archimedes set fire to an invading Roman fleet using only mirrors and the reflected rays of the sun.”

No word yet if this is going to be a broadcast of the group’s failed attempt to ignite a wooden fishing boat in San Francisco. No word on if, when Obama made the request, if anyone had the guts to tell him that myth had been busted, or if they all sat there in thrall as if they were Archie Bunker writing that letter to Richard Nixon:

Yes, President Obama is going to appear on “Mythbusters,” a show on which things get blowed up real good:

I like the show. I’m not a regular viewer of it – nor of any TV show – but when I’m at the in-laws and it happens to be on, I’ll watch it. But what’s the utility of having a standing president of the United States appear on a television show to request a demonstration of a myth that’s already been busted? Or is this a coy way for Obama, with help from the Pentagon, to show Iran and other adversaries the new Archimedes Death Ray that’s been developed out in the Nevada desert? Only time will tell.

And part of me wonders if this is going to be another ludicrous "boxers or briefs" moments in which, in attempting to connect with the youth of America, an American president makes himself look foolish. I don't know about you, but I kinda anticipate that in my president, there's going to be a bit of a generation gap. Not that he or she won't want to understand youth, but I'm not sure doing this kind of things is up to the dignity inherent in the office.