TresSugar

"Is This Thing On?" Live-Mic Oops Crank Up Bush and Jackson

CitizenSugar — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 08:01:38 -0700

Live microphones are turning controversial remarks up to an "11" this week. Jesse Jackson used the N-word - the one for the dangly part of the male anatomy - when dishing about Obama during a break from taping a segment on Fox & Friends on Sunday. Jackson was, he thought secretly, gossiping with his co-guest about Obama's position on black churches and his support for faith-based charities. Jackson made the rude (and puzzling) remark, "I want to cut his n**ts off," into his live mic, moments before going on air.

Jackson didn't know his words had been picked up at the time, but by yesterday the clip was ready to air on The O'Reilly Factor and Jackson was in full damage-control mode, apologizing at a news conference in Chicago and releasing a statement saying:

For any harm or hurt that this hot mic private conversation may have caused, I apologize. My support for Senator Obama's campaign is wide, deep and unequivocal.

Barack Obama has accepted his apology. His spokesman said, "[Obama] will continue to speak out about our responsibilities to ourselves and each other, and he of course accepts Rev. Jackson's apology."

Not all hot-mic trouble results in hot water. George W. Bush had an uncharacteristically endearing private/public address series of moments at the G-8 Summit this week. To see what everyone heard him say, read more.

At an unintended broadcast lunchtime chitchat Bush said:

“Amigo! Amigo!” cheerily in Spanish to Italian prime minister Berlusconi. “How you doing, Silvio? Good to see you!” And later, “I read the courts are after you again. it’s unbelievable. I’ve never seen anything like it. Constantly after you.”
On his parents' recent joint replacement surgeries to Angela Merkel on his dad, "yeah, I’m worried about him,” and mom “two knee operations, two knees at the same time, because she didn’t want to rehab but once.”
On the hilly bike ride in Japan, “so I got on my bicycle this morning and got to the bottom of the hill and realized it was really tough to get up. When you’re older, as you know. . . "
And my favorite, on the Fourth of July celebration, “big party at the White House, and they had fireworks. My little girls were there.”

Aw! Though at the next day's lunch, the mics were conspicuously turned off.

What do you make of the Jackson remark? Should it have been broadcast on The O'Reilly Factor given that it was clearly off the record - or has that concept disappeared with technology? Is everything now on the record? Should it be?

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Anatomy of a Gaffe: McCain Adviser's Quote Exposes Pattern

CitizenSugar — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 07:59:59 -0700

Controversial statements on the campaign trail are sparking a lighting-quick trend, the standard cycle of apology becoming an expected, relay-race reflex. Here's the most recent example: Charlie Black, a top adviser to John McCain, has apologized for this passage in a profile on McCain in Fortune magazine:

As would, Black concedes with startling candor after we raise the issue, another terrorist attack on U.S. soil. "Certainly it would be a big advantage to him," says Black.

As is usual in the current political climate, the problematic statement, that a terrorist attack would be an advantage to McCain, was followed quickly by an apology from the source, with Charlie Black saying:

I deeply regret the comments. They were inappropriate. I recognize that John McCain has devoted his entire adult life to protecting his country and placing its security before every other consideration.

The next step in the pattern follows the distancing by the candidate, with McCain saying:

I cannot imagine why he would say it. It's not true. I've worked tirelessly since 9/11 to prevent another attack on the United States of America.

With his campaign officially seconding that emotion. To see what happens next, read more.

Then, Act III of the modern political gaffe-gate, the rival's response and analysis. The Obama campaign says:

The fact that John McCain's top advisor says that a terrorist attack on American soil would be a 'big advantage' for their political campaign is a complete disgrace, and is exactly the kind of politics that needs to change. Barack Obama will turn the page on these failed policies and this cynical and divisive brand of politics so that we can unite this nation around a common purpose to finish the fight against al Qaeda.

It's a pattern fast becoming a foregone conclusion. Oops, Shun, Spin. Does the expectation of this progression, dilute the impact of the initial event? Does it neuter the apologizing and distancing by the candidate by its omnipresence? Are apologies in politics too numerous and quick to count? In this case, was the initial statement inaccurate or offensive?

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Gaffe or Straight Talk: When Troops Return Not Too Important

LibertySugar — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:45:00 -0700

The ghosts of presidential elections past are coming out of the dark to go back and forth about John McCain's latest quote on Iraq. Let's check out the exchange.

On the Today show Matt Lauer asked McCain if he had a better estimate of when the troops will come home. McCain said:

No, but that's not too important. What's important is the casualties in Iraq.

Former Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry responded saying:

It is unbelievably out of touch and inconsistent with the needs of Americans and particularly the families of troops who are over there. To them it’s the most important thing in the world when they come home.

And let's not leave out former Dem veep nominee Joe Lieberman, who said:

The attacks on Senator McCain this morning [are] another partisan attempt to distort John McCain’s words, to distract the American people from the fact that McCain has been both courageous and right about the surge in Iraq, and Barack Obama has unfortunately been consistently wrong.

Click here for a roundup of other reactions to the comment. Even if McCain's interview is not so bad, he's already had to spend time explaining away his "100 years" in Iraq comment. It still remains to be seen whether the "not too important" line will help him contextualise his stance, or simply provide useful fodder for Obama supporters.

Who do you agree with - John or Joe?

McCain's Iran/al Qaeda Gaffe: Big Deal?

LibertySugar — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 12:00:37 -0700

During yesterday's press conference in Jordan, John McCain repeatedly said that Iran is supplying al Qaeda. McCain asserted that Iranian operatives are "taking al Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back." Problem is, the Sunni-dominated al Qaeda does not receive any help from Iran, a predominately Shiite country.

