obama off the record

Good morning .
Taken me awhile to get online this morning. I want to tell you all about last night, but first, here is something.
Obama calls an entertainer a jackass. Some wiseacre reporter tweets it all over the internet, and now there is a small controversy building. Of course, had Bush done that, it would have been a much bigger deal. :)
Here is the link to a story.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090915/ap_on_enhttp://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090915/ap_on_en_tv/us_tv_obama_tweet_tv/us_tv_obama_tweet

It does raise the question about what is off the record and when is it off the record. The remark was made before a taped interview started. Usually this is considered off the record.
But there are many reporters who want to make a name for themselves, or who have a personal agenda, and will spread a quote around if it is juicy at all.
That was what was happening here.
Its no big deal, but it does bring up the point about off the record. Even so, a president - or just about any public official - should know that when they are around reporters, whatever they say can be spread around, so they have to be careful.
This is what gives reporters a bad reputation though. You can play that game, but you will lose sources in a hurry by doing so. Failing to report such things is not covering up for someone. It is just common decency.