Breaking Into Jail: Foot-in-Mouth Quotes & Soundbites

Last week we posted some noteworthy soundbites and direct quotes from the media and analyzed why they were effective.  In addition, we added a few foot-in-mouth quotes and soundbites. The kind of statements that are mortifying when they appear in print or are broadcast widely. I call these breaking into jail quotes and it seems they have nearly universal appeal; there appears to be great entertainment value in seeing a spokesperson become a mis-spokesperson.

So here are a few more examples of Breaking Into Jail quotes:

Bowled Over
As polished as he is, President Obama is as capable as Vice President Biden of breaking into jail (although far less dependable on that score.) On the Tonight Show on March 19th, discussing his inept bowling game, he proved to be comedically inept, too:  “It’s like — it was like Special Olympics or something.”   The president realized he’d slammed a cell door behind him almost at once and he got on the phone to apologize to Special Olympics top guns.  The lesson here is when you are dealing with the media, leave comedy to the comedians. To twist an old Edward R. Murrow quote: Just because your voice now reaches halfway around the world, it doesn’t make you any funnier than you were when your voice could only reach halfway down the bar. (Substitute “smarter” for “funnier” and you have the Murrow original.)

Ronald Reagan, too, was celebrated as a masterful communicator and misfired as a comic when he was president.  Asked for a microphone check before one of his weekly radio addresses, Mr. Reagan said, “Well, I’ve just outlawed Russia.  The bombers are on their way.”

Let ‘Em Eat Cake
The Marie Antoinette Award for jail breaking soundbites goes to Italy’s prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi. In the aftermath of the L’Aquila earthquake, Berlusconi in a German TV station interview said of the thousands of quake victims, newly homeless and  living in tents: “Of course their current accommodation is a bit temporary, but they should view it like a camping weekend.”

But Wait, There’s More……

The outcry was immediate and intense, so Berlusconi decided to make amends by inviting some refugees of the quake to live in his mansion outside Milan.  That offer revived the controversy that erupted some time back when the prime minister received permission to double the size of his Milan-area estate without going through the usual permitting process.

Pride Goeth Before The Fall, Las Vegas Division
“This is the sort of project God would build if he had the money.”  — An anonymous MGM Mirage executive describing the casino firm’s $8.6 billion CityCenter development on the Las Vegas Strip.  That bit of hubris was expressed before a sour economy and a tangle of nasty lawsuits stymied the project and sent MGM Mirage careening toward bankruptcy.

That Explains It All Department
Rep. John Murtha, Democrat of Pennsylvania, is being investigated for steering government funds toward favored contractors.  He told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “If I am corrupt, it is because I take care of my district.”
The Flip Side of Breaking Into Jail, here are a couple of noteworthy quotes from recent news stories:

Not-So-Safety-Net
Ron Pollack, Executive director, Families USA, an advocacy group seeking wider health coverage, speaking of Medicaid, which covers poor children, but — in most states — not able-bodied adults: “In 43 states, you can literally be penniless and you’re ineligible for Medicaid, so for these populations the safety net is more holes than webbing.”  A very effective word picture.

Radio talk jock Michael Savage, known for his angry radio diatribes against Hispanics and Muslims, on being banned from entry into the United Kingdom for being a messenger of hate: “My first thought was, damn, there goes the summer trip where I planned to have my dental work done. My second thought was, darn, there goes my visit to the restaurants of England for their great cuisine.”  Having played to two stereotypes in two sentences, he went on to add: “My views may be inflammatory, but they’re not violent in any way.”

And, Finally….

The New York Times scored a major coup by getting an interview with a leading Somali pirate — a man responsible for hijacking some 25 ships.  But the pirate, Abshir Boyah, told the newspaper he’s thinking about a career change since there is pressure at sea from an international armada of naval vessels and on land from fundamentalist Muslim warlords.  Boyah made clear which he fears the most, telling the Times: “Man, these Islamic guys want to cut my hands off.”  An effective word picture, if ever there was one.