“now THAT’S presidential!” sarcasm or praise?
By American Girl in Italy on September 16, 2009 at 12:31 PM in Current Affairs
President Barack Obama called hip-hop musician Kanye West a “jackass” on Monday in an off-the-record comment during an interview with CNBC, an ABC News anchor reported on Twitter.
AUDIO here. (Joe Wilson treatment? Please….)
Obama was apparently weighing in on an interruption that occurred the night before during the MTV Video Music Awards where West grabbed the microphone from teen country singer Taylor Swift during her award acceptance speech to announce his belief that Beyonce had a better music video.
“Pres. Obama just called Kanye West a ‘jackass’ for his outburst at VMAs when Taylor Swift won. Now THAT’S presidential,” “Nightline” co-anchor Terry Moran wrote Monday evening to his more than 1 million followers.
Well, must say I agree with Obama on that one! But, I’m not sure if Terry was being facetious or sincere when he wrote, “Now THAT’S Presidential”…? I looked at Moran’s Twitter page (they have since scrubbed the “offending” tweet) but I found these:
Would Wilson heckle a white POTUS like that? Dunno. But, in general, it’s easier to be rude to those we do not consider our equals.
OK, so Moran thinks Wilson is a racist, I guess?
Terry Moran has also tweeted:
“Calling the president a liar is expressly prohibited by the rules of the House and Senate. It’s disgraceful, whatever your politics.”
And:
“Wilson called the White House to apologize for hollering “YOU LIE” at the president. Good for him. Civility matters, especially for leaders.”
So…does Terry Moran think Obama was showing civility when he called Kanye a jackass? I honestly can’t tell if he was being sarcastic or not. It’s so hard to tell, with the media acting the way they do these days. And does he think Obama was disgraceful when he accused his opponents of lying?
The tweet forced the network to issue an apology after the Internet quickly became abuzz over the stunning remark published on the microblogging site.
An ABC spokesperson said, “In the process of reporting on remarks by President Obama that were made during a CNBC interview, ABC News employees prematurely tweeted a portion of those remarks that turned out to be from an off-the-record portion of the interview,” Politico reported. “This was done before our editorial process had been completed. That was wrong. We apologize to the White House and CNBC and are taking steps to ensure that it will not happen again.”
Moran’s tweet has since been deleted, but can still be accessed.
My opinion – Obama was right, and I see no problem with him calling Kanye a jackass. Sure, some people might think it inappropriate for children to hear the POTUS using the term jackass, but let me tell ya something –
I would MUCH rather children hear the POTUS call Kanye West out for his jack assery, then for them to hear the POTUS accuse an elected official, and mother to Trig, Piper and Willow, of lying.
Obama stood in the halls of Congress and accused his opponents of lying. (Even though they weren’t.)
So, Terry Moran was right, civility matters, especially for leaders. But we lead by example, not *just words*.
As far as Kanye’s comment at the VMA’s, that Beyonce had the best video “of all time”, come on! I mean, I love the song, and it gets stuck in my head for hours, but best video of all time? (It did win Best Video later that evening.) The thing that makes the video great, in my opinion, are all the parodies it has inspired.
I mean, seriously, if THIS guy can do it…?
Some other funny parodies:
OK, ouch!
No matter who won what that night, Beyonce wins for Best in Class.























