End of Year “Shut the Hell Up” Awards 2007: The Blackwhite Award
Posted by Ray Church on 01.08.2008
Part one of an 8 part series, as 411Politics votes on the dumbest things said in politics this year.
Welcome once again to the End of Year Shut the Hell Up Awards. I'll be doing something different this year, posting each award separately in some vain attempt to protect my sanity.
For those who don't know, we instituted the Shut the Hell Up Awards at the end of last year for the dumbest things said in politics for the year. They are divided over 8 categories:
1. the Blackwhite Award (for blatant untruths)
2. the Pet Goat Award (for general stupidity)
3. the Reality Used to Be a Friend of Mine Award
4. the Career Suicide Award
5. the George Allen Award for Thinly Veiled Bigotry (new this year)
6. the Heartless Bastard Award
7. the Ward Churchill Award for Gratuitous Analogy
8. the Willie Hortan Award for New Lows in Political Advertising.
All categories are voting on by a committee of 411politics writers. This year the committee consisted of Joe Rivett, Brandon Crowe, Dan Martin, Ryan Latimer, Mark Radulich and, of course, yours truly Ray Church. My thanks for their assistance this year, and for there always insightful comments.
Each writer got to vote for their three top choices. A first place vote was worth 5 points, second place 3 points and third place 1 point.
You are, of course, welcome to post comments for people you think we missed in this award, but read the category clearly, as your favourite dumb quote may well nominated in a later category.
The Blackwhite Award
The Blackwhite Award goes to that statement that most contradicts established fact by a person who really should know better. Last year the award went to the producers of the Bill O'Reilly show, who managed to label Republican Mark Foley as a Democrat, right at the height of the Mark Foley scandal. This year, politicians came back to the fore in the category that is really part of their job description.
Highly Commended:
Although first and second place were fairly clear cut this year, but third place was separated by 3 points. With that in mind, we have two nominees for highly commended.
Hillary Clinton
During Mr. Hsu's many years of active participation in the political process, there has been no question about his integrity or his commitment to playing by the rules, and we have absolutely no reason to call his contributions into question
Ryan Latimer: (rimshot) She'll be here all night, folks
If you don't know the background to this (and shame on you for not reading my last column), Norman Hsu was a Clinton "bundler", one of those people who raises large amounts of money for a candidate. Hsu, it was subsequently revealed, was the mastermind behind a pyramid scheme back in the early 90's, an event that still had him wanted by the law.
And then there was…
George W. Bush
In August, I think it was, Mike McConnell came in and said "we have some new information". He didn't tell me what the information was.
Dan Martin: He had that political capital to spend after 2004. What did he spend it on? Overconfidence
Yup, that was the President explaining why he was still labeling Iran a credible threat while it was becoming abundantly clear that the National Intelligence Estimate was going to contradict him.
So, ignoring a National Intelligence Estimate and trumping up the threat of another country so he can push for war… surely this would get him into the award books this year. Well, one reason he didn't may be the quality of his opponents this year, but Ryan Latimer may well have had a much better answer.
Ryan Latimer: You know what the sad part is? None of this is shocking or angering in any way anymore. It's almost as if we've all gotten used to it.
2nd Runner Up
Bob Novak
She was well known in many parts of the town that she worked for the CIA. She had not been a covert agent for some time. She wasn't really an agent ever, of course. She was covert at one time. The subtitle on the cover of the book is "My Life as a Spy." Of course she was never a spy….
That was Bob Novak, explaining how Valerie Plame was not covert in the least.
Dan Martin: At least he did not cuss out James Carvelle again over this.
That's true, he didn't, but the ultimate irony for this statement was the release of Plame's book itself, which was released with long black lines through it, a condition of the CIA allowing Plame to release the book in the first place.
I'll let Joe have the last word.
Joe Rivett: Some of the quotes are wishy washy but Valerie Plame was covert. End of story.
1st Runner Up
Rudy Giuliani
I was at ground zero as often, if not more, than most of the workers. I was there working with them. I was there guiding things. I was there bringing people there. But I was exposed to exactly the same things they were exposed to. So in that sense, I'm one of them.
Joe Rivett: Assssssssssssssssssssshoooooooooooooooooooole
Yup, that's about the size of it. I really don't have much to add this time, so I'll just let the other commentators here at 411 take over.
Brandon Crow: Rudy, Rudy, Rudy… Is it any wonder that most of the country has come to know you as the caricature that Joe Biden painted—a noun, a verb and 9/11.
Dan Martin: Solidarity gets a new definition from Giuliani.
Still, it was not enough to take the gold this year.
Drum roll please…
The 2007 Blackwhite Award Winner
Karl Rove
One of the untold stories about the war, is why did the United States Congress, the United States Senate vote on the war resolution in the fall of 2002… This administration was opposed to it…
Welcome to revisionist history 101. Caught in an administration that made a historically bad decision to declare war on another country under false pretences? Blame the other guy. Even Rove's on allies had trouble swallowing this one, but no more than our own commentators here at 411.
Joe Rivett: I highly doubt the administration was opposed to the authorization
Brandon Crow: Come on, seriously, do we need any commentary or explanation for this one? Rove, or anybody from Bush Co. trying to dribble this sheer lie has obviously mastered Orwellian doublespeak. Bush and company should just be elated that they only made it to second place here. Lucky for them, there's another Republican on the nominations list that said something even dumberererer.
Ryan Latimer: That doesn't even make sense, Rove. In, like, a lot of ways.
Well, that's the Blackwhite Award. Tune in tomorrow for the "Pet Goat" Award, where we'll look at the plain stupid things that were said this year. Feel free to add your comments at the bottom and tell us those untruths that we missed.
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