Add another item to the department of "imagine if George Bush or
Dick Cheney had done it." Obama's joke last night that his
bowling skills were "like Special Olympics or something" has
generated some publicity, but not much outrage.
One of the most egregious examples of burying the lead was in the
New York Times
story headlined, "Seeking Everyman, Obama Does Leno," which
waited until the second to last paragraph to inform us:
He had one impolitic moment when trying to make a
self-deprecating joke about his bowling score of 129, saying,
"That was like the Special Olympics or something." But mostly
he stayed benign and folksy even while discussing the need to
undo bonuses, fix banks and regulate credit card rates.
On CNN.com, the
headline was "Obama mixes politics, comedy on 'Tonight
Show,'" and it included this account:
Obama also remarked on his poor bowling skills, which were
evident during a campaign stop in Pennsylvania. He told Leno
that he bowled 129 in the White House bowling alley and said
his bowling skills are "like Special Olympics or something."
Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton said the president's remarks
were not meant to poke fun of the Special Olympics.
"The president made an offhand remark making fun of his own
bowling that was in no way intended to disparage the Special
Olympics," Burton said. "He thinks that the Special Olympics
are a wonderful program that gives an opportunity to shine to
people with disabilities from around the world."
These are just two examples, but the general idea is that the
media takes it as a given that President Obama is a nice, earnest
liberal who would never want to intentionally offend anybody, let
alone those with disabilities. Yet when it comes to Republicans
or conservatives, such incidents are used to demonstrate how
insensitive they are. Another factor is that all of the
professional outrage organizations that the media anoints as
arbitors of whether or not something is offensive happen to be
run by liberals. And in this case, it
doesn't hurt that the chairman of the Special Olympics is Ted
Kennedy's nephew.
