FARK.com: (7007406) Obama uses ASL to communicate with a deaf man. GOP immediately attacks him for not speaking English

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		Obama uses ASL to communicate with a deaf man. GOP immediately attacks him for not speaking English (boingboing.net)		208
		More: Cool, American Sign Language, obama, the deaf man, Boing Boing

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5731 clicks; posted to Politics » on 21 Mar 2012 at 8:17 PM | Favorite | share:

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SushiJoe		2012-03-21 02:53:53 PM

32 m Philadelphia

Quasar		2012-03-21 03:00:44 PM

Liberal as I am, I can't help but feel a cynical curiosity that it was planned somehow.

MaudlinMutantMollusk		2012-03-21 03:02:50 PM

Dear GOP,

I got some sign language for ya...

/digital communication

MrBallou		2012-03-21 03:21:18 PM

My first thought when I saw it was "We have the coolest president, ever".

My second thought was, "Oh shiat, the derpers are going to claim it was staged."

Surprisingly, I couldn't find any mention of it as fake in a quick google search, although my google-fu is admittedly weak. Anybody know if Rush has mentioned it yet?

FloydA		2012-03-21 03:23:31 PM

MrBallou: My first thought when I saw it was "We have the coolest president, ever".

My second thought was, "Oh shiat, the derpers are going to claim it was staged."

Rush will probably claim it's staged, but I'm betting Fox and Friends will go with "flashing gang signs."

Earpj		2012-03-21 03:23:41 PM

MrBallou: My first thought when I saw it was "We have the coolest president, ever".

My second thought was, "Oh shiat, the derpers are going to claim it was staged."

Surprisingly, I couldn't find any mention of it as fake in a quick google search, although my google-fu is admittedly weak. Anybody know if Rush has mentioned it yet?

There's also video of Michelle signing. I'm sure they both know know, at least, rudimentary sign.
Pretty cool.

MrBallou		2012-03-21 03:26:48 PM

FloydA: Fox and Friends will go with "flashing gang signs."

That's just funny, right there.

unyon		2012-03-21 03:38:12 PM

Speaking English? Hell, he was speaking American.

mahuika		2012-03-21 03:55:37 PM

MrBallou: My first thought when I saw it was "We have the coolest president, ever".

My second thought was, "Oh shiat, the derpers are going to claim it was staged."

Surprisingly, I couldn't find any mention of it as fake in a quick google search, although my google-fu is admittedly weak. Anybody know if Rush has mentioned it yet?

I'm so glad I wasn't alone.

It hasn't hit Freep yet, which means it hasn't hit Rush.

GWLush		2012-03-21 04:03:22 PM

I am also curious on what the Right Wingers say about this. I know everything Obama does is part of some nefarious evil plot but I am curious on how they will spin it. Will they go after this kid and call him a deaf slut? Will they claim he isn't really deaf? Muslim?

adiabat		2012-03-21 04:07:55 PM

Obviously, he's watched Blue's Clues.

mahuika		2012-03-21 04:12:25 PM

GWLush: I am also curious on what the Right Wingers say about this. I know everything Obama does is part of some nefarious evil plot but I am curious on how they will spin it. Will they go after this kid and call him a deaf slut? Will they claim he isn't really deaf? Muslim?

I've got a pretty good idea.

1. The kid was planted and the story is fake, obviously Zer0 is revving up his campaign. (75%)

2. What, we're supposed to be falling over ourselves with adoration that the idiot in chief learned a single phrase in sign language? (15%)

3. Someone should go up to him and sign something horribly insulting in sign language, because bets are he'll say Thank You. (6%)

4. I'm no Obama fan, but I'm glad that the deaf student got to have that experience. If it had been President Bush, though, the MSM wouldn't even report it. (4%)

Nadie_AZ		2012-03-21 04:13:32 PM

Meh. Bush spoke dirty spanish. Nobody cared. Or should have.

It'd be nice if our presidents and leaders spoke more than english.

Mr. Coffee Nerves		2012-03-21 04:27:56 PM

Just wait until he delivers his second inaugural address in that African clicking language!

vernonFL		2012-03-21 04:35:02 PM

That was pretty cool. Obama is smooth.

vernonFL		2012-03-21 04:36:12 PM

FloydA: Fox and Friends will go with "flashing gang signs."

cache.jezebel.com

LOL

Bathia_Mapes		2012-03-21 05:02:53 PM

FloydA: MrBallou: My first thought when I saw it was "We have the coolest president, ever".

