A whole country of little girls: We live in a bad age. President Obama is prostrating himself after comparing his bowling to the Special Olympics, and everybody is jumping on him for it, including so-called conservatives like Sarah Palin who is supposed to be so tough she wrestles bears in her free time.
I get to weigh in here--as if I needed a reason--because I have a close family member who is special needs. It was a joke, people. Lighten up, bitches. I'm sick of living in a time when a person gets scolded for every tiny little thing, and then he follows up with a tearful apology and probably some huge financial commitment to a special interest.
Are gun owners mentally ill?
Some anti-gun people think owning a gun is a sign of some kind of mental abnormality. According to General Social Survey data, gun owners ...
Agreed, this is an example of how the religious impulse -- in this case, confession and contrition -- imposes itself in the allegedly secular arena of politics. I'm sick of public figures abasing themselves everytime they accidentally allow a little humor to slip into their otherwise interminable sermons.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand -- and particularly in the case of Obama -- one could argue that he who lives by the sword . . . .
One who lives by PC will indeed suffer from PC. Everyone I know who voted for Obama did so either from incorrect facts (e.g. thinking that Obama opposed the Patriot Act) or by the very simple process of counting political incorrectnesses. They were mad that the Clinton's campaign ads featured white children sleeping in bed, etc., or the McCain's ads said ... whatever it was that they twisted into being racist.
ReplyDeleteIt would have been far more interesting if Obama hadn't apologized, but instead had said something like, "I have nothing against retarded people, but what I said was not really insulting. Those who want to express offense at such things can continue to exercise their free expression all they want."
It's going to remain a thought experiment, of course, because politicians never talk that way. But what an interesting thought experiment! The next phase would be another public figure citing Obama after making a gaffe. "The President has opened a new age of straight talk!"
How dare you belittle little girls like that?!
ReplyDeleteI think a country of little girls would adorable. Except I don't know who would be in charge of food production. Or national security.
ReplyDeleteOn second thought, I think this is a terrible idea. I hereby withdraw my support for this Country of Little Girls platform plank. I shall henceforth cling to traditional ideas of the nuclear family due to small-mindedness and rampant conservatism.
BORAT Obama
ReplyDeleteThese days we get upset over anything -- except the things that matter.
ReplyDeleteIt would have been far more interesting if Obama hadn't apologized, but instead had said something like, "I have nothing against retarded people, but what I said was not really insulting. Those who want to express offense at such things can continue to exercise their free expression all they want."
ReplyDeleteThat's the Obama we wish we had, and that some may have fantasized we were getting. The real Obama seems to be a much less interesting guy, though to be fair he's still struggling with his inexperience and may yet surprise us.