The College Fix

CNN reports on a recent White House event, honoring several American music icons:

While the President was paying tribute to Aretha Franklin, he had a hard time with the spelling of a word famously spelled out in one of her best known songs.

“When Aretha first told us what R-S-P-E-C-T meant to her, she had no idea it would become a rallying cry for African Americans, and women, and then everyone who felt marginalized because of what they looked like or who they loved,” Obama said to chuckles from the audience.

The president’s gaffe calls to mind a similar mistake Vice President Dan Quayle made more than twenty years ago, when he incorrectly spelled the world “potato” while judging a school spelling bee. Quayle was mercilessly mocked by the mainstream media for his gaffe, and was portrayed, basically, as an idiot rather than someone who simply made a mindless and momentary error.

Somehow, we think Obama will get more favorable treatment form the media than Quayle did.

(Image: PeteSouza.WhiteHouse)

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