Obama on Jay Leno: The Special Olympics gaffe

Did Obama blow it with a politically incorrect joke?

"So now we know why President Obama wanted to go on The Tonight Show," said Joe Garofoli in the San Francisco Chronicle. Jay Leno tossed one softball after another to Obama, and didn't ask a single tough question. (watch the video or read the transcript) Even when Obama made a "Bidenian gaffe," a joke about how his bowling skills were lousy enough for the Special Olympics, all Leno did was laugh.

Going on Leno to discuss White House policies "could have been a smart step" for Obama, said Ed Morrissey in Hot Air, but going on Leno to crack bad one-liners "hardly builds confidence in his leadership or his priorities." Making jokes about the disabled while the economy burns? Any more of this and "even the media will have to realize that Obama is in over his head."

Right-wing bloggers are such hypocrites, said Ron Chusid in Liberal Values. They're going crazy over Obama's Special Olympics quip—an attempt at self-deprecating humor for which the White House apologized before the show even aired—and saying nothing about the president's views on the economy. "With all their complaints about 'political correctness,'" right-wingers dwell "on this type of thing as they thrive on personal attacks as opposed to consideration of issues."