Media bury Obama gaffe as Letterman forgets 2011 walkout—fodder for Romney
Thursday, September 20, 2012 at 12:06PM 
It’s no secret that most media are actively lobbying for the reelection of President Barack Obama in 2012.
Despite the bias—never disclosed, a serious lapse in ethics—you’d think media would notice when the U.S. president made a huge gaffe. You’d also think media might notice a lapse on the part of David Letterman when Obama appeared on his comedy show on Tuesday.
Letterman lobbed Obama softball questions—no surprise there. Then there was this exchange, beginning around the 4:43 mark on a video at YouTube. I’m transcribing it here because CBS may ask the creator of the video to take it down since it doesn’t disparage a Republican candidate.
(Letterman) “The debt countdown clock is going like crazy…it’s several trillion dollars. What is that?”
Obama then told Letterman he plans to “cut spending” without giving any specifics, just as he promised to cut the federal deficit in half shortly after he was elected in 2008.
Letterman asked the president, “Do you remember what that number was? Was it $10 trillion?”
Obama then committed another in a long line of under-reported gaffes, telling Letterman:
“I don’t remember what that number was precisely.”
If you’re not concerned that the U.S. president has no idea what the federal deficit is exactly, you are part of the problem.
That’s not the worst of it, though.
Letterman apparently forgot something related to his question.
In 2011, media reported Obama “abruptly” walked out on Congressional leaders in a meeting about the federal deficit.
The Romney campaign could have a field day with that—get an actor to depict Obama storming off like an angry teen when Congress tried to take the taxpayer funded credit card away. Ah, well, our president is famous for leading from behind.
Don’t hold your breath for media to put Obama’s campaign speech on Letterman in context.
Meanwhile, I wondered if Letterman needed a shower after the interview, to wipe all the slobber off his face after permitting Obama to turn the comedy show into a long, nonspecific campaign speech.
(Commentary by Kay B. Day/Sept. 20, 2012)
Related Articles
On the Web
The Obama You Don’t Know (series at The Washington Examiner)
At The US Report
Chicago to run the U.S.: Obama taps Rahm Emanuel
With video request to Google, did Obama submit U.S. to Islam?
Cartoonist depicts hard choices for Obama as North Africa implodes
Media terrified after Jacksonville presser with Romney on embassy attacks
Dem-allied media goes nuts over Romney remarks, forgot Obama in 2008
For Democrats, a Judeo-Christian reset
Reader Comments (2)
Obama is a politician, not a leader. The Middle East is on fire and he's chilling with Jay-Z and Beyonce.
Obama's greatest assets are theatrical ability and leisure. Democrats almost always support a figurehead rather than a real leader. Look to FDR. Or to slavery.