Special Olympian bowler to Obama: Let’s do this
posted at 4:15 pm on March 20, 2009 by Allahpundit
TMZ’s trumping up a silly challenge but it’s a good excuse to watch the video below, which couldn’t be sweeter. My favorite take on l’affaire Leno is Dave Weigel saying, “Obama should clarify: he meant to say that Special Olympians were doing an awesome job, and that Geithner is retarded.” Which is either (a) very funny or (b) horrifying, depending on how your personal politically calculated faux-outrage meter is calibrated. Also funny/horrifying: Treacher’s list of one-liners Barack the Insult Comic didn’t get around to last night. The one about She-Hulk had me hysterical — with righteous indignation. Exit question: One of Jeff Goldstein’s points in his debate with Patterico over Rush Limbaugh is that it’s a grave mistake for conservatives to play by the left’s rhetorical rules. Isn’t that what we’re doing by beating up on The One for a very mildly politically incorrect joke, though? Click the image to watch.
Blowback
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Does he roll on Shabbos?
Chuck Schick on March 20, 2009 at 4:17 PM
Obama getting his ass kicked by someone smarter than he is…….
PRICELESS.
seejanemom on March 20, 2009 at 4:19 PM
The best thing Obama could do now is to accept the challenge and lose gracefully … odds anyone ?
gh on March 20, 2009 at 4:19 PM
I hope the President accepts.
chunderroad on March 20, 2009 at 4:20 PM
The “mildly politically incorrect joke” is getting international attention.
carbon_footprint on March 20, 2009 at 4:21 PM
Stay tuned for the next episode of the Madman Obama Show.
faraway on March 20, 2009 at 4:21 PM
Allah, it is not beating up Obama for making fun of the Speical Olympics, it is using the opportunity to show the hypocrisy of the left, Obama, and the MSM.
I am not outraged by his comment. It is a lame joke. But I am very much bothered by the faux outrage of the left and that is the issue Jeff Goldstein suggests (rather persuasively) we call them on.
Mr. Joe on March 20, 2009 at 4:21 PM
Actually, if I liked Obama, then I would recommend that he take the challenge, have the guy kick his butt on national TV, and then say, “Wow, my joke was pretty stupid because these guys are GOOD!”
blink on March 20, 2009 at 4:21 PM
Not high.
Obama’s the kind of jackass who plays pickup games against NBA players and talks trash the entire time. (NY Knicks guard Chris Duhon talked about this before the election… he played a lot of pickup games against Obama when he was still a Chicago Bull.)
He won’t be happy to be getting embarrassed by someone he thinks is beneath him.
teke184 on March 20, 2009 at 4:22 PM
Why wouldn’t it? The White House issued a statement about it right after the show.
Allahpundit on March 20, 2009 at 4:22 PM
Maybe the people that beat him get a job at the numerous openings at Tresury noone seems to want.
gsherin on March 20, 2009 at 4:22 PM
If Bush said this, it would be all over the news. When Obama does it, mostly crickets. That is the double standard that needs to be pointed out.
And mocking Obama about it (to make the point) is perfectly okay.
Mr. Joe on March 20, 2009 at 4:23 PM
Barry would get pwned by Kolan.
Upstater85 on March 20, 2009 at 4:23 PM
Yep, but for me, I could care less about the joke (and it’s something I would probably say as well, in all honesty). It’s more about the two-week crucifixion of Bush that would have taken place throughout the media had he said it.
hindmost on March 20, 2009 at 4:23 PM
In other words, this is about hypocrisy, not genuine outrage? Okay, then. Look out for my next post…
Allahpundit on March 20, 2009 at 4:23 PM
You probably can’t bowl very well with a teleprompter in front of you; Ogabe won’t accept the challenge.
Bishop on March 20, 2009 at 4:24 PM
And why would the White House issue a statement about it if it was merely a mildly politically incorrect joke? You would think they would just blow it off and move on to more important issues.
carbon_footprint on March 20, 2009 at 4:24 PM
And he’s a black guy…..
MAN.
