Special Olympics

Cosmo

Phool wrote:

..............thanks for the insight Cosmo...and who the hell is Francis

...
Okay, let's make some insights into your comical rage regarding this 'issue'...
First off, yes... this country IS in big trouble. There are several extremely difficult problems that need to be solved. The Economy, the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Foriegn relations with Middle Eastern nations and our European and NATO Allies. Difficult problems that require measured, flexible long range solutions for lasting positive outcomes. None of these problems cropped up in the past 60 days.
President Obama is acting on these problems. Granted, some of us understand the they cannot be solved in 60 days. People will not like the actions being taken, but instead of sitting in your living room, complaining about them... how about offering up some real solutions? How would you fix the massive, complex problem of AIG, alone? Let it fail and and risk taking down the entire Global Ecomomy? Do nothing? What?
Fixing these problems... not gonna be easy... it's gonna get ugly... and it AIN'T gonna be cheap.
Secondly, it was insensitive on his part... I grant you that. But, how much of it was made with malice or a slip of the tongue? I mean, seriously, there's a reason I prefer watching the NCAA Men's Tournament or the NBA Play-Offs over the basketball finals at the Special Olympics. I would have a fanatical sense watching the Special Olympics... only if I was either participating in the games at any level or have someone I know in the tournament. The level of play, as well as the final score, is substantially different... even though the enthusiasm of the competition and love of the game remains equal.
Regarding Michael Richards and Don Imus... from your rant, I can only presume that your level of outrage against them is equal to that of President Obama... am I wrong, here? Personally, I wasn't that outraged and thought that a lot of people completely over reacted, regarding those incidents. You may think I'm an insensitive jerk for not calling for Richards' and Imus' head on a skewer... I guess I'm just not as Politically Correct as you. So, sue me.
As for former President Bush, there were several comments... as well as decisions and ACTIONS that he made that drew anger and outrage from many people. When Obama invades and occupys Brazil because of the on-going calamity in Mexico... I will join you in my outrage. When, there are unattended dead bodies in the streets of an American city for 3 or 4 days under this Administration... I will be right there, spewing my venom against this President. Also, there were more than several reasons to believe Sarah Palin would have been inept as the second in command than bullshit election campaign propaganda... starting with her support of Senator McCain, 'suspending his campaign until this economic crisis was over'... when most of us knew that would mean suspending his campaign for about 4 or 5 years.
Finally, your comparison between the handicapped and Welfare Fraud is... well, kinda funny. How about fixing the Welfare system? There are hundreds of thousands of Americans living below the poverty line that can use your help. Have you ever been to ghettos or barrios in America? What jobs are out there for them to have? I will concede that there is fraud that goes on... just as insurance fraud goes on. It doesn't mean to scrap the Welfare or Insurance plans because of it, right?
...
The thing that gets me is this... because of this type of 'outrage', politicians are forced into being tele-prompted robots, reading from carefully crafted scripts, written and edited by politically driven spin doctors that must adhere to your Politically Correct sensitivities. Is that what our leaders are supposed to be? Spewing out scripts created by their handlers? Or do you want them to be human.. and make human errors?
You provided many reasons for outrage... how about taking on THOSE problems, instead of focusing your concerns on what you expect your leaders to say in order to appease you?
...
As for Francis... "My name is Francis... but, you can call me, 'Psycho'. Anyone who calls me 'Francis'... I'll KILL you. Anyone who touches any of my stuff... I'll KILL you".

Pats54

Phool wrote:

So if making fun of the handicap makes for a punchline when do you guys think it will be acceptable to make fun of the kids at the Bridge School which Pearl Jam has been such a big part of.

You people who think this is a gaf are sick and really should sit back and ask yourself what is right and wrong.

This country is in serious trouble, people are losing their jobs left and right and I don't think it is appropriate for the leader of the free world to be spending time chatting with talk show hosts or hanging out on the set of ESPN.

Second, those of you who want to blow this off as "oh, he made a mistake". Please! There are just some things that are considered taboo and I would consider making fun of the handicapped one of those things. Isn't that something we teach kids in kindergarten?

Third, the lack of outrage is astonishing to me! Michael Richards (Kramer from Seinfeld) made a racial slur "off the cuff" on some grainy cell phone camera in a second rate comedy club and he was ready to be tarred and feathered. Remember the Don Imus situation..... people wanted him pulled off the air ASAP! So let me get this straight, racial slurs not okay, compairing yourself being bad at a sport to the mentally handicapped is okay. Good, glad I got that straight (insert sarcasm here).

