Correction: Bush didn’t almost electrocute himself on the White House lawn
posted at 6:40 pm on April 11, 2007 by Allahpundit
Yeah, but it sounds like something he’d do. Larger Truth, man.
The No. 2 U.S. automaker has apologised after [Ford CEO Alan] Mulally said his claim that he had intervened to prevent U.S. President George W. Bush from plugging an electrical cord into the hydrogen tank of an experimental Ford vehicle had been meant as a joke.
On Wednesday, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said, “The story wasn’t accurate, and I’ll just decline to comment further.”…
Ford said Mulally’s anecdote had been inspired by a video spoof featured on ABC-TV’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live” talk show that suggested Bush blew himself up by plugging the cord in the wrong outlet.
“I tried to tell a joke about it and proved I am no Jimmy Kimmel,” Mulally said in a statement that was released to Reuters on Wednesday. “It never occurred to me that it would get such wide play or be taken seriously.”…
“He just meant it as a joke. He kind of embellished the whole thing,” Hoyt said. “There was no danger whatsoever.”
Didn’t sound like a joke. Exit question: Is Mulally playing it off as a joke now at the White House’s request, or did he just make the whole thing up to commisserate with reporters about the Chimperor’s alleged moronitude?
Blowback
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Psshh. Next you’ll tell that Prof. Walter Murphy wasn’t really excluded from flying because he attended a peace march.
see-dubya on April 11, 2007 at 6:47 PM
I’d say the latter except he is a former Boeing guy, and the automakers’ interests are certainly more in line with the Republicans than the Democrats. Not the unions’ interests, the intersts of the corporations themselves.
RW Wacko on April 11, 2007 at 6:48 PM
Mulally lied, Bush was almost fried!
sweetlipsbutterhoney on April 11, 2007 at 6:49 PM
Ford sucks anyway. Rolling garbage.
Bad Candy on April 11, 2007 at 6:51 PM
The guy almost got taken out by a freakin’ pretzel before… pretty much anything is going to sound believable after that.
Watcher on April 11, 2007 at 6:54 PM
Gives a whole new mean to “Found On Road Dead” :D
William Teach on April 11, 2007 at 6:57 PM
Good rule of thumb these days is to leave the jokes to the comedians, they’ll get you in trouble every time.
Alden Pyle on April 11, 2007 at 6:57 PM
This is why a good salesman will never starve. Chumps will believe anything. Snopes is full of folk stories like this. The Ford Pres. made a joke, and everyone fell for it, the MSM latches onto anything that disses the President.
Even Allah says “Yeah, but it sounds like something he’d do”…sucka.
But really, did you know that Ford bought up the patents to an engine that runs on water and won’t release it to the public?
right2bright on April 11, 2007 at 7:04 PM
Here is another one…”sounds like something he would do”.
right2bright on April 11, 2007 at 7:13 PM
Agreed.
Good thing that Ford has such talented comedians on their board of directors. They certainly aren’t interested in making decent cars.
spmat on April 11, 2007 at 7:13 PM
Coptix.
Topsecretk9 on April 11, 2007 at 7:14 PM
When will the liberal blogs note this?
Ian on April 11, 2007 at 7:22 PM
William Teach, that made me think of another bumbling President.
PattyAnn on April 11, 2007 at 7:24 PM
Give them time, Ian, give them time. It’s nap time for the Libs after a hard day of seething.
William Teach on April 11, 2007 at 7:26 PM
It’s fake but accurate…undoubtedly this was leaked by Karl Rove.
ScottMcC on April 11, 2007 at 7:28 PM
Mulally was humor-impaired when he was with Boeing, too.
LB - the one that isn't LaShawn Barber on April 11, 2007 at 7:31 PM
See earlier quote that something just wasn’t right in the first story…..
CBarker on April 11, 2007 at 8:01 PM
Boeing employees DID laugh at him pretty regularly, though. I understand that some wax nostalgic for the “Howdy Doody” jokes.
CyberCipher on April 11, 2007 at 8:10 PM
Huh? Big A? Honestly, do you really think the White House would call up and say “um, tell ‘em it was a ‘botched joke’!” I sure hope that was said tongue-in-cheek.
Maybe I am just too tired to get this angle.
major john on April 11, 2007 at 9:37 PM
Mulally now must explain himself on Al Sharpton’s radio show…
Zorro on April 11, 2007 at 9:58 PM
The problem usually with a hydrogen engine was the storage of the fuel, it being explosive and all.
The Japanese actually invented a way to make hydrogen from water just prior to it’s use, eliminating the danger. They did this a couple years ago and put it in a prototype car.
Haven’t heard of it since.
91Veteran on April 11, 2007 at 10:35 PM
If you read the very first editions of this story, it sounded like a description of a busted joke (or reporters who didn’t know what was going on.)
htom on April 11, 2007 at 11:51 PM
Told ya so
Chuck on April 12, 2007 at 12:26 AM
The premise of the story is crap. There is no way a hydrogen port will be designed in a manner that will allow a spark near it. Never mind a battery charger, static electricity is a huge problem. Ford already had an Edsel. It doesn’t need a Hindenburg.
DuffBeer on April 12, 2007 at 1:11 AM
That might work if the people who are titled “comedians” were actually funny!
There material isn’t, they can’t help but use foul language throughout their “routine,” and they just aren’t funny!
As a result, I can’t bring myself to watch “comedians” any longer. All they are is President Bush bashing, conservative bashing, Indian, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Japanese, Caucasian, Christian, Jew, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, bashers, while praising the enemy.
Because most of them are so predictable I know what most “comedians” are going to say before they say it now, I know it isn’t funny, I know it will be offensive, and I know that if the audience laughs, they are either idiots, or they are drunk or on drugs, or they are little sheep following an applause sign.
William
William2006 on April 12, 2007 at 4:30 AM
Guideline for listening to, and reading news about, President Bush as-idiot.
If you hear a story making Bush out to be an idiot, wait, don’t believe it. It is more likely a fabrication perpetrated by the mainstream news media, picking up on a lie perpetrated by someone with Bush Derangement Syndrome.
William
William2006 on April 12, 2007 at 4:33 AM
He said WHAT!!!?!
Imus that guy immediately!
Ah, I love that phrase. The movie Kingpin came out too long ago. Getting “Munsened” is so passé.
JunkCoast on April 12, 2007 at 11:22 AM
So how long was this story out there? First we have the Kimmel video then we have a made up news story that give some truth to the image then it lingers for a week and finally a story comes out to say it was all just a joke… I have to wonder if this wasn’t all part of a organized propaganda campaign. Never mind, I really don’t have to wonder, that was a botched joke.
Gwillie on April 12, 2007 at 1:14 PM