Don’t Fall for Making a Big Deal of Obama’s ‘Special Olympics’ Comment
Posted on March 20, 2009
-By Warner Todd Huston
Today we will see the news all over the place that President Obama was making fun of the Special Olympics during his Tonight Show visit. I can only say to the center-right blogosphere, DON’T fall for it. It’s a complete non-issue. It’s meaningless. In fact, dwell on it and you risk acting exactly like how the unhinged, uncivil left-o-sphere does on any given issue.
As ABC’s Jake Tapper reports, Obama brought up the Special Olympics when discussing his bowling score.
Towards the end of his approximately 40-minute appearance, the president talked about how he’s gotten better at bowling and has been practicing in the White House bowling alley.
He bowled a 129, the president said.
“That’s very good, Mr. President,” Leno said sarcastically.
It’s “like the Special Olympics or something,” the president said.
The knee-jerk, PC reaction is to feign outrage and howl that Obama was somehow making fun of the mentally challenged that participate in the Special Olympics. In fact, the White House itself tried to head off any carping about the comment with a quickly issued press release.
“The president made an off-hand remark making fun of his own bowling that was in no way intended to disparage the Special Olympics,” White House deputy press secretary Bill Burton said. “He thinks the Special Olympics is a wonderful program that gives an opportunity for people with disabilities from around the world.”
Ignore this business, folks. It is a distraction that takes away from focus on the AIG bonus mess that is far, far more to our advantage.
Let’s face facts, here. There isn’t a soul in the world that imagines Obama was “making fun of retards,” or somehow putting down the people involved in the Special Olympics. You know as well as I do that Obama was saying HE was acting “challenged.” You’ve done it too, most likely. Comparing a stupid or unskilled action of your own to the Special Olympics is just a joke, people. Don’t make more of it than it is.
In fact, making this a big deal is an exercise in stupidity on its own. We all know what he meant and we ALSO all know he was NOT attacking the mentally challenged. But, if a Republican had said this, we also all know that the unhinged, unintelligent left would be wailing like banshees that said Republican was “attacking mentally challenged people.” We would all be rolling our eyes at such an attack, too. We’d all be saying how stupid the left was for making this a big deal. We’d all be saying that people need to chill out.
So, we should ignore this faux controversy.
There are plenty of more important issues to expend real outrage on. AIG, his latest “comprehensive” immigration ideas, the socialist road down which he is trying to take us, his anti-gun goals, all these things are for more consequential matters to get exercised over.
Obama made a silly, meaningless quip. Let’s not make more of it than it is because that is how the left acts, folks. They make a mountain of of a mole’s hill. We should act like the adults we are and not do that here.
It’s absolutely true that we won’t get any credit for doing this from the Old Media or the left. But we WILL get some from moderates and undecided voters and it is THEY that are important in this area. Not the left or the media.
EDIT to add this…
Folks, I get that politics is a mean business. Politics ain’t beanball, as the old saw goes. Yes, yeas, yes. But here is the thing. You may disagree, but I value my consistency more than I value a mean dig.
Remember at the tail end of Bush’s days when he needled that reporter for wearing sunglasses in the White House press room? Obviously Bush was a tad upset that a reporter didn’t respect the office of the president enough to remove the shades in presence of the president.
I fully sympathize with his obvious initial assumption that this press guy was being a jerk. After all, the way they treated him it was a good assumption to make that this guy was being a jerk. HOWEVER, it turned out the guy was legally blind and had a darn good reason to have the sunglasses on inside. Bush just didn’t know.
A bit uncomfortable, yes. But evidence that Bush hates blind people? Only an idiot or an unhinged leftist would say so. And guess what? The unhinged leftists went wild making the accusation that Bush hated the blind.
In my opinion, we hit Obama on this as if he hates all retarded people and we are not acting ANY different than the left. I despise the left and I don’t want to be accused of acting like them.
If you can’t take that reasoning as logical, then your hate has over come you.
» Filed Under Delusional Dupes and DUmmies, Democrats, Journalistic Malpractice, Liberal Media/Bias, Liberal World, News, liberalism
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15 Responses to “Don’t Fall for Making a Big Deal of Obama’s ‘Special Olympics’ Comment”
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Big Whoop,
Obama would no doubt abort and/or twist the arms of his daughters to abort any person born into this world with a handicap or disability, he is a Socialist and feels they are a burden on the Eutopian economic machine, just a useless drain on the country with little to no hope of creating tax dollars instead of taking them.
Why would he give a rats a** about telling a joke about them…..he doesn’t.
You’re not getting the bigger picture here Warner, I’m in agreement with Drider!
This is the socialist mindset about Infanticide/abortion and the forced euthanasia of the non-productive or handicapped elderly.
This is happening now! With abortion (late term or otherwise) on demand and the “Death with Dignity” laws being enacted as we speak.
This is a slippery slop that devalues human life and takes us closer to a hell on earth where there is no right to life for anyone.
And by the way, all the mole hill attacks on Conservative Republicans by the loony left didn’t seem to hurt them in the last two elections, now did it?
If you’re not going to fight your enemies on equal terms, you’re going to keep losing elections.
