What a Retarded Thing to Say

When I saw the Obama line about his bowling being bad, getting a 129 'like Special Olympics,' I did a double take.

Did he really just say that?

I'm guilty of making 'little bus' jokes about myself when I do something dumb. A friend of mine, one who was more offended by Obama's comment than I was, tells me I have a pass: my autistic daughter who rides the short bus in real life.

I'm not sure about that; I suppose its the same logic that makes 'nigger' offensive if Michael Richards (K-K-Kramer) says it, but somehow innocuous or even humorous if used by Eddie Murphy or Spike Lee. I tend to see such distinctions as racist: if the only reason I can't say 'nigga pleeze' is because I'm white, we are far from being color blind, aren't we?



I used the truly offensive term 'retarded' in my headline here for illustrative purposes. It's a term, like 'nigger' that just doesn't belong in civilized dialogue.

Far from that offensive, what Obama said was at the very least insensitive, a product of obvious ignorance. Here's a link to an actual Special Olympics bowler, a character named Tim Maloney who has Down Syndrome and rolls a 165 average. Not quite Big Lebowski league material, but better than me or the President.



Special Olympics is a place where you see real sportsmanship. Unlike Presidential politics, it brings out the best in people.

Mo hasn't been as involved in it as she might be. We had her run track one year, but she didn't want to run on cue or in the direction of the race. She wanted to run over to the sand pits for the long jump and play by herself. That's autism for you.



She did a little better with bowling, except she prefers gutter balls, even does a little dance once the ball finally gets in that track where it, apparently, belongs. And the bowling alley is a noisy place she doesn't seem to like much. You might notice in these pics, she tries to keep her ears plugged even as she throws the ball. Not an easy thing to clamp one ear to your shoulder, stick your thumb in the other, and hurl a bowling ball.

Might try it again, she's matured quite a bit since last time we tried.

I'm sure Obama, slick as he is, will salvage this, probably make Special Olympics a pet charity in the future or something.