Cloris Leachman for President - Has Everyone Gone Nuts?

“Vampires, mummies and the holy ghost. These are the things that scare me the most,” says Jimmy Buffet in an old CD called Fruitcakes. He also says in the title song that we’ve all got a little fruitcake in us.

Fruitcakes came to mind when I was watching Dancing with the Stars on TV this week. I’m not a regular viewer of the program, but I’ve always thought it was a good show and have enjoyed watching the dances.

I can only imagine that a fruitcake came up with the idea to feature Cloris Leachman on Dancing with the Stars.

Last week Cloris dressed in a short 50s style costume and did an old-time, teeny-bop dance. She didn’t bother to learn any of the steps. She just went on stage and played the buffoon. In addition to pretending her dance partner (poor Corky Ballas) farted, she let her wig fly. While some onliners are talking about that being hilarious, it wasn’t. It was a planned stunt. She says so in the interviews afterwards. She was wearing a skull cap that said, “Vote for me.” That flew with the wig. It was a stupid stunt, and I think Cloris was the only one who thought it was really funny.

Cloris Leachman has had a grand career and is liked and respected across generations. It is really unfortunate that she feels the need to celebrate her senior years by being the village idiot on Dancing with the Stars. It really isn’t funny seeing an icon reduced to throwing her leg up on the judges table and showing cleavage in a bid to stay on a program that is supposed to be about talent and not about one old woman with a big ego and a big bawdy mouth.

The sad part is that Cloris Leachman could learn the basic dance steps and toss in a little humor and make a strong and positive statement about growing older. Instead, she plays the age card and gets a pass when she has contributed nothing at all to the show.

Sadder still is that the same people who are voting to keep Cloris Leachman on Dancing with the Stars will be voting on who will be the President of the United States. That’s even scarier than “vampires, mummies, and the holy ghost [and Cloris Leachman].”