Also again, if Bush would have said something like this people would be calling for him to resign but since it was "the chosen one" I guess it is okay, he just made "a mistake". Sarah Palin actually has a mentally handicapped child and Obama's people were all over her and all over the media spreading a false rumor that she cut funding for Special Olympics. So I guess that's not okay either (insert sarcasm again).

The people that Obama made fun of are the people who really should be getting government assistance not the free loading, lazy pieces of garbage who choose not to work that sit around and suckle at the government tit.

Agreed. If this had been Newt Gingrich, John Boehner or Rush Limbaugh you would never hear the end of it. Rember when Limbaugh made the comment and was shown shaking, that was taken as an insult to people with Parkinson's at Michael J Fox. Limbaugh was hammered for that. I wonder if people on this board that are defending Barry thought this was funny. The left has always been prone to double standards. Then they use classic comments like "it was just a joke", "that was ot what he meant" or "Limbaugh is an idiot anyway". It is really laughable.

Maybe Obama should spend less time on his NCAA picks and more time trying to pick some people to appoint into the Treasury department. It is becoming laughable that he can't even find a deputy asst. treasury director.

blondieblue227

Jeanwah wrote:

he did do the right thing in IMMEDIATELY apologizing. He apologized before it aired to the director in charge, and invited some athletes from the S.O. to the White House bowling alley. So people see this as OK.

that's right.
i don't think Bush would've apologized at all. he never apologized for anything!

and actually my first thought after his comment was
negative attention is better than no attention at all. We must be on his mind. (yes i'm disabled myself)
He had just taken a question from a man with a disability earlier that day in LA
the comment got people talking about the disabled community.

and before i judged him, i consitered what Obama is trying do to for the disabled community. a lot more more than Bush!

JaneNY

Nobody's perfect, but I think Obama's batting average on getting things right is probably higher than his bowling score and higher than some other un-named government officials. I work with the disabled in some of my fitness classes. There are some great people in the classes I teach, and we have a lot of fun together. He shouldn't have said it, but he said he was sorry for the remark. He apologized and I'm sure won't make the mistake again. More than we've gotten in the past from most other politicians.

Motha Judson

Phool wrote:

So if making fun of the handicap makes for a punchline when do you guys think it will be acceptable to make fun of the kids at the Bridge School which Pearl Jam has been such a big part of.

You people who think this is a gaf are sick and really should sit back and ask yourself what is right and wrong.

This country is in serious trouble, people are losing their jobs left and right and I don't think it is appropriate for the leader of the free world to be spending time chatting with talk show hosts or hanging out on the set of ESPN.

Second, those of you who want to blow this off as "oh, he made a mistake". Please! There are just some things that are considered taboo and I would consider making fun of the handicapped one of those things. Isn't that something we teach kids in kindergarten?

Third, the lack of outrage is astonishing to me! Michael Richards (Kramer from Seinfeld) made a racial slur "off the cuff" on some grainy cell phone camera in a second rate comedy club and he was ready to be tarred and feathered. Remember the Don Imus situation..... people wanted him pulled off the air ASAP! So let me get this straight, racial slurs not okay, compairing yourself being bad at a sport to the mentally handicapped is okay. Good, glad I got that straight (insert sarcasm here).

Also again, if Bush would have said something like this people would be calling for him to resign but since it was "the chosen one" I guess it is okay, he just made "a mistake". Sarah Palin actually has a mentally handicapped child and Obama's people were all over her and all over the media spreading a false rumor that she cut funding for Special Olympics. So I guess that's not okay either (insert sarcasm again).

The people that Obama made fun of are the people who really should be getting government assistance not the free loading, lazy pieces of garbage who choose not to work that sit around and suckle at the government tit.

Well said...I agree completely

_

Although I can understand why people would be justifiably upset about a joke made at the expense of disabled people, I think such things should be judged in context.

1. It was an off-the-cuff joke in response to being made fun of for a low bowling score. He didn't put thought into it and then decide it was an appropriate thing to say. And he clearly realized that it was innappropriate and apologized. So does he truly believe whatever bad things about disabled people his joke supposedly expressed? I don't think so.

2. As has already been noted, he seems to be on the side of the disabled community. And actions are more important than words - especially silly attempts at a joke on a comedian's talk show.

