Merged Obama on Leno

[theprestige]

Hell, if you even just kept track of all the **** I said in these forums you could probably build a pretty convincing case that I was an insensitive jackass.

Still, he's president, I don't see why we can't hold him to utterly irrational standards that no human could live up to.

So you're saying it's humanly impossible to avoid making disparaging remarks about the Special Olympics, while chatting with Jay Leno?

I guess all those people who've sat down for an interview with Leno, or Carson, or Letterman, or Stewart, and managed to get through it without offending anybody, must be superheroes or demigods! Right?

I heard Emma Watson was on Letterman once, and she ended up not saying a single mean thing about anyone. Maybe she should be president!

 

[applecorped]

I heard Emma Watson was on Letterman once, and she ended up not saying a single mean thing about anyone. Maybe she should be president!

Seconded!!!!

 

[Tsukasa Buddha]

So you're saying it's humanly impossible to avoid making disparaging remarks about the Special Olympics, while chatting with Jay Leno?

I guess all those people who've sat down for an interview with Leno, or Carson, or Letterman, or Stewart, and managed to get through it without offending anybody, must be superheroes or demigods! Right?

I heard Emma Watson was on Letterman once, and she ended up not saying a single mean thing about anyone. Maybe she should be president!

Are you building a strawman, or just missing the point?

 

[theprestige]

Are you building a strawman, or just missing the point?

I'd say I'm arguing that the point is ludicrous on its face.

A great many people from all walks of life are demonstrably able to get through a TV talk show interview without offending anyone--let alone making disparaging remarks about disabled people in general or Special Olympians in particular. So it's not at all unreasonable to hold Barack Obama to such a standard, nor is it impossible for a human being to live up to such a standard.

The point GreyICE is making is itself the strawman.

I find the whole thing mildly amusing and annoying. Of all the half-hour stretches during the past week, the middle of a live interview with Jay Leno is when Obama lets his guard down? And when he lets his guard down, he busts out with a negative stereotype about the Special Olympics? And then all his supporters fall all over themselves downplaying how offensive and inconsiderate such remarks are? Please. What's next? He'll give a bunch of Region 1-encoded DVDs to a British man with bad eyesight? Appoint a bunch of tax cheats to high offices in his administration?

 

[Dr Adequate]

Sheesh.

That is all.

 

[Darth Rotor]

Sheesh.

That is all.

Freudian slip, at worst. I am sure he'll in due course issue an apology for being unintentionally offensive in these days of "we all take offense at the drop of a hat" gotcha media obsession.

Still, it demonstrated a certain lack of awareness of his being on the national stage. Let's say Leno made him feel comfortable to be himself.

Too comfortable.

Lesson for Pres Obama: you can't be yourself, except in private and at Camp David. You are president. You are 'on' at all times.

That, sir, comes with the badge.

In the longer view: BFD, he said something somewhat offensive.

DR

 

[Gord_in_Toronto]

Sounded like the sort of thing a Canadian would say.

 

[Dr Adequate]

Freudian slip, at worst. I am sure he'll in due course issue an apology for being unintentionally offensive in these days of "we all take offense at the drop of a hat" gotcha media obsession.

Still, it demonstrated a certain lack of awareness of his being on the national stage. Let's say Leno made him feel comfortable to be himself.

Too comfortable.

Lesson for Pres Obama: you can't be yourself, except in private and at Camp David. You are president. You are 'on' at all times.

That, sir, comes with the badge.

In the longer view: BFD, he said something somewhat offensive.

DR

Actually, my "sheesh" was intended the other way.

C'mon ... Obama makes fun of himself, but with the dastardly implication that physically handicapped people might be as bad at bowling as he is?

I believe that worse things have happened.

Sheesh.

I should declare an interest: I'm even worse at bowling than Obama. Oh, I'm accurate enough ... but the way that the ball takes half an hour to get from my hand to the pins remains a source of embarrassment to me.

 

[Polaris]

Why is this an issue? Who gives a ****?

It's not like Special Olympians can put together a protest anyway.

 

[Sword_Of_Truth]

Obama's gaffe about the special olympics

Much as I admire him that was a total schoolboy effort.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/5020442/Barack-Obama-makes-special-Olympics-gaffe-on-Jay-Lenos-The-Tonight-Show.html

thoughts?

I don't support Obama or his policies at all, yet I believe the controversy over his remarks to be a lot of wasted airtime, bandwidth and oxygen.

This is much ado about something very slightly greater than nothing.

 

[Cicero]

What a pathetic world the PC Police have wrought. Ever since the word "special" has prefixed "education," "needs," "Olympics," "kids," etc, anything less than a reverent attitude to these phrases is considered heresy. Why has society willingly surrendered to this sort of bullying by....special interest groups?

