Final thoughts on Obama's gaffe

Rather than dump my thoughts via comments on other people's blogs, it's probably better that I contain them to my own blog.

I understand that Obama is human, that he puts his pants on one leg at a time and makes mistakes like all the rest of us. But the thing is, I hold him to a higher standard as far as these things go. He's just the last person - given his position - who should be making cheap shots at any minority group. I don't think he's a bad guy or a bad president. I just think that what he said was completely inappropriate and extremely offensive - and even more so because he is who he is. It's different - sort of - when words like that come from the mouths of "common," uneducated folks. You can always say, "Well, their attitudes are based in ignorance." But Barack Obama is an extremely educated, intelligent man, and the President of the freaking United States of America for god's sake. If he had said, "Oh, I was just feeling lazy like a Mexican," or "He jewed me down," people would be beyond horrified. In fact, there was a government official right here in California recently (I can't remember who or what position he held) who received a joke email about there not being an Easter egg hunt at the White House this year, but a watermelon hunt instead - a racist joke at the Obamas' expense. He forwarded the joke email to a few friends, and somehow it became public. That official was called on to resign, and in fact did resign, immediately (if my memory/knowledge of the situation serves me correctly). Obama's "gaffe" was on par with that, if you ask me. I'm not saying he should resign. I'm saying that he needs to step up to the plate, man up, and take personal responsibility for his remarks, acknowledge the insidious harm such attitudes promote, and vow to the American people that he will be proactive in raising awareness, acceptance and compassion for people with disabilities.

Period.