will the real barack obama please stand up

i am not ashamed to admit that i love having barack obama as my president. he’s proven himself to be leader that is at the same time articulate and colloquial, politic and humble. he’s even got a sense of humor. and i’ve always been drawn to that humor – until last night.

as you’ve probably heard, obama spent last evening talking policy and yuking it up with jay leno. topics ranged from the economy to the presidential dog – all pretty innocuous. then they started talking about sports and that’s when the president likened his bowling score to that of a person who participates in the special olympics. this exchanged turned out to be such a big deal that it has dominated the coverage of his appearance.

i find this to be REALLY troubling. just so there’s no confusion – the “this” is obama’s instantaneous response to make fun of people with disabilities. it’s so not a joke and it’s so not cool. i think that you can tell a lot about a person based on their gut reactions to a situation. it’s an uncensored, unprepared, and “unspun” response – it’s what’s going through their head and not what someone else has told them to say or what they think someone wants to hear.

now, i’m real clear that obama is just a man and bound to make mistakes (i say things that i regret on a daily basis), but i want consistency. if we truly are living in a post-racial, post-gender, post-sexual orientation … society then that society needs to include people with disabilities and the understanding that, as a valued member of your society, they can no longer be the punch line.

and, it’s not just obama. it’s leno and the audience that laughed, and the media, and even the special olympics, that have seemingly given him a pass. but i guess it’s not all that surprising – the media are still in their honeymoon phase and the kennedy’s run the special olympics.

some of the pundits said that the tonight show appearance will be the first and last for a sitting president because there are just too many opportunities for gaffes like the special olympics quip. that’s too bad. we need to see the relaxed, spontaneous, and, dare i say, real side of our leaders.

**the poster above is from a special olympics-headed new campaign to stop the use of the r-word. it's called "spread the word to stop the word." the effort is targeted towards teens (but don't we all know more than a few adults that would benefit) and launches on march 31. check it out at - www.r-word.org