Buffoonology 101: Penn vs. Obama in a Podcast Pity Party!

It’s time for another clash on Buffoonology 101 between Sean Penn and Michelle Obama — and the winner will earn our dubious distinction of Buffoon of the Week!

Galloway Gets on the Board!

Last week, you — the voters — turned out big for Ross Galloway’s nominee, Rep. Shri Thanedar. Thanedar won 74.2% of the vote, defeating Gene’s pick, Terry Moran, who earned 25.8%.

But hope springs eternal every week, and the boys are back with new nominees. Will Galloway continue to build momentum? Or will Gene get back on track? Only you know, for sure!

Hopefully, you know how it works: each host gives a short presentation explaining why his nominee deserves your vote. Then, the other scores the nominee on our Sharpton Buffoonery Matrix™. After that, it’s up to you to decide who wins! For more on the rules, check out our Buffoonology 101 hub.

Ross’s Nominee: Michelle Obama

This week, Ross chose former First Lady Michelle Obama for comments she made in a podcast interview about the burdens of living in the White House.

And what are those burdens? Covering personal expenses that you and I carry every single day! With a straight face, Michelle Obama actually lamented — get this — paying for food for her family and covering personal travel expenses for her children when they traveled on the First Lady’s private jet.

You’re paying for every bit of food you eat. You’re not paying for housing and the staff in it but everything, even travel. ‘If you’re not traveling with the president, if your kids are coming on Bright Star – the First Lady’s plane – we had to pay for their travel to be on the plane.’
Michelle Obama

Totally relatable, right? Talk about rich people’s problems.

Ross criticizes Michelle Obama as “spoiled” and “ungrateful,” mocking her for discussing the financial burdens of her elite lifestyle — complaints that sound wildly out of touch with everyday Americans.

Gene joins in the mockery, sarcastically referencing the “hardships” of flying on a private government jet and calling her grievances rich, snobby problems. He then rated Michelle Obama on the Sharpton Buffoonery Matrix™ based on her personal Buffoonish Nature (BuN) and Buffoonish Action Magnitude (BAM) for her one-percenter lament:

BuN (Buffoonish Nature): 69 (a rich, spoiled, and out-of-touch Karen)
BAM (Buffoonish Action Magnitude): 3.14 Giga-Sharptons™ (Reality to Michelle! Come in, Michelle!)

Gene’s Nominee: Sean Penn

To counter Galloway’s formidable nominee, Gene chose Hollywood has-been Sean Penn for comments he made on a podcast about former President Donald Trump.

Appearing on Jim Acosta’s podcast alongside Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), Academy Award-winning actor Sean Penn made the unhinged claim that the worst-case scenario under a Trump presidency could be… the end of the world:

“I do think it’s a reasonable theory that Donald Trump is not unlike the spouse of someone who leaves him, perhaps for another, who then murders their former partner because if they can’t have her, nobody can.”
Sean Penn

Yeah. That’s a special kind of crazy right there. Penn went further:

“And I think Donald Trump and his solipsism may have that relationship with the world and that this destruction is in part a power play. And also, a literal intention of his final out.”

Where do they come up with this nonsense?

To be fair, Sean Penn does have first-hand knowledge of the mind of evil, murdering dictators. He had a well-publicized bromance with deceased Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chávez, even calling him an inspiration. Chávez’s regime was marked by economic collapse, authoritarian crackdowns, and gross human rights violations — so maybe Penn’s comparison was drawn from experience?

Ross’s scoring of Penn’s BuN and BAM on the Sharpton Buffoonery Matrix™ is below — but it may come with an asterisk! That’s because Galloway called Gene out for tying in known buffoons Acosta and Swalwell during his presentation. Smart tactic by Gene? Or a cheap guilt-by-association play? Either way, it may have helped color the performance.

BuN (Buffoonish Nature): 68 (A washed-up, dictator-loving Hollywood culture warrior)
BAM (Buffoonish Action Magnitude): 2.4 Giga-Sharptons™ (Possibly the craziest analogy of the decade!)

Time to Vote! Who Ya Got?

So what’ll it be — Michelle’s tone-deaf elitism or Sean’s doomsday delusion?

Now, it’s your turn to vote! Choose your preferred buffoon that you think deserves to be memorialized as the cream of the crap in our poll. You can also vote on our poll on X, our poll on YouTube, or in any comment section where you find Buffoon of the Week! And don’t worry — no one’s checking ID. So go ahead… stuff the ballot box!