Obama on Jay Leno 3/19/09

You can read what I thought about this little presidential lowering of the bar of dignity in the post a few down from last night titled "Tonight Obama Lowers The Presidency Down Another Notch"

One thing I will say is I don;t recall any of these people extending president Bush a practically commercial free half hour to explain the present crisis at hand in such a friendly environment with no pushback whatsoever.

So in my opinion Leno is lucky his show is winding down, because its just another Obama propaganda organ for the white house after this appearance, and I considered everything Obama said in the same light I look at every other self serving egomaniac that comes through those shows, in one ear and out the other.

Meanwhile you can watch it here if you happened to miss it last night

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- Times Online:>"It was billed as the first time a sitting President of the United States had ever appeared as a guest on a late night talk show.

And after Barack Obama’s appearance on last night’s edition of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, there’s also a good chance that it was the last.

Granted, the President - as always - was charming. Granted, he lit-up the studio with that Hollywood-grade smile. And yes, he explained the AIG crisis in clear, measured terms, and wisely backed away from a Congressional attempt to impose a punitive 90 per cent tax on unpopular bankers. (“I think that the best way to handle this is to make sure that you’ve closed the door before the horse gets out of the barn,” he said, calmly. “And what happened here was that the money had already gone out, and people are scrambling to try to find ways to get back [at the recipients.”) All in all, ‘Oboe One’ reminded severed million Americans, especially those who had crossed over from the other side, why they voted for him.

And then... he made a joke about the Special Olympics."

It just seemed to pop out of nowhere. One minute the President was being all warm and self-deprecating. The next he was making fun of the disabled.

Not even Mr Obama’s second-in-command, the apocalyptically hapless Joe Biden, could have snatched such a resounding defeat from the jaws of such a guaranteed victory.

Even Leno himself (whom many in showbusiness suspect of being the ultimate enemy - a Republican) couldn’t seem to believe what he was hearing, especially after having gone to such efforts to ingratiate himself with the Commander-in-Chief (“Let me ask you some personal things,” said Leno, on the home stretch of the interview. “How cool is it to fly in Air Force One?” To which Mr Obama replied, “I personally think it’s pretty cool. Especially because they give you, you know, the jacket with the seal on it.”)

You had to feel sorry for the man, really: the segment that led up to the incident had been designed to allow Mr Obama to casually play down his pre-election plans to rip-out the indoor bowling alley at the White House and install a basketball court—a move that might have been considered insensitively profligate amid the current outrage over executive perks.

Mr Obama’s lack of bowling skills, demonstrated during the election campaign, also threatened his credibility with the all-important blue collar union-member crowd.

“I imagine the bowling alley has been just burned and closed down,” said Leno.

“No, no,” replied the President. “I have been practicing... I bowled a 129.”

“That’s very good, Mr President,” said Leno.

And then it happened. Amid laughter, Mr Obama quipped, “It’s like - it was like the Special Olympics, or something.” And in the instant he said it, you could see a flash of realisation in his eyes: I’ve just mocked the disabled. On live TV.

Within minutes of the show going on air, the President's team were furiously clarifying the situation. “The president made an offhand remark making fun of his own bowling that was in no way intended to disparage the Special Olympics,” Bill Burton, a White House spokesman, told reporters aboard Air Force One on the flight back to Washington.

He added that the President “thinks that the Special Olympics are a wonderful program that gives an opportunity to shine to people with disabilities from around the world".

It was the second time in so many weeks that the supposedly safe-haven venue of the late night talk show was exposed as fatal trap for the overconfident - the previous victim being the manic yet affable stock market pundit Jim Cramer, who found himself being accused by the Daily Show comedian Jon Stewart of knowing in advance of the Great Crash of 2008, but electing not to tell anyone about it. Stewart was being entirely serious.

For Mr Obama, however, there will at least some an upside to all this as he uncurls himself from the foetal position when he wakes up this morning. How? Because what he achieved in Los Angeles on The Tonight Show was far of more greater importance than all his declarations of faith in the banking system and in his Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner. Indeed, President finally managed to do what has thus far eluded him during the first few week of his Presidency: he ensured that for at least one news cycle, no-one will be talking about AIG or the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

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