DOES IT GET ANY BETTER?
seejanemom on March 20, 2009 at 4:24 PM
This guy will kick BHO’s ass so bad it’ll be considered black-on-black crime…
Roc on March 20, 2009 at 4:25 PM
WOW, Palin just issued a damning statement regarding Obama over this, see the CampaignSpot at National Review.
Norwegian on March 20, 2009 at 4:25 PM
the left will not know how to respond if we outmoonbat them…
sven10077 on March 20, 2009 at 4:25 PM
Just to help drive the thread:
Palin hits Obama on Special Olympics Joke
“It” may not quite be “on,” but can’t you smell it?
CK MacLeod on March 20, 2009 at 4:26 PM
Good lord, that guy is on FIRE.
Love the story.
MadisonConservative on March 20, 2009 at 4:27 PM
nice!!
trailortrash on March 20, 2009 at 4:27 PM
If Obama rejects this challenge, he is:
1. A coward
2. An extremely bad bowler
3. No sense of humor or self-deprecation
3. Extremely self-obsessed and vain
I think it’s All of the Above
Norwegian on March 20, 2009 at 4:28 PM
The President appreciates your continuing efforts on his behalf, Allah…
Kensington on March 20, 2009 at 4:28 PM
I like how we should drop damaging politically incorrect rhetoric by Obama, but the Obama Administration should get away with trying to tear down Republicans because of the politically incorrect statements of a talk show host. All in the interest of being honest and fair.
amerpundit on March 20, 2009 at 4:28 PM
Maybe they could play shuffleboard.
Its KINDA like bowling….with a stick.
That way, Obama could use his teleprompter.
seejanemom on March 20, 2009 at 4:28 PM
You’re making my point for me. Political correctness is the left’s game. Obama broke the rule of the game, so it’s “news.” Goldstein’s point (or one of his points) is that it’s silly and destructive to play the left’s games rhetorically, which is what the media’s doing by making a big deal out of this. Why are you helping them?
Allahpundit on March 20, 2009 at 4:28 PM
I agree this is much ado about a minor bout of tactlessness.
However, I think the Special Olympians are missing the real challenge. They should challenge the entire Obama Administration to an economic policy development contest. Unfortunately, I think this would violate the premise of the Special Olympics; to come up with something that challenges the special needs group to excel.
michaelo on March 20, 2009 at 4:29 PM
Summer Donna, Allah.
;)
seejanemom on March 20, 2009 at 4:29 PM
The Thrilla from Wasilla wanted to buzzsaw prompter Jesus last year and could likely out Aikido him rhetoric wise…
sven10077 on March 20, 2009 at 4:30 PM
One day he gets his ass kissed by Conan.
The next he gets it kicked by Kolan
thomasaur on March 20, 2009 at 4:31 PM
BECAUSE IT NOT “mildly” politically incorrect.
AP use of modifier is for the purposes of pissing off everyone, and he already knows about Sarah Palin and her comment. He’s working on setting a gotcha trap for later.
Amadeus on March 20, 2009 at 4:31 PM
+1…
See when the leftoids paint with a broad brush it is “good” and “what they do”….
if the right hits back it is “gauche” and “faux rage”….
sven10077 on March 20, 2009 at 4:32 PM
No, you paranoiac, I’m not setting any trap. I hadn’t even seen the Palin item when I wrote this. God, some of you need help.
Allahpundit on March 20, 2009 at 4:32 PM
In 2012, Sarah Barracuda, the high school basketball star, can challenge the One to a game of HORSE.
Wethal on March 20, 2009 at 4:33 PM
I don’t know. I’ve heard that TOTUS can go toe-to-toe with the best of them.
Upstater85 on March 20, 2009 at 4:33 PM
You watched the video, Allah. Special Olympics bowling champion Kolan was unlikely to bowl a perfect game and more likely to end up in an institution. It was insulting that Obama passed his own poor bowling off as a joke at Kolan’s expense, or any of the other millions of Americans challenged by a disability.
