You may or may not have seen President Barack Obama’s recent appearance on “The Tonight Show”, but many people are speaking out about the President’s chat with talk show host Jay Leno, and for good reason. 

We’ve previously heard the President being poked fun at on T.V. and in the news for his low scores in the game of bowling.  During his discussion on “The Tonight Show”, the President joked around about his improved score of a 129 (still a fairly low score) after practice in the White House bowling alley. 

Everyone in the audience laughed and the President commented, “It’s like Special Olympics or something.”

Wait, back up; what did he just say?

I was completely caught off guard by this comment when they showed a clip of the show on “Good Morning America” the next day.   I was shocked that our President would say something so hurtful and politically incorrect, especially on live T.V. when millions o f American viewers were watching.

While many may argue that he made an “off- hand remark” or got caught up in the moment, I feel this was more than just a “questionable quip”, as one ABC political correspondent put it.

As a volunteer for Special Olympics and a member of Best Buddies, I found President Obama’s careless words far from amusing. In his attempt to be self-deprecating, he implied that all Special Olympics athletes are as poorly skilled as he is.  He obviously doesn’t understand the time and commitment that these athletes put into training for this event, or the pride they have in their accomplishments.

I would think that someone who preaches the message of change and claims to stand for things like equality and the acceptance of all different kinds of people would not make such an insensitive remark.

We’re all human and we all make mistakes, but thoughtless words can be prevented by being more sensitive to all stereotypes that exist.

I’ve been very fortunate to have spent time with people with special needs and as a result have formed many great friendships.  I was very pleased to hear that a Special Olympics athlete from Detroit, who bowled three perfect games in his young life, would be happy to meet with the President to help him improve his score. 

Maybe if President Obama had the chance to get to know someone with special needs, he would develop the understanding and compassion that comes with this privilege.

--Submitted by Kate Abbatacola, Public Relations Manager