Sandy sent two links about the president referring to his bowling skills as Special Olympics. The first was titled, "The President rolls a gutter ball on the Tonight Show" and the other has the video up on the page.
It's hard for me to get too worked up on this. I've referenced my own athletic ability as the Special Olympics. I'm scared to admit this but when a good student makes a mistake in class I'd joke, "Did you ride the short bus today?"
I could be persuaded that this is a big deal because I have changed my mind on using the term retarded... Sometime in the past year there was going to be a movie or show produced with the word "retard" in it. I heard about it and thought, "In poor taste" but not a huge deal. An NPR interview with a... a... not sure, Special Needs(?) activist convinced me that using the word is wrong. He was so convincing that by the end of the interview I thought of it as worse than the N word or fag.
For now I'm sympathetic to a guy who has every word he says analyzed. I care much more about a president lying about reasons to go to war than I do a president who compares his bowling skills to the Special Olympics.
Well obviously I totally agree that this is not as earth-shattering about lying about WMD!
ReplyDeleteAnd, I sympathize with the guy too - but I know a lot of parents who are up in arms about it. I do think what he said was wrong, but I just heard that he has invited the top bowler from the Special Olympics to the White House to bowl against him. That should be interesting!
I have to confess to really hating the word "retarded". And, sorry Steve, but the "short bus" comments don't sit well either - even though I know most people don't MEAN any harm by it. Having so much experience with kids special needs both personally and professionally has given me a lot of perspective on that!
I think this is a pretty good example of why presidents don't typically go on late-night TV!
Well, Steve, you will pleased to know that Sarah Palin has been personally offended by Obama's remark. Now, she thinks we don't know that if she hadn't (allegedly)given birth to a Down's Syndrome child, she never would have said a word about the comment.
ReplyDeleteCan you imagine living in a fishbowl where every single word coming out of your mouth was scrutinized by the world? It must be awful and, knowing what a kind person Obama is, I am confident he meant no offense.
Poor Obama. He's going to end up going from a cool guy you could sit down and have a beer with, to an over-analytical, putz who will end making more mistakes than if he could just be himself. Damn this PC culture.
ReplyDeleteSo let me ask this...what would your reaction be if he said, "Queer as a two dollar bill."
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