It seems like a silly question, but last night on 60 Minutes [1], Steve Kroft pressed President Obama for letting loose a few chuckles during his interview.

The exchange went like this:

Kroft: Are people going to look at this and say, "I mean, he's sitting there just making jokes about money" — How do you deal with— I mean: explain . . . Are you punch-drunk?

Obama: No, no. There's gotta be a little gallows humor to get you through the day.

The chuckles are being heard around the world today, as pundits ponder [2] whether it's appropriate for the President to laugh while discussing serious topics.