Those aren’t the left’s rules but the rules of anyone who was raised right by their mother.
chunderroad on March 20, 2009 at 4:33 PM
Hey, even Olberdouche had a hard time defending Obama on this one. He blamed it on the “setting” of the interview, but didn’t downplay it like Allahpundit does.
What does that say about Obama’s gutterball? Or better yet, Allah?
Norwegian on March 20, 2009 at 4:33 PM
LOL
Maybe!
Amadeus on March 20, 2009 at 4:36 PM
“…I hope President Obama’s comments do not reflect how he truly feels about the special needs community.”
Sarah really shouldn’t take that tone with The One. You know he loves all in his flock kinda equally.
Upstater85 on March 20, 2009 at 4:36 PM
I think it was a horrible thing for The President of the United States to say. My girlfriend’s brother plays in the special olympics and I would be afraid to tell him about this (I’m not going to) because he already hates Obama. He should not be putting down anybody, period. He is supposed to be a leader.
Joe Caps on March 20, 2009 at 4:36 PM
I guess I don’t agree with Goldstein on those points then. I think that at this point we are obligated to use whatever tactics we have to fight the liberals. If that means using their invented rules against them, without sacrificing our principles, then so be it. As I wrote in a comment last night, when a republican gets caught in a sex scandal, the MSM and liberals magnify it; they magnify it based on the hypocrisy of our family values and morals. Now, if a liberal gets busted being politically incorrect, why shouldn’t we magnify it based on their hypocrisy?
Playing nice and not being aggressive has hurt us in elections. As long as we do not give up our principles, I say it is all fair game.
By the way, the MSM sure is not making a big deal out of this story. Jake Tapper is an exception.
carbon_footprint on March 20, 2009 at 4:38 PM
And a representative of his citizens…
He would have been better making jokes at the expense of Timmy Geithner – then everyone could laugh.
Upstater85 on March 20, 2009 at 4:38 PM
Nyah, the Goldstein Thesis is inappropriate. The Prez made a mistake to go on Leno, and then compounded it by making what Palin accurately confirms to be a degrading joke. Unlike a talk show host or an athlete, he’s supposed to be a role model, this Prez more than most given the reasons we were all supposed to be so gratified by his election. So which is it? Is he just one of the guys, who occasionally cuts one in public, gross but no harm done? Or is he leader of the Free World (in a Time of Crisis), Commander in Chief, Head of State as well as Head of Government? If the former, then he further undermines the office and his own potential. If the latter, then act like it, Barry. I can imagine every President of my lifetime saying something like this stupid joke or much, much worse in private, or maybe caught on an open mic. It’s hard for me to imagine any of them saying something like this in public. That’s why sitting Presidents don’t go on comedy shows.
CK MacLeod on March 20, 2009 at 4:38 PM
Sorry Allah. My outrage isn’t faux. But maybe that’s because I spend a good portion of my day helping patients with DS and the parents and loved ones of patients with that disorder. As well as patients with other forms of mental disorders, and physical ones as well.
It was stupid and insensitive when Obama said it, and it would be stupid and insensitive if Bush said it, I don’t play favorites.
The fact that he said something so stupid on a TV show he had no business being on while ignoring/causing a severe financial crisis was just moronic icing on the stupid cake.
If he said something “mildly politically incorrect” I actually would have let it slide, there’s enough to be mad at the Dope in Chief over that has more substance.
But Allah, you should look into the eyes of a 35 year old with DS, or talk with a man who lost his leg to a shotgun blast defending his house from intruders, or have long conversations with the adoptive family of a 17 year old who is unable to talk and has contracted limbs from CP.
If you can do those things and then hear a comment like that coming from the leader of the free world, and still feel it’s harmless, then I suppose you’re deader inside than you like to pretend to be for these posts.
DrAllecon on March 20, 2009 at 4:38 PM
Awesome!
carbon_footprint on March 20, 2009 at 4:39 PM
AP,
I think It may have been an accidental insult by an idiotic man child thats over his head. But thats not the same as being politically incorrect.
Amadeus on March 20, 2009 at 4:39 PM
I’m betting you will never have children, AP…and that’s not a beta shot there.
