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(AP) - President Barack Obama has apologized to the
chairman of the Special Olympics for his late-night talk show quip
equating his bowling skills to those of athletes with disabilities.


      Appearing on "The Tonight Show" Thursday, the president told
host Jay Leno he'd been practicing at the White House's bowling
alley but wasn't happy with his score of 129. 

Then he remarked:
"It was like the Special Olympics or something."


      The audience laughed, but the White House quickly recognized the
blunder. The Special Olympics, founded in 1968 by Eunice Kennedy
Shriver, is a global nonprofit organization serving 200 million
individuals with intellectual disabilities.


      On his way back to Washington on Air Force One, Obama called the
chairman of the Special Olympics, Tim Shriver, to say he was sorry
-- even before the taped program aired late Thursday night.


      "He expressed his disappointment and he apologized in a way
that was very moving. He expressed that he did not intend to
humiliate this population," Shriver said Friday on ABC's "Good
Morning America." 


Obama, Shriver said, wants to have some Special
Olympic athletes visit the White House to bowl or play basketball.


      Still, Shriver said, "I think it's important to see that words
hurt and words do matter. And these words that in some respect can
be seen as humiliating, or a put down to people with special needs
do cause pain and they do result in stereotypes."
      

Shriver is the son of Shriver and nephew of Sen. Edward M.
Kennedy, whose endorsement early in the Democratic primaries was
critical to Obama winning his party's nomination.


      Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton told reporters traveling with
Obama that the president's offhand remark was not meant to
disparage the Special Olympics, only to poke some fun at the
commander in chief's bowling skills.


      "He thinks that the Special Olympics are a wonderful program
that gives an opportunity to shine to people with disabilities from
around the world," Burton said.


      Despite making fun of his score, the president appears to be
getting better the more he visits the White House lanes, which
President Truman installed in 1947. 


During a campaign photo op a
year ago at a bowling alley in Altoona, Pa., he rolled only a 37 in
seven frames. The clip of the disastrous game was replayed on late
night television shows such as Leno's -- one of Obama's few campaign
gaffes.

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President Barack Obama has apologized to the
chairman of the Special Olympics for his late-night talk show quip
equating his bowling skills to those of athletes with disabilities.

Obama apologizes for Special Olympics gaffe

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