Boehner U.S. Constitution FAIL

[Elphaba]

It's always nice to have your copy of the Constitution with you to quote from.

YouTube - GOP Rep. John Boehner U.S. Constitution Quote FAIL.flv

Elphaba

[Just_A_Guy]

Ouch.

[NeuroTypical]

Yeah, the concept of the incredibly bright scholarly powerful career politician, rarely finds itself enshrined in an actual person.

We measure how 'good' a politician you are, by your ability to garner votes, form coalitions, raise money, and get stuff done. You don't have to be incredibly bright to be a good politician.

Then there are folks like VP Quayle, who really was a genuine smart person, but was so lame in front of a microphone, he'll go down in history for all the dumb stuff he said out loud.

LM

[talisyn]

Did you see the 2 guys behind him laughing?

[bytebear]

The only issue I have with posts like this is when it is one sided. That is where I have a big problem with mainstream media. There are YouTube clips of Obama saying there are 57 states in the Union, among other equally cringable quotes. So, people say stupid incorrect things. In the scheme of things, saying the Constitution instead of the Declaration of Independence is pretty minor. Far more so than adding seven states to the union. The question is, are we treating both sides fairly in our acknowledgment and assessment of what they say? Do you think CNN did a similar story on Obama's flub? And if they did, was it in such a condescending and demeaning tone? This story says a lot more about CNN than it does about Boehner.

Edited November 7, 2009 by bytebear

[talisyn]

So..link the youtube vid where Obama says there are 57 states, I'd laugh at that one too

As for the Constitution and Declaration of Independence mix-up, I'd say that's a pretty big goof, considering the 2 documents have 2 different purposes and target audience. I will give him this though, the Declaration of Independence starts out a lot prettier ^^

[Mahone]

BBC News | UK | Minister's maths mistake

That link serves two purposes. One to remind me of how much the BBC website has changed since 1998, and secondly because this thread reminded me of a well publicised mistake in January of 1998 when the UK minister for education was asked to answer a basic multiplication question by a journalist while attempting to promote the need for better numeracy skills to be taught in schools. He was asked to multiply 8 by 7 and his answer was 54.

[bytebear]

So..link the youtube vid where Obama says there are 57 states, I'd laugh at that one too

As for the Constitution and Declaration of Independence mix-up, I'd say that's a pretty big goof, considering the 2 documents have 2 different purposes and target audience. I will give him this though, the Declaration of Independence starts out a lot prettier ^^

Not really. Both are pretty interchangeable as founding documents of the United States. I can easily see someone meaning to say one and say the other. I am just pointing out the hypocritical inconsistency of CNN in their coverage of such instances.

[talisyn]

I totally disagree lol. They are not interchangable. One lists problems with England, and the other is the guidelines for the government of the USA.

[bytebear]

I totally disagree lol. They are not interchangable. One lists problems with England, and the other is the guidelines for the government of the USA.

I didn't say they were interchangeable as to content. What I said was it would be easy to have a slip of the tongue and say "constitution" when you meant "declaration" and vice versa. And again, how do you address the biased coverage by CNN?

Edited November 7, 2009 by bytebear

[jadams_4040]

It's always nice to have your copy of the Constitution with you to quote from.

YouTube - GOP Rep. John Boehner U.S. Constitution Quote FAIL.flv

Elphaba

John Boner Hasnt said anything intelligent for quite some time.:)

[Just_A_Guy]

I love how some liberal Mormons got righteously indignant when Cheney came to BYU because he had dared to use the f-bomb on the Senate floor; but apparently think nothing of using terms like "teabagging" and "boner" when describing their ideological adversaries.

[Mahone]

...There are YouTube clips of Obama saying there are 57 states in the Union, among other equally cringable quotes...

Apparently he was joking anyway. Not sure what the joke was, however we only see that section of the speech. It may have been related to something that was said earlier.

[bytebear]

Apparently he was joking anyway. Not sure what the joke was, however we only see that section of the speech. It may have been related to something that was said earlier.

Actually, he later claimed he was fatigued, but I do find your attempts at defending his ineptness commendable.

[jadams_4040]

Not really. Both are pretty interchangeable as founding documents of the United States. I can easily see someone meaning to say one and say the other. I am just pointing out the hypocritical inconsistency of CNN in their coverage of such instances.

So hes been to 57 states? How is that a problem if he was talking about an agenda? if one takes a trip across the united states and then back in a car, how many states would you have driven thru?:)

[john doe]

So hes been to 57 states? How is that a problem if he was talking about an agenda? if one takes a trip across the united states and then back in a car, how many states would you have driven thru?:)

If you drive from Utah to Montana via Idaho 60 times, do you get to say you've been to 180 states?

[Dravin]

Gotta go with John Doe, if one says they've visited/will visit more than 50 states (speaking of US states) one is incorrect, it can't really be spinned away as not being a mistake. That said if people paid as much attention to what came out of my mouth as they do public figures they'd catch some doozies and throw them up onto YouTube, they'd probably have quite the collection. I'm not sure you'd catch me confusing the number of states in the Union but you'd find something.

