Say What?

We have all suffered this syndrome at some point in our lives, some of us more so than others and still continue to be plagued by it. This illness proves expensive for those who let it spiral out of their control. And it is worse when it inflicts those under the media glare, like politicians.
It’s called the “foot-in-mouth syndrome”.
When you or I make remarks that we wish we hadn’t, it’s usually ok.  The person we dissed may get a little angry, but we can deal with that, right?  However, what happens when national leaders are inflicted with this disease? It causes embarrassment to the government and to their party, not to mention a dip in their popularity.
Gordon Brown’s labour party lost the UK general elections this year. But it couldn’t have been just the party’s performance that led to their loss. Brown himself has a lot to answer for since he is the face of the party. So, calling a possible vote a “bigot” is a complete no-no. Even a high school kid knows that much about politics. Except that’s what Britain’s former Prime Minister Gordon Brown did. Listen for yourself.

Now, we all know America is waging a war against terror in Afghanistan and Iraq. But what made news March this year was the “F-Bomb” dropped by none other than Vice President, Joe Biden himself.  Critics and media have called him everything, from a drunk to “gaffe-a-minute Joe”.  And he proved those critics right during the signing of the Health Care Reform Bill. Mr Biden let out an expletive on national television, which soon snowballed into an international controversy.  He told President Obama that signing the bill is a “big f*****g deal”.




Back home, things politicians said made huge news but they weren’t of national importance.  It was mainly politician making snide remarks about each other. That doesn’t come as a surprise; after all, that’s what politicians do best. But listen to what they said, anyway.
In May, BJP president Nitin Gadkari while addressing a rally let out what exactly he thought of SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and RJD leader Lalu Prasad. That they were like “dogs that lick the Congress’ feet.” Of course, he later clarified that that’s not what he meant.

That’s just one of Lalu’s worries. Last month, he was seen on a Hindi channel clarifying a comment attributed to him around a decade back. That he vowed to make Bihar roads “as smooth as Hema Malini’s cheeks”. He denies he made any such comments and says it was Atal Behari Vajpayee who put words in his mouth.