3. He said, "I bowled a 129... it was like special olympics or something." Now I don't know anything about bowling - in general or in the special olympics. But is it possible that this was a factual, accurate statement? I mean, what's the average score for special olympics bowling? Maybe it's 129 - who knows.

so-much-clearer

Don't we have bigger things to worry about than Special Olympics jokes? :roll: It's not like he said "I'm a retard"

milarso

Phool wrote:

This country is in serious trouble, people are losing their jobs left and right and I don't think it is appropriate for the leader of the free world to be spending time chatting with talk show hosts or hanging out on the set of ESPN.

If you're going to make an argument, and want to be taken seriously, get your facts straight.
Obama was never "hanging out on the set of ESPN".

Nothingman54

Phool wrote:

So if making fun of the handicap makes for a punchline when do you guys think it will be acceptable to make fun of the kids at the Bridge School which Pearl Jam has been such a big part of.

You people who think this is a gaf are sick and really should sit back and ask yourself what is right and wrong.

This country is in serious trouble, people are losing their jobs left and right and I don't think it is appropriate for the leader of the free world to be spending time chatting with talk show hosts or hanging out on the set of ESPN.

Second, those of you who want to blow this off as "oh, he made a mistake". Please! There are just some things that are considered taboo and I would consider making fun of the handicapped one of those things. Isn't that something we teach kids in kindergarten?

Third, the lack of outrage is astonishing to me! Michael Richards (Kramer from Seinfeld) made a racial slur "off the cuff" on some grainy cell phone camera in a second rate comedy club and he was ready to be tarred and feathered. Remember the Don Imus situation..... people wanted him pulled off the air ASAP! So let me get this straight, racial slurs not okay, compairing yourself being bad at a sport to the mentally handicapped is okay. Good, glad I got that straight (insert sarcasm here).

Also again, if Bush would have said something like this people would be calling for him to resign but since it was "the chosen one" I guess it is okay, he just made "a mistake". Sarah Palin actually has a mentally handicapped child and Obama's people were all over her and all over the media spreading a false rumor that she cut funding for Special Olympics. So I guess that's not okay either (insert sarcasm again).

The people that Obama made fun of are the people who really should be getting government assistance not the free loading, lazy pieces of garbage who choose not to work that sit around and suckle at the government tit.

Now your a retard.

Anon

It was a low-class remark.

South of Seattle

The ESPN backlash is getting ridiculous too. I mean he picked basketball games, it took him about 5 minutes. Get over it.

decides2dream

Jeanwah wrote:

I have a daughter with Down syndrome and although I think Obama's classic foot-in-mouth comment was pretty bad, he did do the right thing in IMMEDIATELY apologizing. He apologized before it aired to the director in charge, and invited some athletes from the S.O. to the White House bowling alley. So people see this as OK.

I get pissed when I hear people making fun of disabled people. And even though he was making fun of himself, he was mocking those with challenges. Am I angry and will I try and find him to throw my shoe at him? No. Because living in this country means hearing this garbage every day. I can't let myself get so offended that I lose my faith in humanity and live angry all the time. So I spend my time educating the ignorant instead. Obama will be on my list.

exactly. that makes ALL the difference IMO, no matter who made the comments.

blackredyellow

Pats54 wrote:

Rember when Limbaugh made the comment and was shown shaking, that was taken as an insult to people with Parkinson's at Michael J Fox. Limbaugh was hammered for that. I wonder if people on this board that are defending Barry thought this was funny. The left has always been prone to double standards. Then they use classic comments like "it was just a joke", "that was ot what he meant" or "Limbaugh is an idiot anyway". It is really laughable.

Limbaugh's was a bit different... basically accusing a specific person with a debilitating illness of faking it for sympathy.


Obama said an idiotic thing that someone in his position shouldn't have made... he apologized for it... if people are truly offended by it, then that is there right. But the false-outrage is pretty humorous and pathetic at the same time.

I'm so tired of the manufactured outrage by people on both political sides of this country...


edit - I just noticed your username Pats54... I'm guessing that you are from the Boston area. You can't be at a bar or sporting event in Boston for more than 15 minutes without hearing someone call someone else a "retard"... How do you feel about that being used as and insult so regularly?

inmytree

I wonder, where are the anti-PC folks...you know, the ones who say the US has become too Politically Correct...

I figure those sort of folks would be defending Obama and telling everyone to get over the comment...hmmm...what a minute, those Anti-PC folks are usually republicans...

now there's your hypocrisy...

blondieblue227

Since I see the word Retard popping up in this chat I just want to say, I equate ‘retard’ to the word ‘nigger’.

Sign the R-word pledge: http://www.r-word.org/

“Our choice of language frames how we think about others.
It is time to respect and value people with intellectual disabilities.
It is time to accept and welcome us as your friends and neighbors.”

inmytree wrote:

I wonder, where are the anti-PC folks...you know, the ones who say the US has become too Politically Correct...

