Dumb and Stupid Quotes Thread: Idiotic Source and Context are Key.

[James Stuart]

abbott has a special minister of death stares, she will face of putin in italy, later this month

this is one dangerous foreign minister and dupty leader...

Spoiler :

Link to video.

News I'm hearing is that she may very well have taken Abbott's job by the time Putin gets here, but nothing official on that.

@Kyriakos: Abbott makes our previous PMs, most of whom were actually fairly decent public speakers, look like Cicero in comparison. Watching some of Abbotts speeches is like watching Simple Jack, if Simple Jack were the most powerful public figure in the state. And looked vaguely sinister at all times.

 

[Arakhor]

@Kyriakos: Abbott makes our previous PMs, most of whom were actually fairly decent public speakers, look like Cicero in comparison. Watching some of Abbotts speeches is like watching Simple Jack, if Simple Jack were the most powerful public figure in the state. And looked vaguely sinister at all times.

So, you're a fan, then?

 

[Kyriakos]

Link to video.

The most infamous of the short videos, surely

 

[Old Hippy]

The most infamous of the short videos, surely

that was 28 seconds of avoiding dumb quotes, the guy is a genius

 

[James Stuart]

So, you're a fan, then?

Even if I were a Liberal voter - which, just for the record, I am not - I could not support having such a blithering idiot in public office, let alone a position of such importance. And that's a view most Liberal voters I am acquainted with share. I am a fan of quality comedic television, however, and this guy is like George W. Bush with poison ivy on his tongue, and none of the charm.

Link to video.

The most infamous of the short videos, surely

That's a classic. A true "suppository of wisdom," that Abbott.

EDIT: A little back-story on that silence. Tony Abbott wears an earpiece in all of his public speaking engagements, which never gets commented on by the mainstream media. Seeing as Abbott is a former columnist for several News Corp rags, and Rupert Murdoch owns 70% of Australia's newspapers (at a minimum), it's not surprising that this avoids comment, even though he wore it during pre-election debates, while his predecessor Kevin Rudd was blasted for using notes during a debate before the National Press Club.

The favourite conspiracy theory about the earpiece is that it is his alleged mistress, chief of staff Peta Credlin, feeding him his lines. This theory is strengthened by excessive silences like that, Abbott's habit of tilting his head so that the ear with the earpiece in it is away from anything noise, and his occasional looks of panic followed by even greater idiocy than usual. Those moments of idiocy are generally assumed to be his attempt at stumbling through when the earpiece fails to work for one reason or another. The extended silence above is often believed to be the first incidence of earpiece failure.

 

[Kyriakos]

And he likely was thinking along the lines of "not sure if i followed what the reporter asked, but i will turn that all back at him with monumental indignation and spastic -out of supposed hard to not show entirely, anger- head movement"

 

[James Stuart]

And he likely was thinking along the lines of "not sure if i followed what the reporter asked, but i will turn that all back at him with monumental indignation and spastic -out of supposed hard to not show entirely, anger- head movement"

The "anger-head movement" (love that, by the way) is actually a common Abbott movement. It's bizarre.

 

[Cutlass]

"I have a question for all my friends who have served or are currently seving in our military...I cannot and do not understand why no action is being taken against our domestic enemy. I know he is supposedly the commander in chief, but the constitution gives you the authority. What am I missing?"
—

Missouri county recorder Debbie Dunnegan Waters, posting on Facebook

 

[gay_Aleks]

Well, Miss Debbie, you're missing that he's elected by some 100 million Americans.

And you're swearing by the rule of a constitution made when your nation was called "Thirteen Colonies". Currently, there's 51 states, and well, maybe, just maybe, it's outdated? You know?

 

[Light Cleric]

Currently, there's 51 states

This thread is feeding itself.

I think that's a sign it's come to life.

 

[gay_Aleks]

Wait, goddamn it. I did it again. For some reason, I always think that the USA has 49 contiguous land states plus Hawaii and Alaska, equalling to 51 states total.

My mistake.

 

[Hygro]

I thought you were making a politically deep point about how Congress is potentially-illegally preventing Puerto Rico from joining. They had their referendum to be a state and it finally passed.

 

[James Stuart]

I thought you were making a politically deep point about how Congress is potentially-illegally preventing Puerto Rico from joining. They had their referendum to be a state and it finally passed.

I've not heard anything about a move to block that statehood. Source?

 

[gay_Aleks]

I thought you were making a politically deep point about how Congress is potentially-illegally preventing Puerto Rico from joining. They had their referendum to be a state and it finally passed.

No, not really. I was making the comparison that at the time the Constitution was penned, USA was really a bunch of fledging colonies.

Now, as of 2014, it's what one would call a superpower.

 

[James Stuart]

We all know that there are only 49 states in the United States. I'll be in the deep cold ground before I recognise Missourah! Which that nut happens to hail from.

 

[Hygro]

I've not heard anything about a move to block that statehood. Source?

They're just ignoring them iirc..

 

[Light Cleric]

I think there was a lot of issues with how it was carried out and questions about the legitimacy of the ballot even within Puerto Rico. Not gonna sit here and pretend I'm an expert on the issue though.

 

[Hygro]

Let's pick sides and line up

 

[gay_Aleks]

We should just have taken Puerto Rico and Cuba from Spain while we had the chance.

 

[Antilogic]

Regarding Puerto Rico, the ballot had two questions: do you want to change the status of Puerto Rico, and if so, do you want statehood or independence. Basically, slim majorities voted to change and for statehood on both questions, but due to drop-off voters (i.e. people said no to the first question, then skipped the statehood v. independence question) it's not unambiguous.

It's also complicated by the fact that most people predict Puerto Rico would be Democratic-leaning, but locally the pro-statehood party is allied with the GOP while the lefties prefer the commonwealth arrangement. I feel that more national attention on it as well as Congressional action paving the way for statehood would make some headway, but our Congress can't even be bothered to vote on serious crises much less whether or not millions of Americans should have a say in Congress and the presidency.



However, I came here to post one of the gems from the Vermont Senate debate, which was truly epic.

"I'm a third generation born in Vermont — take that back — I was born in Brooklyn." -Scott Milne, in his introductory statement.