If your read the Wall Street Journal or the Washington Post, you probably haven't heard about this. If you watch Keith Olbermann on MSNBC, you saw the video at least four times on last night's program. In the video, McCain finally corrected himself, after Senator Joe Lieberman whispered something in his ear.

This misstatement may reveal the tendency of certain politicians to generously invoke al Qaeda as a way to conjure up national-security fear. If Americans and their politicians had a more sophisticated, or at least accurate, understanding of the situation in the Middle East, would we be better prepared to face threats at home and abroad?

Should McCain be given the benefit of the doubt, since international intelligence might be more complicated than we know? Or, do his misstatements make you question if he is ready to be commander in chief?

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Enchanté? Carla Bruni Meets Her Match in Spain

TresSugar — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:00:00 -0700

It's no secret we're obsessed with all things French at TrèsSugar, and France's first lady, Carla Bruni, is no exception. But while she may be our favorite, the Daily Mail claims she was bested yesterday by Princess Letizia of Spain in style and beauty.

Carla accompanied President Nicolas Sarkozy to Spain to placate rumors that Spanish tempers ran high after a gaffe-y Sarkozy said Spanish Premier Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was "not very smart." What better way to reach peace than to bring two beautiful faces from each country together?

I will insert an obligatory line about how both women are beautiful in their own right because, well, they are, but that takes me away from a problem I want to discuss. Beautiful women - Michelle Obama, Carla Bruni, and now Princess Letizia - are used to distract us from the political issues at hand. You know, like how President Sarkozy said something mean about the Spanish premier. Mon dieu!

Anyway, since the Daily Mail started it, I am going to finish. With a superior integration of the beauty-pageant-like sash and fortunate absence of a tiara, Carla reigns.

View 5 Photos ›

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Quote of the Day

CitizenSugar — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 11:30:45 -0700

"They have everything they need, they have medical care, hot food . . . Of course, their current lodgings are a bit temporary, but they should see it like a weekend of camping."

- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi added to his list of gaffes, by showing a lack of sympathy for the homeless victims of the earthquake who are sleeping in tents or in their cars.

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Nadya Suleman, Octomommy: The Uncensored Interview

GiggleSugar — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 07:00:00 -0800

Deena Marie Manzanares is pretty good at imitating the mesmerizing weirdness that is Nadya Suleman, octomommy. (Those lips threaten to take over the entire screen.) She pretty much says it all when she makes the following gaffe: "All I ever wanted was fame money, notoriety - I mean, children." Mmm, hmmm.

Biden Calls Email Ad Terrible, Then Regrets Hitting "Reply All"

CitizenSugar — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 10:02:41 -0700

Did Joe Biden gaffe again? In a train-based interview with Katie Couric, she asked Biden about an ad being run by the Obama/Biden campaign mocking McCain's technological capabilities. Biden said of the ad, "I thought that was terrible by the way. I didn’t know we did it and if I had anything to do with it, we would have never done it”

The ad uses a disco ball and Rubik's cube to paint McCain as "out of touch" and says he "doesn't know how to use a computer," and "admits he can't send an email." What prompted Biden's discomfort with the ad? Perhaps this quote from a Forbes piece in 2000:

In certain ways, McCain was a natural Web candidate. Chairman of the Senate Telecommunications Subcommittee and regarded as the US Senate's savviest technologist, McCain is an inveterate devotee of email. His nightly ritual is to read his email together with his wife, Cindy. The injuries he incurred as a Vietnam POW make it painful for McCain to type. Instead, he dictates responses that his wife types on a laptop. "She's a whiz on the keyboard, and I'm so laborious," McCain admits.

It didn't take long for Biden to realize he'd just slammed an ad approved by the ticket he's on, and an ad he'd never actually seen. To see his clarification and his "terrible" conversation with Katie, read more.

He retracted the statement and issued the following:

Having now reviewed the ad, it is even more clear to me that given the disgraceful tenor of Sen McCain’s ads and their persistent falsehoods, his campaign is in no position to criticize, especially when they continue to distort Barack’s votes on an issue as personal as keeping kids safe from sexual predators.

Is this a Biden gaffe? Was he hit by an attack of conscience, or is the argument that McCain can't email because of his injuries the part that's actually out of touch?

Dish! What's Your Favorite Bushism?

GiggleSugar — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 04:00:00 -0800

No matter where you are on the loving or hating George W. Bush spectrum, you have to admit, that dude was "creative" with the English language. Of all his gaffes, what's your favorite?

What Is Your Favorite Barack Obama Moment?

LibertySugar — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 09:30:25 -0800

On Nov. 4 we found out that we have at least another four years to make Barack Obama memories, but I'm sure some of the all time best will come from this year. Before he beat Hillary Clinton for the nomination, Barack delivered a compelling speech in Philadelphia addressing the recurrence of questions about Jeremiah Wright, as well as the effect of race on his candidacy. After locking up the presumptive-nomination Obama launched a world tour, stopping in Germany to speak before tens of thousands of Berliners.

In the week before the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Barack had supporters waiting by their cell phones for a text message about his choice for VP. We finally found it was none other than gaffe-machine Joe Biden, who would soon join Obama on stage after his rock-star sized acceptance speech before thousands at Invesco Field. After a slump in the polls Obama fought back and used his debate performances to hold his lead. Finally, on Nov. 4 he gave a somber victory speech, but one that included the triumphant proclamation that change had come to America.

Obama capped off his eventful year (to say the least) by unveiling his administration's team of rivals, including rival, and now cabinet member, no. 1 Hillary Clinton. Since we already asked you about your favorite John McCain moment in our roundup of the best stories of 2008, tell me which Obama moment did you like the best!

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