I figure those sort of folks would be defending Obama and telling everyone to get over the comment...hmmm...what a minute, those Anti-PC folks are usually republicans...

now there's your hypocrisy...

boo-yaaoo! good point.

Cosmo

inmytree wrote:

I wonder, where are the anti-PC folks...you know, the ones who say the US has become too Politically Correct...

I figure those sort of folks would be defending Obama and telling everyone to get over the comment...hmmm...what a minute, those Anti-PC folks are usually republicans...

now there's your hypocrisy...

...
I'm wondering the same thing... I thought all of this 'Politically Correct' bullshit was merely a Liberal thing. You know, crying about how, "Oooohhhh.. someone might get offended", crap.
Personally, I hate this Politically Correct shit. Let the people who ARE offended about this... say something about it. If someone says something that offends me... I'll be the one to tell them. I don't need some fucking shithead speaking up for me.
I'm surprized that some of the people here adhere to Political Correctness... then, again... I'm not surprized because of political partisanship.

blondieblue227

Cosmo wrote:

inmytree wrote:

Let the people who ARE offended about this... say something about it. If someone says something that offends me... I'll be the one to tell them. I don't need some fucking shithead speaking up for me.

right on cosmo!

that's why i posted the link (bottom pg1) of a disability chat board i'm on, so you abled-bodies can see how some of the disabled community feel. Straight up, no filters.

ask somebody how they feel. don't assume or listen to a third party about it.

Cosmo

blondieblue227 wrote:

Cosmo wrote:

inmytree wrote:

Let the people who ARE offended about this... say something about it. If someone says something that offends me... I'll be the one to tell them. I don't need some fucking shithead speaking up for me.

right on cosmo!

that's why i posted the link (bottom pg1) of a disability chat board i'm on, so you abled-bodies can see how some of the disabled community feel. Straight up, no filters.

ask somebody how they feel. don't assume or listen to a third party about it.

...
Thanx.
I'm old enough to remember when L.A. was changing the curbs at intersections so wheelchairs could have easier access. And when Restaurants and other public buildings had to allow for wheelchair access. It wasn't all that long ago.
And... there were complaints about the cost (in dollars) to the taxpayers and private business owners... how it was a waste of tax dollars and how small businesses wouldn't be able to afford it and go out of business or pass their costs to the consumers. And the uproar about handicapped parking spaces... it was ridiculous. The complaints were mainly that it was 'Liberal Bleeding Hearts' that wanted this this.
Well, i'm glad the 'Liberal Bleedig Hearts' wanted this becuase it is easier to ride my bike and skateboard to the taco joint, now.

blondieblue227

Cosmo wrote:

Well, i'm glad the 'Liberal Bleedig Hearts' wanted this becuase it is easier to ride my bike and skateboard to the taco joint, now.

lmao! love it!

whenever i'm advocating of course i mention how big the disabled community is. over 50mil. But i also say how whatever change i'm asking for benefits other people too. mom's with stollers.......
your skateboard! na i don't mention skateboards but you bring up a good point, by accepting/making changes a certain group it makes things better for all.

RW81233

This thread is kind of disheartening to read. Obama definitely needed to apologize for suggesting that his bowling was equal to the Special Olympics. That's not being Politically Correct, that's just being sensitive to others and realizing that you've made a mistake, then making strides to be a better person. That's called growing as a person, and not being a belligerant ass. Does politically correct mean that if it were correct Obama said something that was true? Does bowling poorly mean that you are somehow (dis)abled? Why wasn't it just that he was bad at bowling? Liberals defending this are embarrassing to liberal sensibilities.

Simultaneously, however, what a freaking joke to have those who have defended W., Rush, and Imus suddenly grow a heart and brain jump on Obama's case. In other words, conservatives also need to stop conveniently forgetting history so that they continue their political argument as well. Seriously you and that neo-con Coach K are mad at Obama for filling out a bracket at the White House? Really? Let's not forget that you are the same people who rose and rejoiced in W. throwing a strike at Yankee Stadium during the 2001 World Series a month after 9/11/01 in some sort of ridiculously contrived moment with flying bald eagles, fake flags from ground zero, and god bless america being sung. You are also the same people who weren't pissed that W. was sitting at the Little League World Series 10 days before 9/11/01, and you are also the same people who loved it when W. gave a stone face to Iran (part of the "Axis of Evil"), and told the U.S. national team "let's roll" right before the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.