Mandy Patinkin is a hell of a guy, no question – He’s an iconic actor, a world-class mensch, and long-standing champion of progressive causes. But, during his appearance on last night’s episode of Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report, the profoundly bearded Patinkin revealed his master-plan for contributing toward a better world: He’s going to run for the prime minister-ship of Israel.
Explained the Homeland actor, when asked by host Stephen Colbert why the world seems like a scarier version of that show:
Patinkin: I have an antidote for it all. I have a solution that I’ve come up with that I think will balance my participation with this world for however long I might have left to be in it. And I would like to know if you’d be interested in joining me.
Colbert: Uh. Yes. I will join you in whatever the answer is.
Patinkin: Well, given the state of the world, and its epicenter, which I feel is the Middle East –
Colbert: …I don’t have to go to the middle east, do I?
Patinkin: No, you can do it all from this studio if you prefer. As soon as this season finishes – season four of Homeland – I am going to tear a page out of your book, your presidential campaign book, and I am going to enter myself to be possibly elected as the new prime minister of Israel
After hearing the announcement – seemingly made in full earnestness – Colbert’s audience, understandably, burst into wild applause. But Patinkin still had one more rabbit to pull out of his hat:
Colbert: What do I do?
Patinkin: I would like to suggest that, given your right wing point of view on occasion –
Colbert: …I consider myself an independent, but go ahead
Patinkin: …That you would be my security advisor. Because security is paramount in that part of the world, and therefor I feel that with you as the head of security and me as the head of moral and ethical attitude toward humanity, the combination of the two might calm the region into – on occasion – laughing at itself, which – on occasion – maybe you’re not aware of it, but people laugh at you!
Boom. There you have it. Prime Minister Patinkin. Security Advisor Colbert. Peace in the Middle East. I can see the campaign slogan now: “My name is Mandy Patinkin. You killed my peace process. Prepare to…laugh!”
Check it out:
Keep in mind that, were Patinkin to run and win (hey, stranger things have happened: The US elected a B-Movie cowboy to the White House – twice) he would be the first prime minister of any country to appear in a Mr. Show project.
He’s got my vote.
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