Or the reputed Dan Quayle-ism about wishing he had learned Latin so he could speak to people in Latin America.
I preserved on tape a wonderful moment which probably doesn’t qualify as the dumbest thing ever, but it’s good fun. It’s an interview with our then Prime Minister John Major, the squarest person who ever lived, just before the 1997 election. What makes it funny is that the interview was for ‘youth’ TV and all the politicians were keen to show how cool and trendy and ‘in touch’ they were.
Anyways, the interviewer asked him for his views on drugs, and he said “I’m against them. I think they’re wicked”.
A phrase which - to the target audience - sounded like a hearty endorsement! [sub]Okay, so it’s not that funny. Sulk[/sub].
I shudder at the thought of delving into the morass of vapid pronouncements that have wafted from the heads of some of the imbeciles that have been graced with the title of “celebrity”. This is a truly horrifying thread title.
Tragically, he didn’t say it. It was a joke made up by someone else. (Amazingly, it’s since been attributed to Bush 2.0, proving some people need Snopes more than others.)
However, he DID say the “potato/potatoe” thing and that’s got to be right up there. He also really did flub the United Negro College Fund motto as “What a terrible thing it is to lose one’s mind.”
Baseball announcer Jerry Coleman, of course, said on radio, “That’s a deep fly ball, Winfield is going back, back… he hits his head against the wall! It’s rolling towards second base!”
There’s a little book of dumb things that George W. has said. My favorite is “I believe the humans and the fishes can coexist peacefully.” For context, he was speaking to a fishermans’ association, but it still has a delightful surreal ring to it.
I was heartbroken when I heard that this Mariah Carey quote:
“When I watch TV and see those poor starving kids all over the world, I can’t help but cry. I mean, I’d love to be skinny like that, but not with all those flies and death and stuff.”
I’m too lazy to look up the exact quote, but i gotta go with Alec Baldwin suggesting that Henry Hyde be publicly stoned to death for his testimony against Clinton. Also, he said something along the lines that if Bush were ever elcted president, he(Baldwin) would leave the country. Which, of course, he didn’t.
Again, sorry if the quotes are paraphrased, I did actually witness the stoning quote on Letterman.