ObamaMakeABooBoo

It's a rare occasion that I watch Jay Leno. I've always been a Letterman guy. Now don't get me wrong. When Jay was just doing stand-up and was an edgy, angry young comic, I laughed as hard at some of his stuff as I have at any other comic I've ever seen. He did a bit once (oddly enough, on Letterman) about trolls and circuses and spores and bridges and, well, you had to be there, I guess. But as a talk show guy... not so much. Bland, sold-out, annoying - you know the usual complaints. Now, in an effort to up his ratings before the handover to Conan (and who gives that great idea more than a week to live?), he booked this President Obama guy. And I watched. Hey, I like to see a potential disaster live as much as the next guy.

So, the conversation is going along okay. Keeping it kinda light - AIG, economy, Depression Mark II etc. And then Jay makes a simple aside about the White House bowling alley and if it's still standing, since Obama acquitted himself SOOO well in the campaign with that brilliant bowling photo op... And Obama, who's still campaigning (because THEY NEVER STOP!!!), tries for the regular guy vote by saying he's upped his high score to 129. Which is great, if, you know, you're like in 4th grade and get your clothes from the portly boys department, but still.

You may know, there's a reason that politician's humor is always written for them. And even then, they're usually horrible at delivering it. Obama's a little better than the average, but he's still no Shecky Greene. So, the other night, when the Prez boasts of his non Earl Anthony like prowess, Jay, whose humor has devolved from edgy and cutting to just snarky comes over all condescending and says "Hey, that's, uhm, very good". There, there. Very good little Bobby... And Barrack says, as near as I could hear it, "Great. This is like Special Olympics incentive". But "incentive" gets buried by the audience's laughter, because Obama doesn't have the comedic timing to know where to put the beat in for Jay's joke to get laughs. So, what all the rest of the world hears is Special Olympics - because, no matter how many times the clip is shown, they're too lazy to pay attention beyond the supposed spot of the foul. And the world expodes in canned, pre-ordained disdain, as they've been programmed to do by the media over the years. Obama said Special Olympics!!!!! Give me a freakin' break.

I've seen characters on tv shows - this MONTH - referred to as "special needs". When I was a kid, terms like retard and vegetable and short bus were commonly used for people who would participate in Special Olympics. Cruel? Yes. Necessary? No. Unkind? Certainly. Do people still use these terms? You mean, other than frat boys and their grown-up counterparts, Wall St. traitors? Well, probably not. At least not in public. But that does nothing to stop the pre-planned outrage machine from kicking into gear and acting like Obama started singing "Look at us, we're walking..."

I know, I know. Most of these charitable organizations have a lot of time on their hands. The economy is down. Donations are too. So if you can drum up some sympathy cash - despite the fact that what you CONSTANTLY say publicly is that your membership does not want pity - by playing up a public slight - THAT NEVER HAPPENED - then, you're gonna unleash the hounds. Immediately afterward, the national SO chairman "condemned" the "comment". Wasn't a comment Bubba. It was an adjective for the word incentive - listen again. Then my state's SO chairman issued his condemnation, as, I assume, did the chairman in every state of the union and Guam. I don't know about you, but, contrary to their planned outcome, I just wrote Special Olympics off my potential donations list (you know, when I get a job and have some money to spare...). I refuse to support an organization that capitalizes on someone's misfortunate comedic abilities. Especially an organization that exists to capitalize on someone's, uhm, misfortune.

Is it any wonder why this country is at the bottom in almost everything in the world, save mock indignation — and embezzlement?