Open Mouth, Insert Foot

!Update! It's on like Donkey Kong! Special Olympian challenges Obama to bowling match.  

American political commentators make me want to stick a fork in my eye.  Seriously.

It's old news by now that Obama made a stupid crack on Jay Leno's show, comparing his unspectacular bowling score of 129 to something like the Special Olympics, the athletic competition for people with intellectual disabilities.

Open mouth, insert foot.

Obama has apologized and his press corps is mopping up the mess, but now we have to spend at least a week analyzing the fact that the man said something really stupid that the average person might have said when kidding around with a few friends.  

Is it offensive?  Yes.  I don't think there's any way around that.  It doesn't matter how much Obama apologizes or says he didn't mean to cause offense.  We all know exactly what he meant. There is no way to change the meaning of what was said. He made a comparison of himself to people who have limited abilities.  The joke only works by making fun of the object of the comparison...people with limited abilities.

Obama seems to have had a hard time preventing the utterance of stupid things from his lips, and it's probably one of the traits I find most irritating in him.  Whether it's calling a reporter "Sweetie" or referencing people clinging to guns and religion, the man lets his biases show in these little slip-ups.

All that to say.....Obama is not off the hook.  For someone who was supposed to be inclusive and socially adept, he is surely proving otherwise.  People care about the ways in which they are spoken of and treated.  Too many of these gaffes and Obama's crown will definitely become tarnished and dented.

On the other hand, watching the commentators skewer him and hearing Republicans criticize him for being on Leno or making basketball picks is ironic, indeed.  If I recall correctly the shoe used to be on the other foot when George W. was playing golf or on vacation.  Early on, his critics seems to imply that he had no work ethic because he would spend time at his ranch.

I guess the Republicans feel turn-about is fair play.

In the end, it's all very silly and inane.  Implying that Obama is preoccupied with basketball to the neglect of his presidential duties, or that making an appearance on Leno means he doesn't care about the country is reaching for any dart to aim in his general direction.

How long does it take to write a basketball team's name on a white board?  5 minutes?

How much time does it take to do the Leno show?  A couple of hours?

Republicans need to get their heads out of....well....I'll use the words "  the clouds"...so as not to offend. They are making the party more irrelevant each day.  If they want to criticize Obama, they need to do it with something of substance.  They need to stop being so petty and find constructive ways to criticize his policies and find solutions.

Where are all the "normal" people in politics?  People who don't jump to conclusions? People who aren't sidetracked by Party witch hunts?  People who care more about actually serving the people than staying in office?

Does such a politician even exist?

I caught some of the presidential address last night.

I can't help it, but when I listen to Obama his choice of words frequently seems condescending or patronizing. 

He kept referring to "his" Secretary of the Treasury.  I thought the Secretary of the Treasury was "our" Secretary.

When speaking about bi-partisanship, or the lack of it surrounding the current stimulus bill, he said,"I can't afford to see congress play the usual political games...", instead of "we" can't afford it.

When justifying his stimulus bill he said, "I think what I've said is what other economists have said..."  Other economists?  Is Obama an economist now?

When referring to the economic crisis he repeatedly pointed the finger at Republicans, who definitely are responsible for some bad decisions, but are surely not the only people who had their hands in the cookie jar.

The economic crisis is an American crisis, not a partisan crisis; yet over and over Obama kept lambasting the past administration as a "failure", being sure to make little digs here and there.

The worst example to use for the stimulus package:

Part of the problem in Elkhart that I heard about today was the fact that -- this is the R.V. [recreational vehicle] capital of America. You've got a bunch of R.V. companies that have customers who want to purchase R.V.s, but even though their credit is good, they can't get the loan.

Oh no! Retirees can't buy their giant-size RV's! They don't have the money to buy their behemoth cruisers.  Shouldn't that be a good thing? Wouldn't that help Obamam's energy policy? 

Joking aside, bemoaning the inability of people to buy what most would consider a luxury item seems like double talk.  We are in a mess because credit was extended to people who couldn't afford it.  Now, banks have changed their policies and are being more careful with their credit policies, because they can't afford to lose any more money.  And yet, in the midst of recognizing what a mess this has created, it seems like the message is "loosen those credit markets up", "consumers need to have money to spend and consume products with".

That's part of the problem with the current state of our economy...it's based on consumption and not production.  It's based on trying to keep the status quo, rather than letting the market sort itself out.

It bugs me.  Maybe it's nitpicking, but it bugs me.

***Update*** Ed Rollins says it well.

What Now?

Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are

The money quote is at 2:06...had me laughing out loud.

Watch 'til the end to get the funniest parts.

HT: http://bobhyatt.typepad.com/bobblog/

Election Day

Thank God it's almost over!

After dropping the kids off at school, I went to my polling place and voted. When I arrived, there were about 200 people standing in a line that wrapped around the building and ended about 100 feet from the entrance.  I know it was 100 feet because there were people handing out campaign materials near the end of the line.  I intended to confront them about it, because it is usually illegal to campaign at the polling place, but just as I was about to say something one of the campaigners warned another one to stay behind a certain point. The police had told them they could legally go no further than 100 feet from the building.  

The mood of the voters was quiet and introspective.  Very few conversations were taking place. People seemed generally patient, not complaining about the wait. Very serious.

Up until this morning I wasn't sure who I was going to vote for in the presidential election.  I had gone back and forth numerous times on Obama and McCain, both of whom have positions I love and hate, both of whom somewhat annoy me. Even as I stood in my little red, white and blue voting booth made of plastic dividers, I hesitated before marking my ballot.  I voted for everything else on the ballot and saved the presidential vote for one last consideration.

After taking a deep breath, and hoping I wouldn't eventually regret my decision, I voted for Barak Obama.

It was a difficult choice for me, most importantly, because I am pro-life. I don't like Obama's position on abortion.  I don't agree with it.  I would love to have a more pro-life candidate win.

John McCain is definitely more pro-life than Obama, so I could have voted for him on that issue.

Why didn't I?

McCain lost my vote for a few reasons.  He lost my vote by trying to make Bush's tax cuts permanent.  He lost my vote by resorting to extremely negative attacks on Obama, rather than telling me what exactly he's going to do for America.  He lost my vote because I refuse to choose him out of fear of a terrorist attack.  Fear-mongering is not a tool by which I wish to be motivated.

Ultimately, tossing aside my fears was the only way I could stomach voting for Obama.  I had to censor out the hype about how absolutely disastrous it would be if one candidate won over the other. That tactic is tired and played out.  Could bad things happen to the US because of whom we elect?  Yes, but that cuts both ways.  I can just as easily see McCain getting us into an unneeded war with Iran as I can see Obama being perceived as weak by terrorists.  Which is worse for the US?  

So, in the end, I cast my first vote for a Democratic president.  I have occasionally voted Democrat in local elections, but usually go Republican.

Here's hoping I won't regret the next four years if Obama wins.

On the upside...if Obama is truly awful as a president, maybe we'll get some great Republicans running in 2012.