Super Stupid

Posted on 02/03/2009 at 7:32 am by JumpyPants

President Obama isn’t a smart-ass Jerky the Jokeman like the previous guy. But that hasn’t stopped some people from jumping to the false conclusion that he is.

In his NBC interview over the weekend, the following exchange has been widely quoted. Lauer holds up an US Weekly cover with Mrs. Obama and the Obama girls on it. The sidebar is a photo of Jessica Simpson with a headline having to do with her apparent weight problem.

LAUER: You got replaced by Jessica Simpson.

OBAMA: Yeah, who’s losing a weight battle apparently. (LAUGHTER) Yeah. Oh, well.

Hoo-hoo! What a dick! Everyone from Michelle Malkin to Karen Tumulty ripped into the president for being a misogynistic fat Nazi.

But wait. That’s not what he said. Boehlert corrects the record:

LAUER: You got replaced by Jessica Simpson.

OBAMA: Yeah, who’s in a weight battle apparently. (LAUGHTER) Yeah. Oh, well.

Right! So the president was merely repeating the content of the headline which read: “Inside Jess’s Weight Battle.” On the US Weekly website there’s a whole photo feature documenting her alleged weight gain over the years.

Obviously, the president was dryly poking fun at America’s voyeuristic obsession with celebrity lifestyles. Malkin, naturally, hasn’t corrected her blog. Tumulty kinda-sorta corrected her blog but inexplicably added: “But in the future, Mr. President, just don’t go there.” Go where? Commenting on ridiculous US Weekly headlines? Sheesh. In the comments under her post, Tumulty wrote:

will fix the transcript if someone can prove that it is wrong. i didn’t hear it, and those network mikes are usually pretty sensitive.

It’s pretty damn clear.

Go read Boehlert’s report for an especially super stupid reaction by the far-right blog Gateway Pundit. And prepare to scream.

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  • http://www.intoxination.net Jamie

    Obama doesn’t just have the compassion of Bush – you know the guy who got on a blind reporter for wearing sunglasses.

  • Redmond

    Even U.S. Weekly was able to quote it right and laugh at the president laughing at them:http://www.usmagazine.com/news/president-barack-obama-jokes-about-getting-bumped-from-us-weekly-coverBut you know, they are crack reporters over there. Crack reporters.

  • cminri

    I saw the interview and it was obvious he was just reading or referring to the headline of the magazine Matt Lauer was holding up. This is a case of trying to make something out of nothing. But that’s what they do, isnt it?

  • MatthewN

    Outrage addicts… every one of them.

  • http://www.nonfatventing.blogspot.com jen

    Two words: President Obama.He won, they lost, and they’re still crying like a colicky baby with a loaded diaper.

  • http://www.broadwaycarl.blogspot.com Broadway Carl

    Okay, so I made the mistake of going over the Gateway Pundit to read his original post and the update. But just for shits and grins, I decided to sift throught the close to 300 comments. I think I lost some brain cells in the process. Amazing how many stupid people there are in the world.And the trolls here like to call us “haters”?! Some of the comments over there are kinda scary.

  • eve

    I saw him say it and cringed because I knew he’d be in big trouble even though it was a nothing comment.Calling this man sexist is ridiculous.Also hope Jessica ignores all the weight nonsense. She looks great and all this fixation on women having to be a size two is why even little girls are too obsessed with body image.

  • http://www.windonwater.net QueenTiye

    BroadwayCarl – I got the GatewayPundit site as well, and as a result posted this thread: http://www.windonwater.net/index.php?topic=195.0The evidence of my editing when I realized how hateful GatewayPundit is, shows up in the post, which starts out annoyed and then ends up… annoyed at having been led down a false trail. I edited OUT the Gateway Pundit link and edited in the original source, as well as proof that the president was only referencing the stupid headline.QT

  • idreamofskiba

    I read through some of those comments and, wow, I can’t believe people can be that stupid.It’s like -”OMG the messiah is totally mad because Jessica Simpson was probably a McCain supporter so now he’s making fun of her. Why doesn’t he say that about Oprah or Michelle? He just thinks he’s so cool. Matt Lauer is in love with him. Fox is the only unbiased news channel”

  • http://www.broadwaycarl.blogspot.com Broadway Carl

    Well, QT, I usually don’t stop over at right wing websites because I don’t have enough brain cells to spare, but after this I may have to take the occasional sTroll to see what’s going on in their myopic little world.I was really appalled by some of the wingnut comments and how quick they were to jump into the high school mentality. I was going to copy and paste some of the comments here, but I dont want to be responsible for lowering the overall IQ of the Cescan regulars.Check it out for yourself if you dare.

  • cminri

    @ Carl – I dare NOT go there. Just as I avoid Faux News, Lush Rimbaugh,and the Morning Joke crew – my BP shoots up and my head explodes. The older I get, the less I can tolerate stupidity.

  • http://www.broadwaycarl.blogspot.com Broadway Carl

    I undertand CM, but it’s definitely an education in what we’re dealing with.

  • http://willpen.wordpress.com willpen

    WHY IS THIS EVEN AN ISSUE !!!! AREN’T THERE MORE IMPORTANT THINGS TO WORRY ABOUT !!!!!

  • ConstanceRifleII

    What’s interesting is, apparently Tumulty herself responded to the criticism in the media matters post. I used to comment there a lot, and the regulars there (MickD and MagnoliaLover being two) usually have their heads on the level. Let’s just say they ripped Tumulty a new one and all she could respond with was a non-apology apology.

  • brutlyhonest

    WHY IS THIS EVEN AN ISSUE !!!! AREN’T THERE MORE IMPORTANT THINGS TO WORRY ABOUT !!!!!Posted by: willpen at February 3, 2009 12:26 PM

    Because making “issues” out of nothing is one of their favorite ways to avoid really important things. Any time they can “catch” a non-wingnut saying something they can manipulate to appear sexist or racist is special. It’s perfectly acceptable behavior from the right, but those looney libs aren’t supposed to be that way.

  • http://www.coffeerama.com coffee

    Jessica Simpson is smart… she’s taking over where Kirstie Alley left off and is thus poised to make a ton of money advertising for the weight loss industry