Bookworm Room

Bookworm on Mar 20 2009 at 7:47 am | Filed under: Uncategorized

Jim Treacher discovered the missing outtakes.

UPDATE: Incidentally, we all make slips and this blog is no defender of the stultification of speech that results from hypersensitivity. As Thomas Lifson explains, Obama’s gaffe matters for a different reason:

Generally, I am inclined to cut a lot of slack for people who violate the canons of political correctness, and Obama certainly deserves this consideration. However, in light of the President’s dependence on scripts fed to him on a teleprompter, and his supposed oratorical genius, the slip reinforces the conclusion that he is propped up and handled, and on his own is much less impressive.

To which I’ll add, as I did in my original post on the subject, this was also simply a mean-spirited gaffe. For most emotionally developed people “retard” jokes stop at about age 16.

UPDATE II: Melissa Clouthier, who has a special needs child, blogs at length about the subtext in Obama’s comment. Incidentally, reading her post reminded me of a trip to the bowling alley with my kids and their cousin, who is also special needs. He did not bowl as the other children did, because his coordination is very different. He did, however, win, fair and square. Different coordination or not, he outbowled them left, right and center.

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