Forecasting Damage Control After Obama on Leno. GAFF

Originally posted by haika
I don't understand why people are suddenly soooo sensitive about stuff.
I watched the interview. I heard the Special Olympics bit and, I laughed my ass off.

Everything is too PC nowadays. People, lighten up.

I wonder if you would feel the same way had Rush Limbaugh made the same comment Oby made?

(can you say "hypocrite")

It's not the remark, it was pretty tame.
It's the indignation that either one side or the other takes.
I guess these days a lot of people wait for the media spin, then decide how upset they are.

There are really only two ways you can get away with non-PC behavior.
1. The media gives you a pass.
2. You're a member of the group of which you poke fun.

Makes me wonder what important story is going to be covered up by all the attention that this one gets. Nothing the Pres does is by accident. At the very least, this is designed to make him look like he’s not ‘all PC’ to the redneck right. The fact that it happened on Leno tells you what audience was being targeted. Of course just the fact that he was appearing on Leno tells us a lot as well.

Originally posted by resistor
Makes me wonder what important story is going to be covered up by all the attention that this one gets.

There ya' go! Obama is out doing Leno for spin control. It's obvious that he's in over his head and doesn't know what the hell he's doing. His appointments are crooks and tax evaders. He's spending us out of existence. He stole the census from the Commerce Dept. He's obviously tired and haggard. etc etc

So Obama gets in front of the camera with Leno to bamboozle people. He's rather have people shouting 'yes we can' then have them see what he's doing in DC.

I watched Leno and I was quite surprised by the comment - especially coming from the President. I think this is the kind of joke that one might hear at a bar from an average American. I have no doubt the politically correct crowd will be a bit perturbed, but since most of them voted for Obama I have a feeling we wont be hearing much except from the Republicans with retarded family members.

I have to hand it to Obama though - his comment was hilarious. Also, I doubt many retards watch Jay Leno or would even understand the joke in the first place, so the only people offended are people who don't like to hear the truth.

I bet there are physically disabled people all over America who watched this and then shouted at their TV:

"[snip] I don't bowl like no 'n-word'!"




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[edit on 20-3-2009 by 12m8keall2c]

Originally posted by verylowfrequencyl
I have to hand it to Obama though - his comment was hilarious. Also, I doubt many retards watch Jay Leno or would even understand the joke in the first place, so the only people offended are people who don't like to hear the truth.

I am absolutely disgusted by this comment.

Believe it or not most people with (mental) disabilities ARE NOT stupid and are very much aware when they are being persecuted so thats not an excuse to pick on them. The word retard is also just as offensive to someone with a disability as the n-word is to black people.

..and I think obama should be ashamed of himself. Too PC am I? There are MANY posters here that have varying levels of disabilities. The special olympics are continually used to insult "normal" people and for your own president to do it says alot about your perfectionist culture. It basically says that anyone who's got a disability should be ashamed of their very existence (even if they do train bloody hard and win a race).

funny stuff.

[edit on 20-3-2009 by riley]

What do you expect? This is the same guy who used a suicide bomber analogy to describe AIG and the financial industry just a day before.

But why not insult a few handicapped kids if it'll keep the pressure off on more problematic fronts? He needed to manufacture a distraction from his administration's role in this bailout mess. Guess what? He just did it.

Originally posted by Diplomat
This jackass Obama spent precious time on Tuesday making his predictions for the irrelevant NCAA basketball tournament, now he's admitting that he's wasting his time in the White House BOWLING???

I'm sorry but recreation is not wasted time... it's called exercise.

Why do you think there is a bowling alley to begin with?

Come off it...

Originally posted by vor78
What do you expect? This is the same guy who used a suicide bomber analogy to describe AIG and the financial industry just a day before.

But why not insult a few handicapped kids if it'll keep the pressure off on more problematic fronts? He needed to manufacture a distraction from his administration's role in this bailout mess. Guess what? He just did it.

He wasn't insulting kids...

He simply implied he was playing with a huge handicap.

Isn't that the term we use in sports? Handicap? And what do a bunch of folks labeled as handicap playing sports make? The Special Olympics.

Where is the insult? He insulted himself by stating that he, playing bowling, looks like the Special Olympics....

What does the Special Olympics look like?
It looks like people who are struggling to do what most people would take for granted.

Did you see him bowl during the campaign? Looked like the Special Olympics to me too...

I just don't see the problem here... can we not say Special Olympics? Can we not say that when I bowl, that I look like the Special Olympics? Especially if my highest bowling score is 129?

Come on now! How else should he compare his struggle to perform a sport?

