Michelle Obama Admits to Jay Leno- "He Beats Me Quite Often"

President Barack Obama's wife, Michelle Obama, appeared on the Jay Leno Show on Friday, October 30, 2009. In one segment of the interview Jay Leno asked Michelle Obama about Barack's bad habits. One of her responses was "He beats me quite often". Is Michelle admitting that her husband is an abuser? That statement certainly seems to indicate that there is domestic violence in the White House.

Fortunately for the Obamas, Michelle Obama in particular, this is simply a sound bite gone wrong. Michelle Obama did indeed tell Jay Leno "He beats me quite often" and without the context of this sound bite one could easily assume that Michelle Obama is abused by the President.

The whole story- Jay Leno asked Mrs. Obama what her husband's worst bad habits are. After thinking for a moment and joking that there wasn't enough time on the show to go into them all, she explained that she hated it when Barack beat her at tennis. She explained that it is very annoying, and that Barack Obama beats her quite often.

The press has an annoying habit also- the habit of taking a sound bite and airing it or printing it without giving viewers and readers a clear picture of the context of what was said. Imagine the uproar it would cause if an unscrupulous reporter did some creative cutting and aired the part where Jay Leno asks about President Obama's bad habits, then showed only the parts of Michelle's answer where she says "I hate it when he beats me. He beats me quite often".

If the viewing public begins showing skeptism towards these kinds of inflammatory sound bites, perhaps the press would finally stop airing them without also giving the complete picture. It can be dangerous to assume that the one-liner you hear on television is the complete truth and then act on that information. Much harm can come to this country, and to individuals if citizens don't take the time to learn the real story.

Presumably there is no domestic violence in the White House. There are no indications that President Obama ever lays his hands on his wife or children in anger.