David Letterman, who still regularly ridicules former President George W. Bush – and has even accused him of committing “war crimes” and lacking “humanity” – didn't hide his affinity for Barack Obama during his Monday night Late Show interview of the President, while remaining unable to contain his disgust for Bush. “I can't tell you how satisfying it is to watch you work,” a beaming Letterman gushed to Obama at the conclusion of the program.

When Obama, who took two weeks of vacation in late August and early September, displayed some jealously as he quipped that his two daughters “basically just goofed off all summer, which I couldn't do,” Letterman interjected, in an obvious jab at Bush which delighted the audience: “Others have.”

In the midst of Obama reciting the benefits his health care quest would deliver, Letterman mocked Obama's opponents as he expressed befuddlement at criticisms of single-payer, government-run systems: “I know whenever you invoke like Great Britain or Canada people start to shudder, people go 'oh my God, it's socialized medicine, oh my God, it's socialized medicine.' And I'm not a socialist, but it don't sound that bad to me.”

Even with Obama as the sole guest for the hour, Bush couldn't escape derision in a “Top Ten” list pivoting off Obama's appearance – though Letterman's reading of the list was edited for time from the show that aired. In the “Top Ten Reasons Why President Obama Agreed to Appear on the Late Show,” the #2 entry: “Said 'yes' without thinking...like Bush did with Iraq.”

The “Web Exclusive” video of that “Top Ten.”

—Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center