'Kumar' Back to Work for White House

[bigtree]

Washington, Nov 16: Kalpen Modi, the Indian-American political aide who resigned from his post as US President Barack Obama's associate director of public engagement this summer to act in a sequel to the popular "Harold and Kumar" movie, has reportedly made a return to his job in the White House.

ABC News quoted White House spokesman Shin Inouye, as saying: "The White House is pleased to have Kalpen Modi join the Office of Public Engagement as an Associate Director. While OPE works collectively on conducting outreach to the American public and various organizations, he will be the point person for those in the Arts, Youth, and Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities."

Modi, also known as Kal Penn, rejoined the White House on Monday. He originally joined the Obama White House in July 2009 as a liaison to the Asian American and arts communities.

He quit his White House job to fulfil a prior commitment to film a third "Harold and Kumar" movie, "A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas", which is scheduled for release in 2011.


http://www.dailyindia.com/show/408814.php

[Warren DeMontague]

1. Good. He can tell them to get their heads out of their ass regarding legalizing pot.

Seriously. It's well past time.

[pinboy3niner]

2. Fox News will lead with, "Pot Czar Back to Work for White House"

:evilgrin:

[bigtree]

3. well, he is a doctor

:P

[pinboy3niner]

4. LOL! Reminds me of the Smothers Brothers

I see by your outfit that you are a cowboy;
I see by your outfit you are a cowboy, too;
We see by our outfits that we are both cowboys.
If you get an outfit, you can be a cowboy, too.

Smothers Brothers – 'Streets Of Laredo'

:)

[KT2000]

5. LOL! Thanks for the reminder!

[haifa lootin]

15. You had a dog

I had a chicken.


:D

[The Backlash Cometh]

20. He committed suicide in that show.

The only mystery that House couldn't solve.

[bigtree]

21. that really went nowhere, didn't it?

kind of deflating and abrupt without any resolution to all of House's speculation . . . He says he wasn't going to let the opportunity to work with the WH pass. I'm glad to see he's still committed to helping this administration as a public liaison.

[The Backlash Cometh]

23. Well, he's a liaison for Indian affairs, if memory serves right.

Thanks for the 50,000 jobs Kumar! That should make up for the million we outsourced.

[bigtree]

24. his job description is actually broader than that

"While OPE works collectively on conducting outreach to the American public and various organizations, he will be the point person for those in the Arts, Youth, and Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities."

Why do you think he has to account for jobs lost to India?

[The Backlash Cometh]

27. I figured I'd beat someone else to the obvious punchline.

The title you're applying to him sounds very different from the one that he accepted in the beginning.

[pinboy3niner]

28. Here's the original title and job description:

In early 2009, Penn was offered the position of Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement in the Obama administration, which he accepted. This necessitated his character Lawrence Kutner being written out of the TV series House.<2><18><19> In his new role with the Obama administration, Modi served as a liaison with the Asian-American and Pacific Islander communities.<20> He had gone back to using his birth name, Kalpen Modi.<21>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kal_Penn#Political_interests

[The Backlash Cometh]

29. I searched the archives but couldn't find the post which led me to the impression

that he was liaison for Indian affairs, so I yield to your greater knowledge.

[pinboy3niner]

30. LOL!

I couldn't remember, so I did a quick check and crossed my fingers that wiki has got it right. :)

[Scurrilous]

6. K & R

:thumbsup:

[bigtree]

7. .

[PBS Poll-435]

8. Good! He is a goofball, but he is our goofball.

Plus he is REALLY smart.

:D

[Laboheme]

9. Is calling him Kumar derogatory?

I'm sure he would rather be known as Kal Penn.

[PBS Poll-435]

10. Probably not. It was the name of his character in 2 films

His role at OPE depends on the ability for citizens to connect with him because of his celebrity.

[mod mom]

22. Which BTW were HILARIOUS!!!

[blondeatlast]

11. The source is an Indian newspaper. Perhaps you should ask them. nt

[Bluenorthwest]

16. All due respect, but in this case you should ask actors

In general, actors really hate being called by the names of their most famous characters. To be polite, I would refer to this man as Kal Penn, the name which is his own, and also the brand of his stock in trade.
The OP did use quote marks around the character name, and considering the article goes into detail about his actual name, I don't see this as off the mark of that which is proper. The OP did use the quote marks and all. That is plenty.
But in general, Indian, British, American or Argentinian, actors really, really want you to use their own name when refering to them. There are some who will be very clear about that, to put it mildly. It is a frequent interview rider, for example.

[bigtree]

17. right

It's not as if you'd want to go up to him and say, 'Hey, Kumar!' or anything like that. But, in conversation, most folks might not know Kal Penn or Kalpen Modi as well.

You'd say, 'You know, 'Kumar', from 'Harold and Kumar.'" It's just the way we converse.

[Bluenorthwest]

19. Your quotes make it just fine.

However, he bills himself as Kal Penn, and that is the name I'd use for him in any and every situation. Very happy he is going back to the WH.

[blondeatlast]

18. Agreed; I mucked up this one. My apologies. nt

[bigtree]

12. ha!

I put 'Kumar' in italics so most folks would know who I'm talking about. I'm quite sure he'd love to be widely known as Kalpen Modi, but he's just not.

[JackRiddler]

13. Maybe, but calling him 'Kumar' is not.

[blondeatlast]

14. Okay, I just think he's sexy--handsome, smart, funny.

And damn, he looks fantastic in specs.

Ahem--carry on, nothing to see here. :)

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

25. I sat beside him at a sushi bar here in Downtown Washington. Wanted to say something to him,

but was too chicken. He looks so young in person.

[proteus_lives]

26. Met him once, nice guy.