President Obama's Gutterball.

Can't believe this smart man said this. Below from the Seatle Times and they are right... he blew it. I am disappointed in him. Only time will tell if he can make this one right.

Damn, President Obama, you blew it.

Thanks for your apology, but it is not enough. It should be only a start.

By now, everyone has heard what happened. Obama was chatting with Tonight Show host Jay Leno who asked how his bowling game was. President Obama said he got a score of 129 and his bad bowling "was like the Special Olympics or something."

Apparently, at least somebody on his staff had enough sensitivity to recognize this was a stupid thing to say, so the President called Timothy Shriver, chairman of the Special Olympics to apologize. Great. He wants some Special Olympics athletes to go to the White House. Fine.
Better idea. Go to the Special Olympics and award medals to athletes. Do a promotion for this great organization founded and supported by members of the Kennedy family, your stalwart political patrons.

Help break down the stereotype that you so casually perpetuated in front of the nation. These athletes and others like them -- people with developmental disabilities - will have a hard enough life without the president of the United States, the leader of the free world making fun of them on the Tonight Show.

Shriver was gracious in his statement if also firm that such stereotypes are damaging:
“Words hurt and words matter. Words can cause pain and result in stereotypes that are unfair and damaging to people with intellectual disabilities. And using 'Special Olympics' in a negative or derogatory context can be a humiliating put-down to people with special needs.

The most startling thing on that video is that everybody laughed -- President Obama, Jay Leno, the studio audience. Two generations ago, you could maybe see the same thing happening if somebody made fun of African Americans, Catholics, Jews, or Native Americans.

But that wouldn't happen today.

People with disabilities remain an easy target.

Hard to imagine that President Obama needs to have his sensitivity raised about stereotypes, but merely having a pizza party at the White House bowling alley with Special Olympics athletes is not enough to make amends. Better he get more involved in the movement -- as he suggested to Shriver that he might.