You tell him, James!

I don't normally agree with James Ragland about anything. Mr. Ragland is a columnist for The Dallas Morning News. But he certainly hit the nail on the head with his June 9, 2010, column. In it, he takes Barack Obama to task for his crude language, specifically his remark about wanting to know whose "ass to kick" in the BP disaster. Mr. Ragland says he's going to start with Obama's.

Ragland says that words matter as does a sense of decorum. And that Obama, a Harvard graduate and the President of the United States, of all people, should know that. Not to mention the role model he should be for his two little girls. I wonder what kind of words pop out of their mouths. And if they talk about "ass-kicking," do Obama and Michelle correct them?

Ragland points out that Obama was not "chatting it up" on a Chicago street corner, nor was he engaged in a basketball game at the gym. He was participating in a formal interview in his official capacity as the leader of this country. Of course, we should have realized that he doesn't have enough sense to know that profanity is inappropriate when he laughed over Joe Biden's "big _______ deal" remark.

And then Ragland makes the point I thought was certainly obvious -- it was not a spontaneous remark. It was contrived and calculated and meant to pacify those who think he's not been angry enough over the oil spill. Hmmm -- contrived and calculated -- par for the course for Obama.

"Kick the foul language, Mr. President." The Dallas Morning News; June 9, 2010; p. 2B.