Patrick S on March 20, 2009 at 4:40 PM
Barry,
Want to see what a true winner looks like? Kolan @ 2:07.
Christien on March 20, 2009 at 4:41 PM
Funny, he doesn’t look Jewish. Oh, you meant Obama?
Attila (Pillage Idiot) on March 20, 2009 at 4:42 PM
Very well put. This is different than calling something/somebody “retarded.” It is extremely difficult to get special needs people to participate in these events because they are so sensitive about being mocked. I’m sure Obama adding to that makes them feel horrible. I am offended because of the actual literal message that it sends, it is not a parallel to the PC nitpicking of terms like “retarded.”
Joe Caps on March 20, 2009 at 4:43 PM
I’ve noted in my own post on this that, because the Special Olympics trope is familiar to “edgy” comedy, that it’s possible (hell, maybe even likely) that Obama didn’t mean to offend — or rather, he didn’t consider that the joke might be offensive, its structure having become so conventionalized.
But then, the fact the the President of the United States is doing schtick on a late night comedy show — and used a joke that is beneath the dignity of the office in public — is something people have a right to be disturbed about, should they so wish. Maybe even OUTRAGED.
Remember, Obama was not particularly interested in Imus’ intent when he called for his firing.
So at the very least, this story can work against Obama on three fronts: 1) how is the press covering Obama’s inappropriate joke vs. how they might cover the same joke had the speaker been a conservative (who, as Professor Dyson reminds us, might not even know he is being racist/homophobic/anti-differently-abled, because of all the code words that describe his very being; 2) is it appropriate for someone who has gone on about how hill will return America to respectability and bring dignity to the office of President to be doing spots on Leno like he were some HBO comedian pushing an upcoming edgy one hour comedy special: “Obama: Retreads and Retards”; and 3) the hypocrisy of calling for the firing of someone else making a joke even while insisting that yours doesn’t operate on the very derogatory assumptions about special need kids that is necessary to make the joke a joke in the first place.
Rush Limbaugh should receive such forgiveness as you’re willing to grant Obama.
Because if, as you argued, Rush’s statements can cost us the moderate vote, why wouldn’t you be pushing Obama’s ill-timed and hypocritical remarks as a way to win back those votes lost to Rush Limbaugh’s self-serving soundbites?
Jeff G on March 20, 2009 at 4:44 PM
Barry will jump at the chance to do it. He’ll take a dive if necessary. It takes him of the hook, erases the sting, and creates the perception of a caring president going the extra mile for a citizen. Pain/gain ratio would be very favorable for him, and it allows the media to cancel out Palin’s outrage.
a capella on March 20, 2009 at 4:45 PM
I don’t like it when people make fun of people who are disabled – physically or developmentally. I know you like to do it, but I always thought it was juvenile and in poor taste, and just mean.
Blake on March 20, 2009 at 4:45 PM
Maybe when AP says “silly”, he means retarded.
chunderroad on March 20, 2009 at 4:45 PM
Silly Patrick.
For children, one must have S.E.X.
I mean, with someone other than themselves.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I know…one keystroke and I’m otta here…but DAMN , I love me some Allah goat. Tasty.
;)xoxox
seejanemom on March 20, 2009 at 4:49 PM
“describe” = “inscribe”
“hill” = “he’ll”
Jeff G on March 20, 2009 at 4:49 PM
Laura Ingraham made a “mildly politically incorrect joke” about Meghan McCain being “plus-sized” but AllahPundit was all over her about it, and fat people are simply fat because they eat too much. Yet when the Messiah makes a vicious joke about disabled persons, who were born this way, AllahPundit suddenly wants everyone to “lay off.” Double standards for liberals and conservatives?
Gabe on March 20, 2009 at 4:53 PM
“funny” = “f bomb”
chunderroad on March 20, 2009 at 4:53 PM
TOTUS: “NOOOOOOOOOO, IIIIII WOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!”
Upstater85 on March 20, 2009 at 4:53 PM
(Jeff G on March 20, 2009 at 4:49 PM
Don’t sweat it, Jeff G, We’re all typography/diction/grammar sinners here. Your earlier post was impressively well-argued, and all the more welcome coming from someone whose argument had been invoked.