My second thought was, "Oh shiat, the derpers are going to claim it was staged."

Rush will probably claim it's staged, but I'm betting Fox and Friends will go with "flashing gang signs."

Heh!

cman		2012-03-21 05:03:32 PM

HEY MISTER PRESIDENT, I can't talk to deaf people using ADSL. What do ya have to say to that, you reptilian hating freak?

cman		2012-03-21 05:04:07 PM

cman: HEY MISTER PRESIDENT, I can talk to deaf people using ADSL. What do ya have to say to that, you reptilian hating freak?

God damn you OS X Lion autocorrect

FTFM

NuttierThanEver		2012-03-21 05:07:24 PM

West Side N***GA!

Diogenes		2012-03-21 05:10:04 PM

I don't sign but picked up a few things just during a consulting stint at Gallaudet U. This is pretty rudimentary stuff. Not amazing that he would know how to respond. But very slick in how he did it.

Humean_Nature		2012-03-21 05:10:07 PM

Quasar: Liberal as I am, I can't help but feel a cynical curiosity that it was planned somehow.

I think in my most cynical of hearts that Obama didn't know what the kid said, but just decided to go with "Thank you" as the most polite, catch-all response. But like someone else said, there's been other video of Michelle signing, so maybe he did understand it. I know I wouldn't have understood a phrase like "I'm proud of you" in ASL - but I do know "thank you."

ThatGuyFromTheInternet		2012-03-21 05:10:35 PM

That's just dumb.

CitizenTed		2012-03-21 05:13:15 PM

That "deaf" guy was black and we can't even be sure what his native tongue really is. For all we know, he's a Kenyan Muslim with some kind of terrorist connections who needed to send a hidden communiqué to his Supreme Leader in order to start the next nefarious attack on American freedoms.

Without eternal vigilance, these usurpers will only grow bolder.

thismomentinblackhistory		2012-03-21 05:13:55 PM

SUDDENLY OBAMA IS GODDAMN ANNE SULLIVAN

vygramul		2012-03-21 05:19:31 PM

The obvious and likely explanation is that he knows one sign: "thank-you", and flashes it in response to any ASL he sees. Test: sign, "do not say thank-you.". See what he does.

Dusk-You-n-Me		2012-03-21 05:21:07 PM

vernonFL: That was pretty cool. Obama is smooth.

He can hit the curve ball.

Quasar		2012-03-21 05:31:13 PM

vygramul: The obvious and likely explanation is that he knows one sign: "thank-you", and flashes it in response to any ASL he sees. Test: sign, "do not say thank-you.". See what he does.

That was my other guess.

Still, I can't help but like that Obama fellow.

pudding7		2012-03-21 05:34:58 PM

Quasar: Liberal as I am, I can't help but feel a cynical curiosity that it was planned somehow.

Nah. He was going down the line saying, "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you." over and over. He saw the sign language and you can see him hesitate for a split second then signs Thank You and goes back to saying "Thank you" on down the line.

thomps		2012-03-21 05:36:39 PM

pudding7: Quasar: Liberal as I am, I can't help but feel a cynical curiosity that it was planned somehow.

Nah. He was going down the line saying, "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you." over and over. He saw the sign language and you can see him hesitate for a split second then signs Thank You and goes back to saying "Thank you" on down the line.

yeah i'm pretty sure that if someone in that line had spoken the words "mr. president you can go suck an entire bag of dicks" he (and any other politician in that position) would have said "thank you" and kept moving. still nice that he took the time to learn the response in ASL.

Diogenes		2012-03-21 05:36:58 PM

Quasar: vygramul: The obvious and likely explanation is that he knows one sign: "thank-you", and flashes it in response to any ASL he sees. Test: sign, "do not say thank-you.". See what he does.

That was my other guess.

Still, I can't help but like that Obama fellow.

Oh, we know they all have their pat moves and phony moments. The difference is in the delivery and how genuine you can make it appear. Obama's a natural at that. Romney, despite his best efforts, continues to look like the guy who's trying too hard to be your friend.

Somacandra		2012-03-21 05:42:16 PM

Do you know how I know neither you nor anyone else here is a parent?

/It be a damn rite of passage.

