Obama's gift to the repugs - an actual gaffe to talk about instead of the issues

Obama Apologizes For Special Olympics Joke, Wants Athletes To Help Him Improve Bowling Score (VIDEO)

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama has apologized to the chairman of the Special Olympics for his late-night talk show quip equating his bowling skills to those of athletes with disabilities.

Appearing on "The Tonight Show" Thursday, the president told host Jay Leno he'd been practicing at the White House's bowling alley but wasn't happy with his score of 129. Then he remarked: "It was like the Special Olympics or something."

The audience laughed, but the White House quickly recognized the blunder. The Special Olympics is a non-profit organization dedicated to individuals with mental and physical disabilities.

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On his way back to Washington on Air Force One, Obama called the chairman of the Special Olympics, Tim Shriver, to say he was sorry -- even before the taped program aired late Thursday night.

"He expressed his disappointment and he apologized in a way that was very moving. He expressed that he did not intend to humiliate this population," Shriver said Friday on ABC's Good Morning America. "He, I think importantly, said he was ready to have some of our athletes over to the White House to bowl or to play basketball, or help him improve his score."

(Huffington Post)

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See the HP post for the video.

Now the slavish bush-defenders who already make the laughably insane contention that Obama is a bad public speaker (especially after the disasters that spewed from bush's mouth every time he spoke) finally have something to point to.

This was a terrible PR move and will overshadow every serious subject that Obama spoke about last night, which is terribly unfortunate. This is always a problem when someone gets too relaxed and thinks that they can talk to the public like talking to their buddies.

Of course, I'm sure that at least 90% of the country has made a similar bad taste joke at some point, but the president does need to be more careful. Obama has to remember that he can't let his guard down any longer.

But I sure hope that he never stops speaking to us like we're adults, though. I was so sick of bush's childish rants and his "in other words" explanations of kindergarten concepts.