Kudos to President Obama for being human on a comedy show. No wonder sitting Presidents have never appeared in this venue until now. There are just too many groups just waiting to be offended at the drop of a hat.

 

[Sword_Of_Truth]

the special olympic committee guy was on, and he was not amused. He said Obama had called him prior to it going out and apologised.

Sounds to me like whatever wrongdoing was done, was properly addressed and rectified in a very timely manner.

Can we now go back to discussing how Obama is wrecking the economy, cutting off Americas energy supplies, shredding the constitution, abandoning eastern europe to the "New" Soviet Empire, empowering terrorists and throwing national security out the window?

 

[Cicero]

Sounds to me like whatever wrongdoing was done, was properly addressed and rectified in a very timely manner.

Can we now go back to discussing how Obama is wrecking the economy, cutting off Americas energy supplies, shredding the constitution, abandoning eastern europe to the "New" Soviet Empire, empowering terrorists and throwing national security out the window?

Ugh! That's the same dopey slogan the dolt Naomi Wolf used on Bush.

 

[Sword_Of_Truth]

Ugh! That's the same dopey slogan the dolt Naomi Wolf used on Bush.

I doubt that Adolf Eichmann could have written a bill less constitutionally sound than the punitive AIG executive bonus tax bill (ok... admittedly, Obama had little to do with that, but he didn't seem interested in stopping it either).

 

[Sword_Of_Truth]

If left-wing blggers are also whining about Obama's remarks, then in my opinion they are also wrong. Please feel free to quote them.

This is actually one thing you and I agree on. Anyone who is whining about Obamas mostly innocuous "joke" needs to let it go (this includes you, Governor Palin).

 

[JihadJane]

Can we now go back to discussing how Obama is wrecking the economy, cutting off Americas energy supplies, shredding the constitution, abandoning eastern europe to the "New" Soviet Empire, empowering terrorists and throwing national security out the window?

No.

I think you want the Conspiracy Theories forum. This is Politics.

And, of course, there are never any conspiracies in politics.

 

[Dr Adequate]

And, of course, there are never any conspiracies in politics.

There are, of course, conspiracies in politics. However, if you wish to agree with Sword_Of_Truth that "Obama is wrecking the economy, cutting off Americas energy supplies, shredding the constitution, abandoning eastern europe to the "New" Soviet Empire, empowering terrorists and throwing national security out the window" then this is probably the wrong thread.

 

[Sword_Of_Truth]

And, of course, there are never any conspiracies in politics.

False dichotomy.

Failure to sign on to your flatulent fantasies regarding 9/11 does not mean we don't think there is hinky stuff of any kind going on behind closed doors.

 

[GreyICE]

I'd say I'm arguing that the point is ludicrous on its face.

A great many people from all walks of life are demonstrably able to get through a TV talk show interview without offending anyone--let alone making disparaging remarks about disabled people in general or Special Olympians in particular. So it's not at all unreasonable to hold Barack Obama to such a standard, nor is it impossible for a human being to live up to such a standard.

The point GreyICE is making is itself the strawman.

I find the whole thing mildly amusing and annoying. Of all the half-hour stretches during the past week, the middle of a live interview with Jay Leno is when Obama lets his guard down? And when he lets his guard down, he busts out with a negative stereotype about the Special Olympics? And then all his supporters fall all over themselves downplaying how offensive and inconsiderate such remarks are? Please. What's next? He'll give a bunch of Region 1-encoded DVDs to a British man with bad eyesight? Appoint a bunch of tax cheats to high offices in his administration?

I get the impression you don't like me because you're wrong a lot and I point it out. True/false?

 

[Cain]

I'm not a big fan of the office, or the current office holder, but somewhere I was indoctrinated with this idea that the president should be this commanding figure who is above doing talk shows, commenting on popular culture. While I'm sure Obama could be a lot of fun to have over as a dinner guest, he's not especially well-suited for this format.

Who can forget this gem:

LAUER: And here’s a great picture —

OBAMA: Oh, it’s beautiful.

LAUER: — of — of you and — and Michelle and — and your daughters. Now, the — the reason I bring this up I think is funny. It’s a great picture.

OBAMA: Yeah.

LAUER: But I wanna show you the cover. Look what they did. They — they took you off the cover.

OBAMA: Yeah.

LAUER: They took you out of it.

OBAMA: It — it’s — it’s a little hurtful.

LAUER: You got replaced by Jessica Simpson.

OBAMA: Yeah, who’s losing a weight battle apparently.