If you were perfect, then we’d have to crucify you, and you wouldn’t like that I don’t think.)
CK MacLeod on March 20, 2009 at 4:55 PM
Why is it so difficult for some to understand that some of us are protective of the disabled? That we consider them worth protecting, as opposed to the myriad of actors in the grievance theatre?
This is not faux outrage. It is sincere disgust that a president could be so vulgar and thoughtless.
I really have to wonder about people who think this was an appropriate “joke” for him to make.
capitalist piglet on March 20, 2009 at 4:56 PM
Who’s the ‘retard’ now, O?
baldilocks on March 20, 2009 at 4:56 PM
AP –
Joking about someone else’s physical or mental disability is beyond politically incorrect. It’s morally reprehensible.
And from the POTUS, it’s abominable.
Try some real outrage. This faux conservative-intellectual sophistication is soooo immature.
tkmcp on March 20, 2009 at 4:59 PM
Does this mean that we can now collectively call the Obaministration, including Dear Leader…Jerry’s Kids?
ornery_independent on March 20, 2009 at 5:00 PM
All of us need help.
baldilocks on March 20, 2009 at 5:01 PM
LOL!
ornery_independent on March 20, 2009 at 5:02 PM
(emphasis mine)
AP, I think you’re are missing an important point. A conservative’s disdain of political correctness should certainly apply to language relating to race, gender, sexual orientation, occupation, and the like. But that disdain assumes that the language is being applied to to a group of people who are competent adults who can stand on their own two feet.
In the case of children and developmentally disabled people, by definition, they are not competent, and, indeed, families and society have a moral obligation to care for them.
Obama’s mistake in not unforgivable, but it certainly is one that he needed to rectify. I think the head of the Special Olympics has handled this very well. He’s very gracious, but he hasn’t extended cheap grace to Obama or to Leno or to the Tonight Show audience. He firmly pointed out that it was hurtful that Obama, Leno, and the audience all laughed along with Obama’s crack. Shriver has encouraged all to see this as a teaching moment in which all should consider the sense of isolation from being singled out for laughter and derision.
To be sure, Obama’s screw-up is not worth much more than a day’s news. But his crack is not even close to, say, the “sweetie” crack he made to a reporter during the campaign. If you don’t see the difference, fine. We’ll agree to disagree.
BuckeyeSam on March 20, 2009 at 5:02 PM
I was outraged by Imus’ comment, because it is wrong to take cheap shots at young women on basketball scholarships. I felt too much political hay was made of it by politicians like Sharpton and Obama who wanted to focus on the racism versus the actual human dignity aspect.
The same principle is involved here. It turns out Obama was faking outrage at Imus’ comment. That is still no reason why the disabled and their families and anyone else who feels compassion and respect for them should not be outraged on their behalf.
chunderroad on March 20, 2009 at 5:03 PM
If the President – again, not some talkshow host – ruptures the aura of respect around the office he occupies, then he cannot expect people to treat him with, ahem, special respect just because he’s “our” President. I don’t pretend to speak for the so-called “special needs” community, except I don’t think people need to be “corrected” if they happen to feel that the President’s joke was worse than merely “incorrect.” I can speak as an American, however, who is disgusted by what this President is doing to his office and to the country. This slip-up is damaging because it’s part of a pattern of total unseriousness combined with exploitative hypocrisy.
Beck is doing a great job right now sloughing aside the special needs joke and hitting Obama instead for acting like a gibbering giggling fool (no offense to the fool community) on the show.
CK MacLeod on March 20, 2009 at 5:07 PM
Physician, heal thyself.
chunderroad on March 20, 2009 at 5:07 PM
It’s called ODS (Obama Derangement Syndrome). I finally “get” BDS!
Mr_Magoo on March 20, 2009 at 5:08 PM
Piping up for “halp”….
Where does the line form?
seejanemom on March 20, 2009 at 5:08 PM
I can’t speak for anybody else, but I’m beating him up for the hypocrisy. (See Imus.) And I’m beating up everybody who’s making excuses they’d never make in a million years if Obama had an (R) after his name.
