President Obama did something that no sitting president before him has done ever before this week…he appeared on a late night talk show! Whoopee! Not sure how much that little trip cost us the taxpayers but I’m betting the President is regretting that appearance not because of the waste of our tax dollars but because of his big faux paux.
Although he managed to navigate the serious issues surrounding the economy pretty well with his usual steady handed poise and eloquence, he fumbled when he left the script and talked about his bowling highlights, or shall we say, lowlights. Apparently, President Obama has been working on his bowling game and recently broke 120 for the first time! Yes, he really is that bad at a game that most less than average athletes are good at.
Well, his score or lack thereof was not really the problem. The faux paux in question was his ad lib remark about how his game was akin to “the Special Olympics or something”. Now, up to that point in the interview, most were notably tuned out during the same old hum drum political conversation, but that comment got everyone’s attention, for sure.
It appears that the only memorable comment of the night that is getting promulgated and dissected throughout every media outlet is his comment on his bowling score. Everyone from Maria Shriver on the left to Sarah Palin on the right from every end of the political spectrum is lambasting the President for the supposedly offensive comment.
Now, I think no reasonably compassionate person would disagree that the offhand remark was callous and insensitive, but I’m disappointed that people so quickly call it outrageous and offensive. Abrasive? Yes. Outrageous? No. I don’t think so. And here’s why.
As a professional communicator as a pastor and teacher, I know very well the relentless pressure and expectation placed upon every word that I utter either in the pulpit or out of it. I understand the weight of my words and the implications for good or bad. And, knowing this, I carefully consider what I say and how I say it, especially when I am being watched and listened to.
However, I also know that if I purposed to avoid ever saying anything possibly controversial or potentially insensitive, then I would either probably be a monotonous bore or I just wouldn’t say anything at all. Even the most compassionate people say things in cursory conversations that can be callous or abrasive, depending on the context and the listener. I know of no one single person in the public eye who never errs in his or her communication at all.
Now, I think we should have enormous expectations upon our President to carefully consider his words and expressions whether on the record or off, but I also think we should have the grace to permit him to err and still believe the best.
Now, I admittedly am not a big fan of President Obama the person or politician, but I do think we are holding him to a ridiculous standard if he cannot joke about even his own bowling skills without suffering the wrath of the masses. We really should be grateful that he even has a sense of humor and is willing to use it as many before him didn’t even try. Our politically correct system usually keeps its politicians in line but also keeps them in expressionless boredom, in the doldrums of ho-humness.
Now, I don’t want to live in a world where people can’t find the humor in anything anymore because no one looks for it. This is the world we’re creating today in pc America because we take everything far too seriously.
Now, that being said. I don’t think anyone can seriously think that President Obama was mocking the Special Olympics in his comment. Nor do reasonable people believe that his seeming slight was an intentional jab at the physically challenged. That doesn’t even register in the context of everything we already know about him. It is plainly obvious that he was not taking a shot at the abilities of Special Olympics athletes…he was taking a shot in jest at himself!
So, in light of this much ado about nothing, let’s all just take a deep breath and remember that we are far too uptight and need to relax. We need to lighten up and laugh a little, even if that means taking a risk that someone might choose to be offended by something we say. Let’s just pretend for a moment that we are gracious enough to be able to forbear with one another by choosing to believe the best in each other. Even a cynic like me wants to live in a world like that!
