Kennedy-esque Criticism of The One
In response to Barack Obama’s latest gaffe on The Tonight Show, Maria Kennedy Shriver showed precisely why the Kennedy clan found candidate Obama so inspiring: He slings the same kind of condescending, insulting, do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do crap that the Kennedy’s have engaged in for generations. Consider:
Maria Shriver says the reaction to Obama’s joke shows there is still more work to do. She says laughing at such comments “hurts millions of people throughout the world.”
Nowhere in Ms. Shriver’s statement does she criticize President Obama for making the utterly insensitive remarks. Rather, she has the audacity to direct her outrage solely at the crowd for laughing at President Obama’s insult. Two points are worth noting in response:
First, it’s funny how this situation mirrors the “Kabuki” theater surrounding the AIG bonuses. As we all know, but so few are publicly stating, Congress gave AIG the money knowing these bonuses could be paid. Then, Congress had the audacity to spend taxpayer time and money feigning outrage and criticizing the fact AIG actually exercised its authority to make those payments. Just like the Tonight Show gaffe, the AIG bonus debacle lies at the hands of our “fearless leader.” Yet ardent supporters of President Obama are deflecting attention to others.
The only difference is that, with AIG the payouts President Obama expected to be paid were paid, but with The Tonight Show the payout he expected (i.e., laughs) really never materialized.
That raises the second problem with Ms. Shriver’s statement. Has Ms. Shriver even seen the video? The laughs are for Jay Leno making fun of President Obama’s 129–not for President Obama’s insult of special needs kids. In fact, the video goes silent pretty damn quick after President Obama makes the comment.
In short, Ms. Shriver fails to go after the right culprit, but more significantly, she goes after an innocent group. Make no mistake, marginalizing and insulting these special needs kids is not funny, but the only one laughing is President Obama. Care to revise your statement, Ms. Shriver?