You really seem to be twisting yourself into knots over this, AP. It’s okay to criticize the guy for doing something stupid.
Jim Treacher on March 20, 2009 at 5:09 PM
I just hate to see him (Obama) simpering like a starlet before the nation on Jay Leno, tyring to convince us all not to panic with his demonstration of how perfectly at his wonderful ease he is right now in spite of everything which this should be a lovely distraction from our troubles.
Then he makes clumsy jokes in an effort to appear self-deprecating, clumsy because he does it at the expense of others, —- and for the irritating purpose of proving he can admit to the most trivial of flaws, – hey isn’t he great and humble all at once.
Plus he’s not funny and cluelessly wrong about SO athletes, who perform and compete if not as the greatest athletes evah, but despite challenges greater that ordinary people face, turn in respectable or even superior athletic performances. He should only hope to score in bowling like an SO medalist.
I may not be outraged, but I’m not encouraged by that kind of base and beneath his office performance. No, I’m not encouraged at all.
SarahW on March 20, 2009 at 5:10 PM
How about this: If it’s a grave mistake to criticize him for this, why are we going to regret it? What will be the blowback?
Jim Treacher on March 20, 2009 at 5:14 PM
For one, you’ll be deprived of his lovely ankles dangling like Jack Lemmon’s on the set of the tonight show, Jim Treacher. Do you think you can bear it?
SarahW on March 20, 2009 at 5:17 PM
There won’t be any more special needs kids after Obama finishes with his FOCA, they’ll either be aborted or left to die after birth in unattended dirty linen closets of hospitals receiving gobmint monies.
eaglewingz08 on March 20, 2009 at 5:17 PM
Judging from PBO’s tone and the context of the remark he was hammering himself, really. I understood him to be saying that he belonged in bowling Special Olympics because he so stunk at bowling that he’d have to compete with people who can’t help their inadequacy or something along those lines.
I’m a big fan of Jeff G’s argument on this subject. His site is great, and being a newcomer to it, proving a wonderful place to stop, read and learn.
That said, BO’s the President and is proving to be a well-dressed woodchuck who neither understands nor prizes the office.
IOW, get off Leno, you narcissistic moron and “get back to work for the American people!” He’s gotta be 30 IQ points shy of Clinton’s, if he’s shy one. Sheesh!
Eirenic Rebel on March 20, 2009 at 5:18 PM
Bingo.
He’s already threatened about everything he *can* do before this ever happened, including nationalizing health care, saving a few bucks by skimping on veterans’ health care, completely marginalizing the minorities in the House and Senate, threatening to kill the filibuster, etc.
At this point, all he could really do would be to follow through with one of his threats and, as we’ve seen in the past two months, he has trouble following through with *anything*.
teke184 on March 20, 2009 at 5:19 PM
Actually I think 0′s apology was worse than the comment. He stated he meant no harm and was making fun of his own bowling ability. We got it. But, how can you make fun of your bowling ability saying it’s like Special Olympics without acknowledging that you are making fun of the participants? Hmmm?
Just sign me the grandmother of a Special Olympics child (Down Syndrome) who has won many many gold medals in several sports and is such a proficient swimmer keeping all the various patterns in mind without breaking and is being viewed as a possible junior high participant on the regular school team of a large city school. She is also being recognized as a national winner in extra curricular activites next month in the CEC.
Oleta on March 20, 2009 at 5:19 PM
Eirenic Rebel –
I commented on this further up in the thread. Allah’s use my intentionalism argument brackets the other reasons it is fine to hammer Obama on this.
I believe I explained it in my post on the subject, which is why linking someone you’re invoking is always helpful.
Though not always done any more.
Jeff G on March 20, 2009 at 5:24 PM
If Obama watched that video and didn’t have a tear in his eye…he’s just a cold and selfish man.
birdhurd on March 20, 2009 at 5:24 PM
Allah, Give Palin a pass. I mean if you have had to go through six months of Andrew Sullivan obessing over your ueterus and “Trig trutherism” for blatently partisan purposes to help Obama get elected, you might be a bit sensitive too.
