Despite a decent and reasonable sounding interview throughout much of the set, Obama shoved his foot deep in his mouth near the end.
Commenting on his bowling in the White House bowling alley, he criticized himself using and tired and insulting cliche:
It's "like the Special Olympics or something," the president said.Charming. Classy. Funny.
I know the arguments in his defense; it was just a joke, one of those throw-away lines that everybody uses, etc. That's just the point.
Jokes like this may be just a slang phrase, a meaningless vernacular to some, but to many others (including your correspondent), it is real life. Using phrases like this show a certain level of insensitivity towards people with special needs.
He didn't mean to be insulting, but the fact that he doesn't find using these terms derogatory indicates that not offending developmentally delayed kids as sacrosanct as protecting other groups of people.
Using phrases like this should be as unacceptable as telling a Jewish joke or dropping the "N-word." That's the problem; for Obama, risking insult to special needs kids is not as important to him as it should be.
He's supposed to be the President of the United States. Can't we expect better than Special Olympics jokes?
