Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Obama's Opproprium 3/24/09

Every speaker has a mouth.
An arrangement rather neat.
Sometimes it's filled with wisdom.
Sometimes it's filled with feet.

Robert Orben
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Come in. Have a seat.
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So Barack Obama made an inappropriate comment did he? Well Mr. President, join the club. One could publish an extensive book filled with nothing but silly remarks made by United States Presidents. Imagine what it would be like if you were held accountable for every stupid thing you've said in your life, especially if you were in a position of authority when you said it. How many not so clever things would you like to take back?

You have probably heard of the blooper tapes. If you haven't actually heard one you're in for a good laugh if and when you do. Every radio and TV station in the land is required to keep a recording of the day's broadcast. When something strange happens on the air there is a record of it. If it's an amusing mistake it will be rerecorded and put on a blooper tape. One of the radio stations I worked for had such a tape and here are my two favorite extracts from it.

NBC News was covering a story about two engineers who went down into a missal silo to do some repairs and couldn't get out again. The news announcer began the program very seriously by saying "This is NBC News trapped in a missal silo."

A woman was being interviewed on the radio whose job was to design very high class, beautiful bathrooms. At the end of the show, the interview thanked the woman for being on the show and the woman replied "So glad to wee with you."

Another example of this sort of idiocy is the man who was announcing the end of a very important coast to coast broadcast of a live symphony orchestra concert. Evidently he was nervous or unprepared or something, but he concluded by saying "And now this is announcer's name speaking. Good night."

I have to confess to you that I am on one of those blooper tapes. I was working for a major radio station in New York City. It was political convention time. I have no idea why I said this and, in fact, I didn't even know I had said it until I came in the next day and they played the tape for me. I have a copy of the goof, and I can play it whenever I want to laugh at myself. I said "Last night Ronald Reagan was nominated for a second term as President in front of thousands of cheering Democrats."

Never measure a person by his failures and mistakes. Measure him by his successes. Because that's the way we want to measure you.

DB - Vagabond Journeys
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Check out the results of the WINTER QUIZ and the invitation to the SPRING QUIZ below. And have yourself a springtime day.
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9 comments:

Big Mark 243 said...

But catching someone with 'their pants down' is something that makes the 'can't do it' feel better about themselves. That is why they relish catching the 'can do' folks off their marks.

Joyce said...

The president's remark was tasteless and inappropriate and I can't think of a single excuse for a man in his position (or anyone for that matter) spouting such a thoughtless remark. I've said some dumb things in my lifetime for sure. I do not excuse myself for them and I do not excuse our president either.
Hugs, Joyce

Unknown said...

While we all suffer from Foot in outh disease from time to time, I would have to agree with Joyce on this one. As adults, we do have control of our tongue. We know that the "tiny piece of meat between our teeth," can inspire and inflame. It can buildup or teardown. We have the the power to think about what we are going to say before we speak. When a man drops his pants in front of me, I walk away, thinking it's a good thing his Mama isn't here to see this."
While we disagree on this, I still think your the Bee's knees :)

Arlene (AJ) said...

Guess I also go with what Joyce said this time. I know we all have made comments or said something that we wished we hadn't..I did a major slip with words after flying out to see my hubby who'd been away from home for almost a month....but thankfully we just laughed it off. No, I'm not going to tell you what I said, lol.

Beth said...

LOL at your own personal "flub!" :)

I don't think anyone disputes that what the President said was stupid. I guess what I wonder is what folks would have him do? He knows it was stupid and he apologized. So where do we go from here? Are all of his efforts to lead our country now in vain because of this one remark? Is his Presidency now in shambles, and is he a lame duck unable to govern or lead?

Hugs, Beth

Wes said...

I was doing a poerty reading in front of a large group, and was reading a poem about an owl encounter. My friend told in the end I kept saying hawk instead of owl, and the title was An Owl Spoke.

That is the lightest blooper I can share, If my whole life was taped.
There would be shelves full, I like a good laugh, even if it is at myself.

Blessed Be,
Wes

Linda's World said...

I think Ronald Reagan would have laughed at that one too. He seemed to have a good sense of humor. Linda in Washington

Gerry said...

I used to have to announce my name, "Hi, my name is Gerry," in my rather boring job as waitress so one night this is what I said, "Hi, my name is Margie, oh no that is my sister, my name is Gerry" Gerry

Judith Ellis said...

I think we love bloopers in part because we can actually laugh at ourselves vicariously. Being able to laugh at ourselves otherwise is too very important. We musn't take ourselves too seriously, eh?