Obama: Kanye West - "Jackass"

Twitter can be a dangerous thing.

It's often those knee-jerk, impulsive tweets that can have negative consequences.

Terry Moran learned that on Monday night.

From Politico:

ABC News reporter Terry Moran caused quite a commotion tonight on Twitter after writing the following: "Pres. Obama just called Kanye West a "jackass" for his outburst at VMAs when Taylor Swift won. Now THAT'S presidential."

Although it wasn't long before Moran removed it, with over a million followers, the tweet quickly bounced around Twitter through various users.

Now, an ABC spokesperson explains to POLITICO what happened:

In the process of reporting on remarks by President Obama that were made during a CNBC interview, ABC News employees prematurely tweeted a portion of those remarks that turned out to be from an off-the-record portion of the interview. This was done before our editorial process had been completed. That was wrong. We apologize to the White House and CNBC and are taking steps to ensure that it will not happen again.

I hope Moran has learned something -- Think before you tweet.

I don't understand how the ABC employees confused the off-the-record portion of the interview with the on-the-record material.

Isn't there a clear distinction?

Anyway, the off-the-record stuff is what's most interesting and revealing.

Obama called West a "jackass." It's a bit undignified, the name-calling, but it's a fair asssessment.

I really think Obama has to assume that anything he says to members of the press could end up reported as news.

That filter always has to be on.

Aside from Moran being a twit and Obama calling names, there's the issue of Obama being aware of the Kanye West - Taylor Swift controversy in the first place.

Shouldn't Obama be spending his precious time on more pressing matters?

Bottom line: West screwed up. Moran screwed up. Obama screwed up.