So I'm sure it was refreshing for republicans, because we know how much they enjoy Countdown with Keith Olbermann, to see our President make the worst persons list yesterday, along with Michelle My-MILFiness-barely-masks-my-lunacy Bachmann and Laura Ingraham.
Now I don't usually get peeved at healthy Obama-bashing by people on our side, but this one struck a note...
Update: to summarize why Obama was on the list: He tried to make a play on words in Spanish, saying that his speech was early or something, and said "cinco de cuatro", which I guess Keith thought was intended to mean "cuatro de mayo", but which, as Keith points out, actually means "five of four" (which, as a commenter points out, may be closer to what he was going for, as the speech was scheduled to take place around 5pm).
See, as a former language teacher, I've seen every variety of language learner there is, running the spectrum from frightened turtle to freakish, chameleonic polyglot.
Somewhere in that spectrum, and somehow in every one of my classes, is this cocky twerp who, after mastering a few words from his Cypress Hill CD jacket, decides he's fluent enough to "hablo some espanol". From a teacher's persepective, he's irritating because although he pronounces "tu madre" really well, he's totally satisfied with that and will never progress further.
And, no doubt, there was a whiff of this in Obama's awkward "Cinco de cuatro" remark. He was being too jovial by half and this "palabra salad" certainly brought him down a peg.
I can appreciate how Countdown's Republican audience (you know, that bee sting victim in the hospital with the swollen hands who can't work his remote) would react: "take THAT, mister fancy pants, with your 'PAH-kee-staan' and your 'TAH-lee-baan'. Not so cultured NOW are ya!"
I get what Keith was trying to do, but if this the best he can come up with to get Obama on his WP list, he might as well skip it, especially considering the company on that list (I mean, if Obama stuck his foot in his mouth there, then Bachmann swallowed her entire lower half up to the waist). Even republicans are not so stupid they can't recognize a token effort when they see one (okay, I knew that sentence was wandering into fantasy at about the sixth word)
But mostly, what disturbed me about this particular jab, is that I can think of another recent president who would have absolutely NAILED that "cuatro de mayo" remark with perfect timing and enviable bonhomie. In fact, he would have followed it with a hearty, "heh, heh, heh". I'm quite sure Keith would take Mr. "cinco de cuatro" over that any day.
Argh. Can't seem to embed msnbc video. Link here