It’s amazing how politicians, often groomed to avoid mistakes, tend to find the largest feet to shove into their mouths.
Joe Biden is feeling pretty dumb because of this statement to the New York Observer:
“I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy,” he said. “I mean, that’s a storybook, man.”
The New York Times reports on the follow-up:
Earlier, in a decidedly nonpresidential afternoon conference call with reporters that had been intended to announce his candidacy, Mr. Biden, speaking over loud echoes and a blaring television set, said that he had been “quoted accurately.” He volunteered that he had called Mr. Obama to express regret that his remarks had been taken “out of context,” and that Mr. Obama had assured him he had nothing to explain.
“Barack Obama is probably the most exciting candidate that the Democratic or Republican party has produced at least since I’ve been around,” he said, adding: “Call Senator Obama. He knew what I meant by it. The idea was very straightforward and simple. This guy is something brand new that nobody has seen before.”
Foot remains in mouth, albeit in a slightly different position.
As I said: Dumb.
Then we have the governor, who managed to insert himself into a labor dispute at Rutgers raising questions about his ability to deal with the state’s labor unions.
After pressuring Rutgers University and a teachers union to sign a neutrality pact recently, Gov. Jon Corzine lent his support to the union’s organizing effort on campus yesterday.
“People ought to have the right to make a free choice when it comes to joining a union,” Corzine told about 300 workers at a meeting set up by the American Federation of Teachers in New Brunswick.
Although the governor stopped short of telling workers to sign union authorization cards, he said he doubted a new union of midlevel administrators would hurt Rutgers or drive up spending or tuition.
“Rutgers is a seat of excellence in research, advancement of science and intellectual thought, and we should be proud of what’s going on there,” Corzine said, “and I don’t think there is any reason to argue that somehow or other the choice of being part of a collective bargaining unit would undermine the credibility of the excellence of the university.”
While I agree that a unionized work force is good not only for workers, but for the economy, his appearance at a rally like this creates the impression that he is taking sides and leaves him open to charges that he will be all too willing to softball his upcoming negotiations with state workers.
That’s the point the Star-Ledger makes in today’s editorial:
Gov. Jon Corzine was the featured speaker at a union organizing rally on Rutgers’ New Brunswick campus yesterday. It’s appropriate for taxpayers to ask why. And to wonder whether he represents the “management” side in ongoing contract talks with state employee unions.
After outlining a year’s worth of behavior — giving a rousing speech at a rally during the budget stalemate, nixing a legislative approach to pension and benefit changes — the Ledger puts it pretty bluntly:
Employee benefits are negotiated by representatives of management and unions. Corzine seems to be on both sides.
Dumbest of all, however, was a so-called “guerilla marketing” campaign organized by Turner Broadcasting. I’ll let The Washington Post explain:
A guerrilla marketing campaign for a cartoon show about a box of french fries and his milkshake pal set off a scare that nearly shut down Boston’s commercial district yesterday, as bomb squads closed highways and two bridges in search of what turned out to be magnetic-light versions of the cartoon characters.
Turner Broadcasting, parent company of the Cartoon Network, said the small electronic circuit boards, which hang from girders and bridges, are part of a 10-city marketing campaign for the animated late-night television show “Aqua Teen Hunger Force.” Such guerrilla ad campaigns seek to place products in unexpected corners and count on those who spot the characters to “get” the gag.
But much of Boston was not in on this joke. The packages were discovered near the New England Medical Center, two bridges and a tunnel. Attorney General Martha Coakley said Peter Berdovsky, 27, of Arlington, Mass., and Sean Stevens, 28, of Charlestown, Mass., had each been arrested on a felony charge of placing a hoax device and a charge of disorderly conduct.
Perhaps they should have been charged with conspiracy to commit stupidity.
At least they win the award for dumbest move of the day.
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
Hank Kalet 