Actually reminds me of one time I was having a bad day expressing myself and finding the right words. I complained about how I just wasn't very elegant today. After being asked to repeat myself a couple times my sister asked, "Do you mean eloquent?" We all have brain farts from time to time, as long as they don't involve nuclear launch orders it's all good. :)

Edited November 8, 2009 by Dravin

[Moksha]

I love how some liberal Mormons got righteously indignant when Cheney came to BYU because he had dared to use the f-bomb on the Senate floor; but apparently think nothing of using terms like "teabagging" and "boner" when describing their ideological adversaries.

What? He dared say "Fox" on the Senate floor?!!!

[Kawazu]

And again, how do you address the biased coverage by CNN?

(5 minutes, aprox.)

[Mahone]

(5 minutes, aprox.)

Oh wow. I'm going to have to stop clicking on links on this website for fear of irritating accents and voices. That's the second time this week, haha.

[boyando]

I counted 60 States. The 57 that he said that he had been too. The one he had not been too yet. Plus Hawaii and Alaska.

[talisyn]

(5 minutes, aprox.)

Awesome. I liked it, especially the part about the buildup to the Iraq war and why journalists didn't do much digging into WMDs (I always wondered about that. Someone somewhere always talks). I also like the flat out statement that news has always been biased.

Mahone, it's not a weird accent, it's pure Southern molasses

Edited November 8, 2009 by talisyn

[NeuroTypical]

John Boner Hasnt said anything intelligent for quite some time.:)

So hes been to 57 states? How is that a problem if he was talking about an agenda?

I've always found partisanship interesting. In one breath, you can take someone to task for saying something dumb. In the next breath, you defend someone who has said something dumb.

How do you know who to attack and who to defend? Why, whether they're on 'your side' or not! You extend charity and the benefit of the doubt to 'your guy', and you harshly judge and insult 'the other guy'.

Forgive me if I strive not to be this way. I mean, it's a human failing, and I'm certainly human - but I try really hard not to fall into this trap.

LM

Edited November 8, 2009 by Loudmouth_Mormon

[bytebear]

Awesome. I liked it, especially the part about the buildup to the Iraq war and why journalists didn't do much digging into WMDs (I always wondered about that. Someone somewhere always talks). I also like the flat out statement that news has always been biased.

Mahone, it's not a weird accent, it's pure Southern molasses

The video is more than a bit misleading. The reason the left leaning media didn't go after Bush prior to the war was because the left wing politicians were all for the war at the time. They all were gung ho on the idea of WMDs and taking out Saddam Hussein. It was only after it became clear that the war was a mistake that the Democrats decided to use it as a political tool and started to attack Bush (while at the same time continually voting to fund the war they pretended to oppose).

Now, if you want a far better book on Media bias, I recommend two by the same author:

Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News

A Slobbering Love Affair: The True (And Pathetic) Story of the Torrid Romance Between Barack Obama and the Mainstream Media

Both books are Bernard Goldburg. And unlike the guy on the video, Goldburg gives real examples of how liberal media distorts and hides facts (sometimes without realizing they are doing it) simply because they have a viewpoint that is skewed by their own liberalism. He also used neutral studies that showed that during the 2008 election, Fox News had the most balanced coverage of both candidates. (MSNBC was far more likely to favor Obama, and the rest were not far behind). If you care to discuss bias in the media I would be happy to continue with this discussion.

So, back to the original post. CNN did a story on a slip of the tongue, and made it out that the Republican was an idiot. I have given a specific example where Obama also had a brain fart, but there is no media coverage of it, and certainly nothing to the extent that CNN has tried to fry the right wing politician. Then when left leaning (or Obama loving) people on this board see the clip of him talking about 57 states, they start spinning with excuses. "Oh, he was joking" or "He meant that he visited some states twice". No, he said something wrong, plain and simple. He isn't perfect.

The bottom line is, if we can't admit when he makes little mistakes, what are we going to do when he makes really big ones, ones that cause people to suffer. The current health care bill being discussed is going to cost a fortune, and take money away from Medicare (i.e. the elderly). There are lots of people arguing against it, but because the media cannot allow Obama to fail, they are ignoring those arguments. And when you feed into that blind ignorance, you are only hurting yourself. A free press was established to be one of the many checks and balances and it is not doing a good job at it lately. When a couple college students can uncover the truth about ACORN, or when it takes the NYTimes over 6 months to acknowledge Rev. Wright even exists and then praise Obama for distancing himself with no discussion of how Obama may have been influenced by his self proclaimed mentor, we have a serious problem.

[talisyn]

What I'm getting from you, Bytor, is that Pres. Obama is not perfect, yet you condemn him for not being perfect and condemn all news media outlets for not crucifying him when he misspeaks. I don't recall Fox News criticizing Pres. Bush II when he had various linguistic adventures