Obama's Slip On Jay Leno Show

and My Aphasia

by Phil Staudt
blog.philstaudt.org
March 21, 2009

After my stroke it took me many months to learn how to talk again. I had never heard of aphasia, much less understood it. But I have been able to pick up on it with people who I would have previously thought were "under the influence" or mentally challenged. I have asked people up front if they have aphasia, and they get so relieved that somebody understands. I was fortunate to have minimal damage from having a stroke, and I have been able to overcome my aphasia enough for most people to not notice it unless they have known me a long time. Now when I see people on television or anywhere making fun of people who have speech problems, I look at it in a different light.

It is common for people on television and in public to mimic speech problems in order to poke fun of people, and hardly ever does anybody criticize that. It does not bother me, and I am not sensitive about it, but knowing that many people have aphasia from strokes or head injuries that they have to deal with for the rest of their lives, I hope that more people will refrain from mimicking speech difficulties, or making fun of any disabilities, to get a laugh.

Obama is taking some heat for his comment on Jay Leno's show that was disrespectful to some people who have to live with special challenges. Obama is a young man, and I hope he uses his slipped words and turns them into an opportunity to get through to people about the importance of not being in the habit of saying things in a small group of friends that one would not say in front of a crowd, and hope to not slip and say those things in public. Most of us will never have to worry about what we say on Jay Leno's show. But if everything you said was recorded and scrutinized, what would you be accused of saying?

I'll bet that Obama has used that line about Special Olympics while playing basketball as a way to poke fun of himself, with no ill intent, and has never thought about himself as being mean or discriminatory. I don't think he is against people with special needs. But by being in the habit of saying words or phrases that do not harm anyone while being in the presence of friends who are not going to be affected by it can be a bad habit that comes back to bite later.

by Phil Staudt
blog.philstaudt.org
March 21, 2009

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-obama-special-olympics21-2009mar21,0,7433169.story
LOS ANGELES TIMES March 21, 2009 By Stacy St. Clair and John McCormick
"Not bowled over by Obama's Special Olympics joke"
Despite the president's apology, athletes and others say they are disappointed with his remark on Jay Leno's show...told her that Obama had made a joke about the Special Olympics on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" on Thursday and that it might have hurt a lot of people...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7956469.stm
BBC NEWS Saturday, 21 March 2009
"Papers poke fun at Obama's gaffe"
US President Barack Obama's first major public gaffe since taking office has been seized upon by the papers...The Sun says the blunder should be taken as a sign to Gordon Brown to avoid appearing on chat shows...
http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics/story/1098630.html
KANSASCITY.COM Mar. 20, 2009 By DAVE HELLING The Kansas City Star
"On TV, but off-script, Obama blunders"
President Barack Obama has learned the anchorman’s axiom: Unscripted television can bite. Appearing Thursday on “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” — the first time a sitting president...
http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1160031
BOSTONHERALD.COM March 20, 2009 By Marie Szaniszlo
"President’s joke strikes blow to disabled"
President Obama’s bid for a cheap laugh on national TV, when he mocked his “Special Olympics” bowling skills, has turned into a gutter ball...
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/03/21/2522430.htm?section=world
ABC NEWS Mar 21, 2009 By Washington correspondent Mark Simkin
The US President Barack Obama has apologised to disabled people for joking about the Special Olympics on a television chat show. Barack Obama became the first sitting US President to appear on a late-night talk show when he spoke to Jay Leno...