The pc approach didn’t do much for McCain! (ó¿ò)
Well, I know I am in the minority on this. All I am saying is that if this would have happened to Bush, we would have been rolling our eyes and saying the left is a bunch of idiots.
I am only being consistent. If I thought Obama WAS making fun of retarded people, I would pounce on him for it. I just don’t believe he was.
Was his comment indelicate? Yeah. Impolitic. Def. But did he mean to make fun of retards? I don’t see it.
Remember not long ago before Bush left office he was torked at a reporter for wearing sunglasses in the White House press room. Bush needled him for it. Turned out the guy was half blind. Now was Bush making fun of blind people??? No and anyone who said he was is an idiot.
I am being consistent. I was upset when lefties said Bush was making fun of blind people. I will not attack Obama for the same situation.
I agree about not getting sucked into minor issues, but it is worth pointing out that if Obama had his way there would be no Special Olympics, and I mean that literally: All disabled or even potentially disabled humans would be destroyed in the womb.
I don’t think it’s worth dwelling on.
I do think it’s worth pointing out how childish a sense of humor Obama has. Nancy Reagan, Jessica Simpson, Special Olympics. I’m sure I’m missing others.
The point is that he’s extraordinarily immature. I feel as if I’m watching some snotty, high-school basketball star styling while the economy goes up in flames.
I don’t have a problem pointing that out.
Or the always popular “fixing” that which is broken: Like the barrage of information given to me and not-so-subtle “suggestions” to take my Deaf children to University of Michigan for cochlear implants.
I hear you, though, on not stooping to their level. I agree that it is a distraction from the issues that matter. Cannot help but wonder, in any case, how long before it is revealed that Bammy’s latest gaffe is Bush’s fault….
PS: The left believes in consistency, also: Being consistently malicious and/or blatantly stupid.
I agree that the comment isn’t worth a major fuss. At the same time, I think it is ok to point out that the President of the United States doesn’t need to be saying things like that on a tv show. I get what your saying about the fact that we’ve all used some kind of comment like that to make fun of ourselves but he’s the president and he’s held to a different standard. Fair or not that’s the way it is. No, it’s not worth going crazy over but it was a cringe inducing remark that we can say was a bit insensitive. Then we need to drop it and move on.
Obama is going to say a lot of stupid crap in the next 4 years when he doesn’t have his teleprompter to think for him. These things are ripe for mockery but pretending to have leftist like tender sensibilities and being “offended” about everything is not going help except to maybe make some people feel better. If there is anything significant about this it’s that the “genius” anointed to lead us apparently still doesn’t realize he’s the President of the United States and can’t say anything that pops into his pointy head.
Also, if we want to make a big deal about anything we should start with what the hell Obama is doing on the Tonight Show anyway. Something tells me that just a few short months ago the President showing up on a talk show to talk about policy would have been seen by the Press as an attempt to bypass them and get his agenda out without being questioned. I’m guessing there would have been quite a bit of outrage from the media which would have been somewhat justified. In my opinion it’s not the bypassing of the media it’s that it isn’t dignified. It’s like Obama doesn’t think there is anything special about being President and he can just go on being a celebrity and basking in the adoration from his fans without worrying about upholding the dignity of the office (such as it is).
Warner the sheep has spoken!!!!, ignore the fraud obama, he can say anything and insult anybody!!! ALL HAIL THE ZERO!
You people that are defending this socialist fool are a disgrace. This isn’t about democrats vs republicans, this is about what is right, about the future of our country, and our children.
obama is a despicable, lying, corrupt puppet that is a danger to this great land. Wake up you fools before it is too late.
I am always glad for people like rainman… er I mean raivyn. We need people with the courage to stop letting everyone wonder if he’s an idiot. He opens his mouth and PROVES he’s an one.
I have no problem with THAT point, Neil. But that isn’t the point anyone is making.
I am going to multi-task on this one.
Stupid-fkng-thing to say FULL_STOP!!… & still focused on Thaddeus & Gary A. w/a little Megyn on the side, as we think things through here at the farm.
Warner, while I respect your opinion, I respectfully disagree.
If I was on a beach drinking a beer and Joe blow said something like this, Hey, no biggie!
This is the President of the United States of America, that has the legislative powers and whose policies can affect our laws, constitution and democracy, as we know it.
You get a real look into the mind of obama without his teleprompter doing the talking for him. (ò¿ó)
True true. I didn’t even notice it when I was watching the interview, and when I read about it in the news the next day, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.
But the video was the worst. Yahoo! had a clip from the ABC News, and a reporter asked a leading question to the head of the Special Olympics about the damage this caused, and he was all like “It just goes to show that words hurt” or some [edited] like that. Words hurt? He didn’t even say anything bad about the Special Olympics! His response was more akin to a response to someone killing a Special Olympiad, or posting a vicious video attacking it, or shadow boxing. Jeesh, it’s one thing to focus on really innane and inconciquential things that presidents do, but this is a new low for the media!
Plus, Timothy Shriver, the head of the Special Olympics, is sort of a douche, or at least super-sensitive.