ÿþ<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>OnlineColumnist&reg;.com: Duke's Damage Control</title> <meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive 4"> <style type="text/css"> .style1 { font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; } </style> </head> <body bgcolor="white" vlink="black"> <center> <table cool width="624" height="2719" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" gridx="16" showgridx gridy="16" showgridy> <tr height="79"> <td width="116" height="118" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="110" width="62" src="images/discobolos.logo.transp.gif" border="0"></a></td> <td width="24" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="465" height="79" colspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="140"><img height="75" width="450" src="images/banner.GIF"></td> <td width="18" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="79"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="79"></td> </tr> <tr height="39"> <td width="182" height="39"></td> <td width="283" height="39" valign="top" align="left" xpos="322"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="14" width="267" src="images/divisionofNEW.GIF" border="0"></a></td> <td width="1" height="39"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="39"></td> </tr> <tr height="26"> <td width="624" height="26" colspan="6" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="black" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#99ffcc" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4"> <tr> <td align="center"> <div align="left"> <a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong>HOME</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> &#149; <a href="articlesindex.html">ARTICLES</a> &#149; <a href="books.html">BOOKS</a> &#149; <a href="teflon.html">THE </a><a href="teflon.html">TEFLON</a><a href="teflon.html"> REPORT</a> &#149; <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com">REACTIONS</a> &#149; <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">ABOUT DISCOBOLOS</a></strong></font></div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr height="1"> <td width="116" height="2574" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><img height="172" width="111" src="images/johninframe3.jpg"></td> <td width="489" height="1" colspan="3"></td> <td width="18" height="2574" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> <tr height="2573"> <td width="489" height="2573" colspan="3" align="left" xpos="116" content valign="top" csheight="2573"> <font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="5"><b> <br /> Obama&#39;s Leno Gaffe</b></font> <p><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b>by John M. Curtis<br> (310) 204-8700</b><br> </font></p> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><i>Copyright March 20, 2009<br> All Rights Reserved.</i></font></p> <p><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</span><span class="style1">M</span>aking an unprecedented appearance on the  Tonight Show with Jay Leno, President Barack Obama hoped to sell his political agenda.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>He spoke Feb. 24 to a national audience before a joint session of Congress, pushing his new bailout and economic recovery plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Speaking on Leno a first for a sitting president simulated a kind of  fireside chat, bypassing the rancor that continues to plague Washington. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</span> One of the things I m trying to break is a pattern in Washington where everybody s always looking for some else to blame, Barack told Leno, sidestepping his own controversy caused when he urged Republicans to stop listening to conservative radio talk show legend Rush Limbaugh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Barack s Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel followed up on Sunday morning talk shows insisting the 59-year-old conservative icon was the head of the Republican Party.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>On a two-day swing in the Southland, Barack hoped to garner support for his $3.55 trillion budget and political agenda.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>He pushed to overhaul the nation s health care system, promote the alternative energy industry, commit the U.S. to global warming and reform the nation s education system.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Leno raised the controversy <i>du jour</i> about Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner approving payouts of $165 million in retention bonuses to executives at American International Group, who received over $200 billion in bailout money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Obmaa had little to say about the arcane process by which AIG executives received their bonuses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>He had nothing to say about Sen. Finance Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) who apparently inserted the loophole in Barack s $870 billion bailout plan permitting AIG executives to receive $ 165 million in contractually promised bonuses.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Obama sailed along on Leno until he asked about his bowling game, something known to rate poorly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>  It s like the Special Olymptics or something, said Barack, trying but failing to make a self-deprecating remark.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Before the show was done taping Thursday at 6:00 p.m., Barack was already engaged in a massive mea culpa, apologizing profusely for offending anyone in the disability community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Dating back to 1969, the Speical Olymptics sought to boost self-esteem through sports for individuals afflicted with intellectual impairments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Limbaugh spent his entire three-hour show March 20 replaying Barack s gaffe on a continuous loops of tape.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Simultaneously, Rush played former GOP VP candidate Sarah Palin, an expected candidate in 2012, exciteed over the prospects of signing up her 10-month-old Down s Syndrome child for the Special Olympics in the distant future.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Since Barack s election Nov. 4, they ve looked for any chink in the popular Democrat s armor, making much ado out of his most recent <i>faux pas</i>. Barack made his first gaffe Nov. 6 at his first press conference when asked about consulting past presidents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>  I didn t want to get into a Nancy Reagan thing about, you know, doing séances. He promptly apologized to the former First Lady the following day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>His flip remark about the Special Olympics falls on the heels of Geithner approving bonuses for AIG executives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Democrats and Rublicans alike pounced on the gaffe, hoping to score some points on a popular president riding a 60% approval rating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> In so doing, he could help end the misrepresentation about the talents and abilities of people with intellectual disabilities . . . said Special Olympics spokeswoman Maria Shriver, the niece of President John F. Kennedy.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Obama s communication team went into urgent crisis mode.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> The president made an offhand remark making fun of his own bowling that was in no way intended to disparage the Special Olympics, said Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton, trying to undo the damage occurring fast and furious.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While Rush Limbaugh replayed Barack s gaffe for three consecutive hours Friday, U.S. Special Olympics Director Timothy Shriver threw in his two cents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Words hurt and words matter, said Shriver.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Words can cause pain and result in stereotypes that are unfair and damaging to people with intellectual disabilities. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>White House officials announced that Barack will host some basketball and bowling events with Special Olympics athletes at the White House.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>After offending Nancy Reagan Nov. 6, Barack got his second dose of the fury of making politically incorrect comments.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Barack s popularity stems from his uncanny ability to connect with a large cross section of the population.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Despite his slip up, he s already heroic with state and local officials receiving vast sums of cash from his $870 billion bailout plan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While his enemies would like to use his gaffe to impeach his credibility, he s been far too helpful<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>to exploit an honest mistake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>As he was told more than once at his recent town-hall meetings, the public appreciates how he relates and cares for the plight of average people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Republicans remain nonplused about what to do to erode Barack s high level of support from moderate Republicans and independents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> In Washington, It s a little like American Idol, Barack told Leno.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>  Except everybody is like Simon Cowell, the cranky curmudgeon judge on the show.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Before Obama loses his Teflon, he d be well-advised to get up-to-speed on political correctness. </p> <p><u><b>About the Author</b></u></p> <p><b>John M. Curtis</b> writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor OnlineColumnist.com and author of <a href="books.html">Dodging The Bullet</a> and <a href="books.html">Operation Charisma</a>.<br> </p> <p></p> </td> <td width="1" height="2573"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2573"></td> </tr> <tr height="1" cntrlrow> <td width="116" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="116" height="1"></td> <td width="24" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="24" height="1"></td> <td width="182" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="182" height="1"></td> <td width="283" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="283" height="1"></td> <td width="18" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="18" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="597"> <tr> <td><font size="1" face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica"> <hr noshade size="1"> </font><a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong>Home</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> || <a href="articlesindex.html">Articles</a> || <a href="books.html">Books</a> || <a href="teflon.html">The Teflon Report</a> || <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com">Reactions</a> || <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">About Discobolos</a></strong></font> <div align="left"> <p><font size="1" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">This site designed, developed and hosted by the experts at</font><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"> <a href="http://www.cmeonline.net" target="_blank"><img height="30" width="138" src="images/cmelogoANIM.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"></a></font></p> </div> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">&copy;1999-2002 <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.</a><br> (310) 204-8300<br> All Rights Reserved. </font></td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>