Lando Lincoln		2012-03-21 05:42:25 PM

zedster		2012-03-21 05:42:34 PM

cman: HEY MISTER PRESIDENT, I can't talk to deaf people using ADSL. What do ya have to say to that, you reptilian hating freak?

he has filters for that sort of thing
upload.wikimedia.org

MaudlinMutantMollusk		2012-03-21 05:47:00 PM

Somacandra: vygramul: The obvious and likely explanation is that he knows one sign: "thank-you", and flashes it in response to any ASL he sees. Test: sign, "do not say thank-you.". See what he does.

[i.imgur.com image 211x298]

Do you know how I know neither you nor anyone else here is a parent?

/It be a damn rite of passage.

Where do you sign them?

/the bottom line?

Quasar		2012-03-21 05:47:37 PM

Diogenes: Romney, despite his best efforts, continues to look like the guy who's trying too hard to be your friend.

I never liked that whole "president I'd like to have a beer with" and even that can't keep me from shuddering every time he attempts to compute human emotions.

thomps		2012-03-21 05:49:47 PM

pudding7		2012-03-21 05:49:50 PM

FirstNationalBastard		2012-03-21 05:54:41 PM

adiabat: Obviously, he's watched Blue's Clues.

HOW CAN MR. SALT AND MRS. PEPPER HAVE A CHILD THAT IS PAPRIKA!?!?

WHAR PAPRIKA BIRTH CERTIFICT WHAR?!?!?

ginandbacon		2012-03-21 05:56:17 PM

Diogenes: I don't sign but picked up a few things just during a consulting stint at Gallaudet U. This is pretty rudimentary stuff. Not amazing that he would know how to respond. But very slick in how he did it.

It really amazed me just living near Galludet how much I was able to pick up from neighbors. The deaf community in DC is really cool. I had the alphabet and some signs, but living around so many deaf people was awesome. I wish I had studied it more.

Prez impressed me. The First Lady even more so.

Somacandra		2012-03-21 05:57:46 PM

thomps: is there a page in there that shows me how to say "go away baby, everything you say is boring."

1.bp.blogspot.com

R.I.P. "SHUT UP BABY, CAN'T YOU SEE TWO MEN ARE TALKING?"

Somacandra		2012-03-21 05:59:29 PM

pudding7: yeah, that's the only reason I know any of it. please, thank you, milk, water, finished, hungry, potty.

Thus concludes my knowledge of ASL.

It would not surprise me in the least if that the scope of the President's ASL as well. It certainly is for me and millions of other parents in the USA. "Put your fingertips together for More More More!"

ArkAngel		2012-03-21 06:08:24 PM

Marcus Aurelius		2012-03-21 06:17:53 PM

It's heartening to know that not every dumb person thinks Obama is a Kenyan Muslim usurper.

Marcus Aurelius		2012-03-21 06:21:00 PM

CitizenTed: That "deaf" guy was black and we can't even be sure what his native tongue really is. For all we know, he's a Kenyan Muslim with some kind of terrorist connections who needed to send a hidden communiqué to his Supreme Leader in order to start the next nefarious attack on American freedoms.

Without eternal vigilance, these usurpers will only grow bolder.

You know, I hadn't even thought of that.

Mentat		2012-03-21 06:22:42 PM

If sign language was good enough for Anne Frank, it should be good enough for the President.

vygramul		2012-03-21 06:23:02 PM

Lando Lincoln: vygramul: The obvious and likely explanation is that he knows one sign: "thank-you", and flashes it in response to any ASL he sees. Test: sign, "do not say thank-you.". See what he does.

Now that's just mean.

It is, and it's the smart way to attack this feel-good story. Which means it's not how Fox and the GOP are going to attack it. Part of the irritating thing about politics is that there are better ways to attack something, most people just choose the retarded way.

/Truth in advertising: I have sold my services to political candidates before, won't hesitate to do it again. Luckily, the real cretins tend to lose.

Ed Finnerty		2012-03-21 06:23:31 PM

DarwiOdrade		2012-03-21 06:27:36 PM

Mentat: If sign language was good enough for Anne Frank, it should be good enough for the President.

Anne Frank co-wrote the Dodd-Frank Act. You mean Helen Reddy.

doyner		2012-03-21 06:34:50 PM

DarwiOdrade: Mentat: If sign language was good enough for Anne Frank, it should be good enough for the President.

Anne Frank co-wrote the Dodd-Frank Act. You mean Helen Reddy.

Are you sure it wasn't James Carville's wife?

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