President Obama on ‘Tonight Show’

11 Comments

1. “racist inbred whiteys “
   Let’s all just contemplate this term for a few minutes, realize how ridiculous this conversation is getting, and then get back to talking about Obama’s appearance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno

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2. i agree latination. these racist inbred whiteys will never get it! bush and palin are a lot worst. obama is a minority liberal so he can’t offend anyone. no he can’t!

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3. Dude, you need to first learn to read my post. I said we weren’t in the Great Depression, I didn’t deny we were in a great recession.

   And if you want to compare the Great Depression to now then just check out this fact: in 1929 our GDP fell 8.6 percent. You know how much it fell in 2008? 0.2 percent. Buddy, you better read some stats before you criticize.

   Latination, you’re another one of those non-critical thinkers who’s passion blinds them to what politicians are really doing. Trying to reason with you is like trying to talk sense to a jackass.

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4. Lay off the meth Crystal. Much worse has come out of Bush’s mouth when he gargled in the morning. Looks like another case of shoot the message board, doesn’t it? This is only a comment section, but your inbred redneck bias makes you want to blast the newspaper for it. Go back to your dark little dungeon and spew your trash. Brian’s looking for a pale woman.

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5. Please had this come out of Bush’s or Sarah Palin’s mouth this message board would have been covered in messages about how he or she is an insensitive redneck. Then there would have been a protest on campus, then an editorial in the 49er etc etc.
   But because he’s the golden child, this whole campus and the media will underplay what he said. It’s sad.
   Also Brian you have a good point, he’s been doing this since last year. His whole platform is convincing Americans that life is terrible (the whole “bitter” comment, the economy, etc) and that he is the only person who can save us.
   religious leaders and dictators have been doing this for centuries. wake up america.

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6. While it was a disappointing comment about the Special Olympics, I truly believe it was a slip he’d like to take back. Look at his predecessor’s expansive oratory and feel lucky we have a president who can learn from his mistakes, or even learn AT ALL. I think that 59 days into office, Obama is extremely far ahead of the learning curve of Bush.

   In the meantime, the Special Olympics will enjoy massive positive media from Obama’s poor choice. Hopefully, a Special Olympian will get to have a bowl-off with the president that will receive the type of public relations coverage you can’t buy.

   As a side note to “a logical explanation,” you are no less insulting or marginalizing with your presumed “retarded” vilification and referring to a “different ability” as “handicaps” and “small victories.” A “handicap” is something offered on a golf course. If you look into the faces of these athletes, one could hardly see anything resembling a SMALL VICTORY.

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7. Brian C. We are in the greatest recession SINCE the Great Depression. That’s not an Obama fear tactic, but a reality of history. He is trying to stop us from surpassing the 30-plus percent unemployment and Wall St. 90 percent drop BEFORE we have a tie with the big crash. The only way we’re getting played is when Republican’ts keep manufacturing the bull crap they created to get us where we are now. You’re in college; read a book!

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8. people who have to endure these handicaps are no different than gays or minorities because they are marginalized for conditions/characteristics beyond their control. i doubt this would slide had he made an off-color remark that seems sexist or homophobic. obama made a demeaning comment and should have chosen his words more carefully before saying them.

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9. I agree that people are blowing the special olympics gaffe out of proportion, Ben, however, the “special olympics comment” is insulting because he is implying that only someone who is “retarded” could bowl a 129 game. All of the athletes who perform in special olympic games train hard and, despite their handicaps, perform at competitive levels. His comment demeans the training that “special athletes” put into something like bowling that a person who may not have a handicap could do without as much effort.

   Additionally, by making this comment, Obama suggests that the Special Olympics is nothing more than a punch line because, unlike “real athletes,” what these olympians do is trivial. Considering the WNBA has experienced similar trivialization, I wonder what the response from the media would have been, had Obama made a jab at their organization.

   As someone who has worked with the disabled, I have seen the impact even small victories like the special olympics can have on a person’s self-image and life. And, as someone who believed that Obama was a person who was above petty insults, he showed a different, less change-oriented, side to the world.

   Maybe none of this is logical to you Ben, but, to the many people who work hard to compete at the special olympics, having one of the most powerful people in the world compare his bad game to the hard work of a “special” athlete is insulting.

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10. First this guy makes everybody afraid of an economic meltdown of Depression-size proportions just so he can get his spending bill passed. (never mind that the depression saw Wall Street’s profits fall by 90 percent – we’re nowhere near that. Also never mind that unemployment was at 30-plus percent during the Depression, something we’re nowhere near)

    Now he wants to talk about hope. Now he wants to talk about how our economy is going to surge again. (of course it took worried investors like China, who were worrying due to Obama’s fear tactics, to publicly voice fears about their investments in the American economy)

    Please. People, can’t you see that you’re getting played like you did with Bush and Iraq? If you’re not going to learn from that fiasco there’s no way you’ll ever learn. Sad.

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11. I thought it was a giant relief to see him on television not behind a podium saying, “look, this is the deepest recession since the great depression, and we need to act quickly” etc. etc. I thought it was nice to see him call for solutions instead of fingerpointing and to talk about the economic crisis in a down-to-earth way, and to acknowledge the ridiculousness of the fact that the actions that got us into the economic situation we find ourselves in was perfectly legal.

    I hate to even bring this aspect up, because it seems to be what everyone is clinging to, but I would really like someone to EXPLAIN to me how, logically, the special olympics comment was insulting.

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