Special Olympics

44 went to California the other day to attend some town meetings that were being staged to help him promote his response to the recession and to pushing his budget proposals. He also found time to appear on the Tonight School with Jay Leno, something he (and other candidates) had done during the campaign. Mr. Leno provided a friendly forum for 44 to discuss his life in the White House and touch on a few topics of interest, like his work to restore calm to the financial markets. The audience was raucously pro-44 from the get-go, paralleling his rock star status seen during the last year. 44 worked without his familiar teleprompter and things seemed to be going well for him. Mr. Leno was a gracious host and didn't ask the kind of tough question one might hear on Face the Nation or Meet the Press, nor was anyone expecting him too.
When the topic turned to life in the White House and 44's love for basketball, Mr. Leno asked if the White House bowling alley might be sacrificed to put in a basketball court. 44 then offered the news that he had been practicing and bowled a 129, "sort of like Special Olympics or something." Mr. Leno laughed, the audience laughed and the conversation went elsewhere.
There was not the hush that occurs when a speaker commits a verbal sin, and in the case of the unrestrained public, a loud scolding voice from an outraged listener. Imagine, if you will, the kind of response had the guest been 43 and he had referred to his successor as a "colored man." Bear in mind that the term "people of color" is perfectly acceptable to audiences where there is a high proportion of leftward leaning listeners. However by substituting a prepositional phrase for an adjective, the first rendition becomes hate language at worst, a sign of unspeakable offensiveness at best.
One can only guess at the kind of reaction taking place backstage, where 44's staff was no doubt watching on a monitor. They are not employed by 44 to be unmindful of errors and one has to believe they were looking for a way to edit out 44's last remark. If there was any attempt to strong arm the Tonight Show staff into removing the Special Olympics reference, it hasn't been made public. Neither 44 nor Leno seemed to think it worthy of corrective action during the show. However, as recounted by the New York Times, during the return trip to Washington on Air Force One, calls were made. The Times' story appeared on page A10 of the March 20 edition and editorial comments were noticeable by their absence.
Nothing more is likely to happen now that apologies to the Kennedy family (the patron saints of the Special Olympics). After all, if Senator Ted can survive the plunge of his car into the waters of Martha's Vineyard from the Chappaquidick Bridge in 1969, leaving Mary Jo Kopechne to drown and go on to receive a Knighthood of the British Empire, what difficulty is there in forgiving 44 for mocking the abilities of the disabled? It was the kind of WASP country club humor that powerful men share when they think they are alone and unobserved by the prying eyes of community watchdogs. The same watchdogs who would grab onto any verbal miscue by a member of the ruling class and shake like a dead rat until it fell apart in their mouths. 44 had merely to order one of his minions to issue the apology and the matter lay as silent as a mummified Egyptian prince.
On one hand it is refreshing to see 44 show that he is, after all, just a human being. On the other, the outrage of the defenders of the public trust has been revealed again to be relative to the political orientation of the speaker, producing a double standard for conduct that is disturbing.