Obama’s colorful remarks about the Grammy-winning rapper were immediately tweeted into cyberspace by ABC reporter Terry Moran. Even though Moran later deleted the tweet and ABC issued a mea culpa for Moran’s journalistic breach of confidence, the sizzling tweet was already racing through the airwaves around the world.
In 2005, of course, Kanye famously said that former President George W. Bush “doesn’t care about black people” because of the administration’s preposterously slow response to Hurricane Katrina.
Then, Kanye’s impromptu description of Bush made him a media sensation and exalted him as a politically conscious musician. But Kanye’s shine has dimmed because of repeated onstage shenanigans. Kanye’s behavior only substantiates centuries-old stereotypes of the angry black man who is unable to reign in his emotions. Obama may have felt compelled to respond to the ugly incident and let the “jackass” word slip.
President Obama’s remark being a mere slip of the tongue is viewed as disingenuous by pockets of the public. Obama ran a nearly flawless campaign, sans the Rev. Jeremiah Wright racial explosion, rarely uttering anything flip or controversial. Obama is widely viewed as a brilliant, savvy politician and an astute observer of American history. Which is why we know Obama is far too smart to be caught slipping up like that in front of a reporter — especially after the firestorm of controversy he caused when he said the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis “Skip” Gates was a result of the police behaving “stupidly.”
Certainly Obama remembers the infamous “off-the-record” moment involving former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and Hillary Rodham Clinton back in 1994. Gingrich’s mother, Katherine, was told that she was speaking in confidence to former TV reporter Connie Chung. Katherine Gingrich then whispered on-air to Chung that Gingrich referred to Clinton as “a b—-. –terry shropshire
