Harold & Kumar Go to the DNC.
Or at least Kumar aka Kal Penn is going to the DNC. As you can see in this video, actor Kal Penn who worked on and off for the Obama administration for a couple of years will be hosting a show at the Democrat National Convention this Thursday for BarackObama.Com. Since the main characteristic of Kumar in the movies is heavy duty marijuana smoking, how would that character feel about the big crackdown on medical marijuana dispensaries by the Obama administration? Kumar would probably dare to ask Obama about the hypocrisy of trying to appeal to the "stoner" vote while cracking down on marijuana but the question is open if Kal Penn dares to put the question to the President.
Even the Huffington Post in their story about Kumar/Penn hosting the DNC show noticed the hypocrisy about this:
The video shows President Barack Obama making a phone call to someone to remind him of the stakes of his hosting duties on Thursday night, when Obama is scheduled to deliver his speech at the convention.
"Hey, this is Barack," the president says. "Listen, I need to know if you're on board. Okay, good. Because I'm counting on you. Everybody is. We have to get this right. So there's a lot at stake here. Just remember that I'm trusting you on this and I'll see you then."
Obama hangs up and the video pans to a shot of Penn slumped in a couch watching cartoons, stuffing his face with munchies, and slowly hanging up the phone. Slouched in the sofa next to him is John Cho, the actor who played his stoner companion, Harold, in the "Harold And Kumar" movies.
"Dude, who was that? That sounded intense," says Cho as he shovels cheesepuffs into his mouth.
"The president," Penn says with a blank stare and no enthusiasm.
"Sweet," says Cho. Moments later, both devolve into laughter at the cartoons they're watching.
The video may strike some viewers as odd, given that Obama has come under fire for cracking down on medical marijuana dispensaries despite promising not to during his 2008 campaign.
Yeah, odd and hypocritical. Ironically Kumar did question a president about the supposed hypocrisy of his marijuana policy but that president was George W. Bush or at least the fictional version of him in Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay. Here is Kumar questioning "George W. Bush":
KUMAR: Dude, this is weed!
BUSH: That's Alabama Kush. That's only the finest.
KUMAR: So you get high and then you put other people who smoke weed in jail? That's so hypocritical.
No more hypocritical than using the Kumar character to appeal to the "stoner" vote while cracking down on medical marijuana dispensaries. Anyway, the big question for this Thursday will be if Kal Penn will be as bold in questioning a real president and former Choom Gang member about his marijuana hypocrisy as his Kumar character was in questioning the fictional George W. Bush. Or at least address this issue during one of his other interviews. Harold & Kumar fans are standing by for that answer.