Mr. Joe on March 20, 2009 at 5:37 PM
Not too difficult, really. An able-bodied, athletic man should be expected to bowl better than a Special Olympian, other things being equal. The fact that he can’t is funny, but that doesn’t imply that the Special Olympians are funny. Given their disabilities they are actually quite admirable, but no one pretends that they could compete with a non-disabled athlete with equal experience.
By way of analogy, if I arm wrestle my wife, I can be expected to win every time: I outweigh her by about 40 lbs and I have greater upper body strength. If I win, it is no disgrace to her. But if I lose… that’s funny.
JackOfClubs on March 20, 2009 at 5:45 PM
An able-bodied, athletic man should be expected to bowl better than a Special Olympian, other things being equal.
Yeah, like SO medalist who bowls 300. WRONG. O’s bowling score wouldn’t medal at an SO meet. Lots of SO athletes are better than average in performance, on the “non tard” scale.
So, fail. And besides, he meant to imply the other thing, that SO athletes are crummy and inferior and we should excuse their bad performance.
SarahW on March 20, 2009 at 5:49 PM
That sort of clumsy crack at the expense of others is just beneath what OUGHT to be expected from a PRESIDENT. From Imus, Hugh Grant, your mother, I don’t expect so much.
SarahW on March 20, 2009 at 5:51 PM
Yeah.
But I don’t think it’s beyond the realm of reason to suggest that the President of the United States shouldn’t be engaged in rhetoric of that sort.
Let alone trying to hang out on Leno while the stock market is burning and his budget predictions getting dumped on by the CBO people who know what is really happening.
It’s that “I’m trying to be hip to the foul-mouthed college loser demographic” shtick that’s getting old to me. Like everything else.
Good Lt on March 20, 2009 at 5:51 PM
I would love to see this guy whip B.O.’s ass with extreme prejudice!
pilamaye on March 20, 2009 at 5:58 PM
Obama is a bully but he thinks it’s okay because he’s on the side of the angels (secular angels of course).
The Principal Chair on March 20, 2009 at 6:00 PM
Agree.
Also, it’s cool to see Jeff here.
TheUnrepentantGeek on March 20, 2009 at 6:01 PM
But how will our
comradepresident bowl without hisentourageteleprompter?jbh45 on March 20, 2009 at 6:03 PM
Jeff G-
You’ve got a great site. I’d comment there if I had anything of substance to add, and maybe at some point I will.
I’m bilingual and have been toggling back and forth between thought and word since I was 3 years old, so language is sacrosanct to me and that’s why I find your argument so compelling and so vital.
I’m sorry I didn’t link to your site. Let me make up for that.
Lastly, for me, Obama’s entry into National politics was like a pall descending over all. For whatever reason, this sense and the desire to escape it, led me to read Mencken.
But a girl can’t live by Mencken alone without becoming demoralized
Keep up the excellent work on your site, and Godspeed!
Eirenic Rebel on March 20, 2009 at 6:04 PM
One of the BIG problems I had with McCain’s campaign, is that with all his fist-pounding about “You’ve got to FIGHT!”, he only wanted to fight nicely. He wouldn’t go after things in Obama’s past that, although they were likely damning to a political career (or should be), he considered them too sensitive to bring up, or something. Rev Wright & even O’s “accomplishments” (or lack thereof) is the perfect example of this, and holding back The SaraCuda from going on the attack…she was loaded for bear, but disarmed. (Something the rest of us may soon be as well.) We wouldn’t want to offend anyone, now would we.
And now, whilst pining away his days in Loserville, McCain can always say “I lost, but I played nice.”
What a load of steaming crap.
ornery_independent on March 20, 2009 at 6:06 PM
Allah you’re missing the big picture. We need to hold Obama accountable for this to make a greater point about political correctness. The left has set these rules of discourse and if their flag bearers cannot even abide by them there is something to be said about the feasibility of those rules.
RightisRight on March 20, 2009 at 6:33 PM
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