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The Bare Knuckled Pundit
03-25-2009, 07:56 AM
By now I’m sure everyone is familiar with the President’s off-handed and poorly executed attempt at self-deprecating humor on “The Tonight Show” last Thursday night.

While chatting with show host Jay Leno, the President remarked that he had shot a 129 at the White House bowling alley. As Leno laughingly reassured the President how good the score was, the comedian made a facial expression to the audience that emphasized the underlying mockery of the comment. As the audience and Leno laughed, the President light-heartedly admitted his bowling prowess was “….like Special Olympics or something.”

As one might imagine, this ignited an immediate firestorm across the blogosphere and enraged special needs advocates and families from sea to shining sea. While I fully understand and respect the reaction, being an avid anti-political correctness crusader, I feel compelled to defend the President. Fair and balanced, you know.

Was his comment offensive and hurtful, yes. Was it tactless and uncouth? Most certainly. Was it sarcastic, definitely. However, was it malicious and ill-willed, no.

In truth, it is an off-colored, spur of the moment comment made by people across the breadth and width of our nation; people who do not have the special blessing of children like Trig Palin or the son of a dear friend of mine in their lives.

In junior high my friends and I often admonished each other to “…stop acting like a retard…” when we were goofy or awkward. As an adult I’ve heard co-workers ask if someone rode to school on the short bus when they made a thoughtless mistake.

The President, like most figures that endure the snakes and arrows of public opinion, has a sarcastic edge to his sense of humor; even when it comes to himself. As confession is good for the soul, I’ve laid my own transgressions bear and wholeheartedly admit to being a sarcastic bastard. Ask my wife and students, you won’t get a moment’s hesitation in their confirmation.

Is it humor at the expense of those who often can’t defend themselves, sadly, yes. Is it meant to harm those special angels that walk among us, no.

The President is a politician and a damned good one as his meteoric rise attests. However, he, like you and I, are in the end merely human. His off-the-cuff attempt to humanize himself did just that, albeit in a manner far from what he intended.

What this highlights, for both the President and the rest of us, is that words often have force, meaning and impact beyond their original intention. An off-hand remark can be just as stinging and hurtful as venomous one. Perhaps if we took a moment or two to keep that in mind, there would be fewer occurrences and less pain in the world. In the meantime, let’s hope those unintentionally caught in the path of our verbal ineptness meet it with more grace than we ourselves have demonstrated.

Nonetheless, kudos to the President for immediately manning up, taking responsibility and unequivocally apologizing for the remark. Following that, though, I would dare say one would be hard pressed to find The Dead Milkmen’s punk classic “Takin’ Retards To The Zoo” on any iPod within miles of the West Wing; so much for the anti-PC crusade.

You win some; you lose some, faithful readers.

Stay tuned for further updates as events warrant and the President learns the time-tested truth that silence is golden. Failing that, I might suggest he find a condiment that thoroughly covers the taste of shoe leather and bowling alley wax. Mmmm, mmmm good, indeed!

sgtdmski
03-25-2009, 09:25 AM
Nice try but no cigar. This is politics and well words have meaning and like it or not, liberals, when you screw the pooch you have to face the music. Trent Lott made a casual remark about Strom Thurmond at the man's 100 year birthday party, and immediately Trent Lott was labelled a racist and lost his position as Senate Majority Leader. All the while at the same time another senator whose name I cannot recall, but was a Democrat, called Senator Byrd of West Virginia the conscience of the Democrats in the Senate.

Let's review facts. (1) Strom Thurmond was once a Southern Democrat, who later became a Dixiecrat before becoming a Republican. Like many Southern Democrats he favored segregation. Because Lott made a comment regarding Thurmond:


"When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We’re proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over the years, either."

So there was an uproar that was a racist remark.

(2) Senator Byrd was a former member of the Ku Klux Klan. He is the longest serving Democratic senator. Having been in the senate, Byrd has voted against the famous 1964 Civil Rights Act, as a matter of fact, it was Byrd who conducted a 14-hour long filibuster to attmept to prevent its passage.

However, today Senator Byrd is considered the conscience of the Senate by fellow Democrats.

Let's see, a remark made at a birthday party, versus a member of the KKK and the man who attempted to defeat the 1964 Civil Rights Act by filibuster.

No the attacks on Obama for his off-hand remark are well deserved and should have been expected. I guess without the teleprompter when Obama had to think before he spoke he was just not up to the game. For far too long the Democrats have been given a free pass for the remarks, they apologize and all is forgotten. No more, they can expect the same treatment they give others.

We the People have a right to know what does the President have against the mentally challenged.

dmk