Since John McCain picked Sarah Palin to be his running mate, the story has taken on a life of its own. First there were blogs suggesting that her youngest child is actually her grandson. Then came revelations that Palin was under investigation for the firing of Public Safety Commisioner Walter Monegan. This was allegedly in response to his refusal to fire her former brother in law, an Alaska State Trooper. Dubbed Troopergate by the media, this issue has led to Palin hiring a lawyer as investigations get underway into allegations she abused her power.
Recently Peggy Noonan and Mike Murphy were caught on tape making disparaging remarks about Sarah Palin being picked to run for Vice President. Not realizing their mikes were on, Murphy and Noonan were heard making comments like: “It’s Over,” “Political Bullshit,” “Gimmicky” Of course after the story broke, Noonan issued an apology, well, sort of.
Anyway the story got me thinking about other embarrassing open mike incidents. The first one that comes to mind is Jesse Jackson. Unaware that his mike was on before a television interview, Jackson said “See Barack Obama been, um, talking down to black people… want to cut his nuts off ”.
George Bush and Blair were caught discussing the Middle East Crisis at the G8 Summit in St. Petersburg. Bush was heard commenting that he wanted Hizbullah to “stop doing this s**t” (PG 13 here folks).
Former President Ronal Reagan has two incidents on the list. During a voice level test Reagan joked, “My fellow Americans, ‘I’m pleased to tell you today that I’ve signed legislation that will outlaw Russia for ever. We begin bombing in five minutes”. On the second occasion he described Polish leaders as “a bunch of no good, lousy bums”, and said the American economy was in “a hell of a mess”.
Other notables include: Prince Charles (A great ball of charm, that man). Former British Prime Minister, John Major. Britney Spears (What! you shout, no way!), and former French President Jacques Chirac (yes even the cultured French have their moments too)
I guess my only question is: when will these people learn?
Tags: Barack Obama, Mike Murphy, open mike, Peggy Noonan, Sarah Palin, Troopergate, Walter Monegan