This all seems rather much ado about nothing if you ask me.

reply to post by HunkaHunka


Agreed. He probably even has eight entire hours of sleep, when he should be off fixing the country!! What a waster!

reply to post by HunkaHunka


How else to compare it to a sport? Maybe he should call himself the Detroit Lions of Bowling. Whatever. Why was it an insult? He was quite clearly making fun of his own skills as a bowler and when he dragged the Special Olympics into it, he made fun of them by extension. Its really not that hard to figure out.

And BTW, riddle me this: if it wasn't an insult, why did Obama's team IMMEDIATELY apologize for it???

[edit on 20-3-2009 by vor78]

The word retard is also just as offensive to someone with a disability as the n-word is to black people.

I have a close relative with down syndrome, and still found the comment funny.

By the way, the word retard derived from mental retardation. Guess where mental retardation came from?

The term "mental retardation" is a diagnostic term designed to capture and standardize a group of disconnected categories of mental functioning such as "idiot", "imbecile", and "moron" derived from early IQ tests, which acquired pejorative connotations in popular discourse over time. The term "mental retardation" has itself now acquired some pejorative and shameful connotations over the last few decades due to the use of "retarded" as an insult. This may in turn have contributed to its replacement with expressions such as "mentally challenged" or "intellectual disability".

So I guess being called a retard is better than being called an idiot, imbecile, or moron. Let me ask you, what would you prefer them to be called? Special needs maybe? How about mentally handicapped? There is nothing that you could call someone with below average intelligence that would not have a negative connotation before too long. Sure, you could start calling them cotton candy, but it wouldn't be long before that became negative. Unfortunately its intrinsic here.

Yes, they do need to be classified, as many times they need extra help from the government or other agencies. I think of them as people no matter their intelligence, or what they are called. Sure they may not be as smart as me, but they're still people, I try and treat them the same as any other person when possible. Guess what, that includes joking around with them.

I had a good friend I used to play basketball with and he was the caretaker for a paraplegic. He also had some mental issues, and could not talk, and was not as smart as your average person. But he used to bring him a long to play basketball, put him up on his chair up on the stage so he could watch. We used to joke around with him and he loved it. There were times when the ball would go flying off for various reasons, and it would always freak us out if it looked like it was going to bust him in the head or something, but then it would just come close and go by him...he would get this huge smile on his face, he loved it. He did have a sense of humor.

No need to start treating them like less than any other person and suddenly it's not ok to joke about them. They are people just like the rest of us who enjoy a good laugh.

reply to post by vor78


I don't see it as derogatory to anyone but him.

It's like saying I play like a bunch of kindergartners...

I still don't see a problem with it...

He is saying "When you watch me play, it's like watching someone who has to struggle to get a basic score"

Sounds like the Special Olympics to me... And I'm a supporter of Special Olympics!

Sometimes it's worse to "take" offense than it is to "give" it.

Originally posted by Diplomat
This jackass Obama spent precious time on Tuesday making his predictions for the irrelevant NCAA basketball tournament, now he's admitting that he's wasting his time in the White House BOWLING???

Should we deprive him of sleep as well? Hell, he shouldn't have a single minute to himself. HE'S THE PRESIDENT. 24/7 and all that.

For people getting all bent out of shape over this story, consider that the Special Olympics aren't just for mentally challenged individuals. It also for those with physical handicaps. Amputees, etc. One could say that he was being self depricating. Saying he bowls poorly because he's handicapped.

reply to post by HunkaHunka


Well, that's fine if you don't see it as offensive. That said, some people do and in his position, he needs to be respectful of the opinions of everyone.

Originally posted by vor78
reply to post by HunkaHunka

 

Well, that's fine if you don't see it as offensive. That said, some people do and in his position, he needs to be respectful of the opinions of everyone.

That is impossible my friend.

Simply impossible.

Every time he opens his mouth some are going to cheer, and others jeer. This is such a case, where I cheered, and you jeered.



[edit on 20-3-2009 by HunkaHunka]

reply to post by vor78

That said, some people do and in his position, he needs to be respectful of the opinions of everyone.

That is not even possible most of the time. There are too many different people with too many different opinoins. Someone is likely to be offended often.

Besides that, how is making a joke, about his own bowling skills, being disrespectful of anyone? There's about a billion comedians I suggest you don't watch anytime soon.

reply to post by HunkaHunka


To a point that's true. But he can avoid situations where he's singling out groups in a manner that's unnecessary as he did in this instance.

reply to post by Pimpish


Are those same billion comedians in positions where they represent the people of the United States?

Didn't think so.