Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan It's not the biggest issue in the world, but it is being discussed today. President Obama made a joke about his bowling score of 129 "was like the Special Olympics or something." He apologized to the head of the Special Olympics even before the Tonight Show hit the airwaves, and aides did the usual damage-control. But it was an unfortunate remark. It was meant as self-deprecating humor but it was a complete misfire.
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt The media is really making too much fuss about this. I watched the show last night and didn't find the remark offensive. He quickly apologized and that should be the end of it. Apparently he's extended an invitation to the Special Olympics to have some members come bowl with him at the White House.
Originally Posted By mele I winced when I heard it (and caught it w/o the media pointing it out). Definitely the wrong thing to say. Yikes.
Originally Posted By DouglasDubh It would be nice to get past this sort of thing, but I don't see either side willing to drop it, and what comes around goes around.
Originally Posted By DouglasDubh By "it" I wasn't talking about the President's Special Olympics comment, but the tendency to make more out of these things than is warranted.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan Side? There's really no sides here. It isn't a partisan thing. The President made a joke, it was insulting, and people are saying he shouldn't have said it.
Originally Posted By DyGDisney I'm so glad I'm not president having people judge EVERYTHING I say. I sometimes make comments like, "I'm so retarded" or "I'm schitzophrenic", etc. I think it's the time and place in which I grew up. People used to say things like that and didn't think of them as being un-PC. Hard to get away from saying things you've said all your life. I hope the people realize he's just human and makes mistakes.
Originally Posted By mawnck >>I hope the people realize he's just human and makes mistakes.<< Now George W. Bush, on the other hand, when he made mistakes, he was just being an idiot. I call double standard.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Well, sort of. You can cut Bush some slack for Yogi Berra-like comments where you know what he's going for, but it comes out wrong (including classics like OB-GYNs not being able to practice their love with American women), which is where this recent Obama remark would go. Still, sometimes Bush just simply makes you wonder if he really isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, which one rarely wonders about Obama. Just the other day in Canada he said "I’m going to put people in my place, so when the history of this administration is written at least there’s an authoritarian voice saying exactly what happened." Unless that was a Freudian slip, he pretty clearly doesn't understand the difference between "authoritarian" and "authoritative." There's also the little matter of the relative frequency of such remarks...
Originally Posted By SpokkerJones What's wrong with using the special olympics in a joke? Treating disabled people like delicate little flowers is worse in my mind than busting their balls like everybody else who gets their balls busted in life. Are you offended by the widespread joke that arguing on the Internet is like participating in the special olympics? I've seen that line said on many an Internet forum. Here's how I see it. The president made a stupid joke on a stupid TV show. Why would anyone care? Talk about sensitivity.
Originally Posted By SpokkerJones "Now George W. Bush, on the other hand, when he made mistakes, he was just being an idiot." I thought Bush was awesome when he called that reporter an a-hole and I'm a big Bush hater.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I heard him say it on the show last night, and I'm honestly a little surprised that it took this long to get mentioned on the boards. The comment was quick enough that it didn't really have time to completely set in before they moved on to the next topic, but I still knew that the press would have a field day with it. And with the exception of the comment, I was pretty surprised by how well he did on the show last night. He really did seem to do a good job of being a real person, and not reading off the teleprompter (and I have no idea if he had one or not). He did a particularly good job of explaining what exactly has been causing the economy to tank. If he could just explain how the bailout is going to work that well, then I'd be completely sold. I was very impressed with his performance last night, which honestly surprised me quite a bit. And for the record, I think my last score bowling was around 70, so I would say that 129 isn't a half bad score (but then again, I don't have a bowling alley in my basement)
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt "Now George W. Bush, on the other hand, when he made mistakes, he was just being an idiot." I think people were willing to cut GW some slack in the beginning. It was after he stubbornly refused to listen to worldwide criticism that people began to uniformly dismiss him as being an idiot.
Originally Posted By ecdc I winced too. Not that cool. But I also agree that in our 24/7 news culture, these things are blown out of proportion. He apologized, let it go already.
Originally Posted By ecdc Oh, and in response to the inevitable "You guys would've slammed Bush!" see Dabob2's post. Why do we expect everyone to treat our politicians equally when we don't in real life. Let's say at my work, there's a boss I really respect. He treats me well, takes care of me, and is a great leader. I know he's a kind-hearted person who has no interest in hurting other people. One day he says something that comes out wrong or is off-the-cuff that is insensitive to someone in the room. He immediately apologizes. I know he means it and that's that. Why would I have the same reaction to someone else who is consistently shallow, a poor leader, incompetent, and who, over time, has given me reason to question their sincerity? We make judgments about people everyday based on our experience with them. We don't view them the same way. We frequently have good reason to do so.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder Palin's now slammed him for it, so now I've decided what he said was really funny.
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt Oh good grief. I think it's fine for her to speak out, since she has a special needs child, but come on... the guy apologized before the interview aired! Maybe it takes longer for news to get to Alaska.
Originally Posted By RockyMtnMinnie >>>Maybe it takes longer for news to get to Alaska.<<< It takes a long time for the dog sled to get there with the telegram.
