Obama is either a sleaze or a fool

The buzz today has been about the possibility that Obama made a blow-job joke when speaking to a Gay-Lesbian gathering.  Actually, that’s incorrect.  It’s not a possibility that he might have made a blow-job joke.  He did in fact make such a joke.  The question is whether he meant to.

Obama’s apologists (one of whom you heard at the end of the video) say he was completely blind-sided by the joke, which appeared in a prepared speech.  Others, less forgiving (that would include me) say that Obama knew perfectly well what he was doing, as you can judge by the smirk and the long pauses for laughter, along with the “closer” line (“That’s what I heard.”).

No matter which side is right, the little episode reflects badly on Obama.  If he was blind-sided, we can conclude one of two things (or perhaps both of two things):  (a) he’s too lazy even to read the speeches he’s given; and/or (b) he’s such a disconnected nincompoop, who failed to recognize a double entendre so obvious even a middle schooler or an old lady would catch it.

Alternatively, if Obama wasn’t blind-sided and, instead, knew perfectly well what he was doing, that was just an incredibly sleazy thing for a President to do.  We’ve had presidents who were sleazy (JFK) or crude (LBJ) in private, but I don’t know that we’ve ever had a president who went to a public, video-taped appearance and then made a lesbian sex joke about his wife.

Anyway, here’s the videotape.  I’m very interested in your take on the matter:

I want to thank my wonderful friend [Ellen DeGeneres] who accepts a little bit of teasing about Michelle beating her in pushups – (laughter) – but I think she claims Michelle didn’t go all the way down. (Laughter.) That’s what I heard. (Laughter) The . . . ah. (Laughter). So . . . the . . . ah. (Laughter.) I just want to set the record straight – Michelle outdoes me in pushups as well. (Laughter.) So she shouldn’t feel bad. She’s an extraordinary talent and she’s just a dear, dear friend – Ellen DeGeneres. Give Ellen a big round of applause.