Sir Jerk - Paul McCartney is in the East Room of the White House

Sir Jerk? [Jay Nordlinger]

So, Paul McCartney is in the East Room of the White House, with President and Mrs. Obama. He is being fêted because he has just won an award from the Library of Congress. He caps the evening with this remark – this is his farewell, his send-off: “After the last eight years, it’s good to have a president that knows what a library is.”

Can anyone tell me why people are such schmucks? Why they are so graceless and clueless and nasty? I mean, Paul McCartney’s like the richest, most popular, most honored musician in the world. Does he not have it in him to behave like a gentleman — or at least a non-boor — while he’s being celebrated at the White House? Does he have to be the Wanda Sykes of popular music? Is it not possible to love Obama, as McCartney does, without hating Bush — or at least insulting him on a high, non-political occasion?

I don’t care that “Penny Lane” is a pretty tune, Paul McCartney is a horse’s butt. Let me amend that: He acted like one, on Wednesday night.


Re ‘Sir Jerk?’ [Jay Nordlinger]

Much mail concerning Paul McCartney’s insult of Bush while he, the Beatle, was being honored at the White House. (The relevant post is this.)

The mail comes in essentially three categories:

1) Doesn’t McCartney understand that Bush is a voracious reader who’s married to a librarian? That doesn’t matter. What matters is, “Bush dumb,” the eternal mantra of the (dumb) Left.

2) Even worse than McCartney’s insult was that the Obama crowd laughed like junior-high hyenas. Yes, this was surprising from such a classy bunch. I mean, they’ve treated their predecessors with such grace since they took office two Januarys ago.

3) And this, from Bush-hating correspondents: But don’t you realize how stupid Bush is? How could McCartney help himself? Well, that settles the matter, doesn’t it?


Re: Re: ‘Sir Jerk?’ [Daniel Foster]

Jay, you're not the only one who was offended. John Boehner is asking McCartney for an apology:

"Like millions of other Americans, I have always had a good impression of Paul McCartney and thought of him as a classy guy, but I was surprised and disappointed by the lack of grace and respect he displayed at the White House," the Ohio Republican said. . . . "I hope he'll apologize to the American people for his conduct which demeaned him, the White House and President Obama."

Boehner spokesman Kevin Smith added the comments were "particularly offensive" because "the [former] president and first lady (who is actually a librarian) did so much for literacy."