Stupid Statements (Part VII)

More stupid statements by people who weren’t thinking straight when they opened their mouths to speak.

Jackie Chan is a great Chinese actor but he shouldn’t make public statements. He acts well for a guy who can put his two feet in his mouth. In April, 2009 he made the following statement while speaking at a business forum. “Freedoms in Hong Kong and Taiwan made those societies chaotic and gradually I am beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled.” That got about as much approval from the Chinese that are free as from a prankster that replaces birthday candles with firecrackers.

As a television show was being shown across Italy, a portion of it emerged showing Berlusconi, Italy’s prime minister touring the ruins of the April, 2009 earthquake in Abruzzo, which killed nearly 300 people. It showed him posing for a picture with firemen in front of a damaged church. He suddenly looked at the only woman in the group – an attractive local official – and loudly said, "Can I feel up the lady a bit?" The male Italians might have found that funny but I think the women in Italy found it quite offensive. It never seems to fail. There are stupid politicians everywhere who, when touring a disaster site, manage to say something really stupid on camera.

Hermina Anderson, 45, a former health care worker at a Mississauga, Ontario long-term care facility was charged with assaulting an 84-year-old Alzheimer's patient in her wheelchair with a television remote control. She was convicted of assault and assault with a weapon. The victim suffered from severe cuts and bruises to her upper body. When Ms. Anderson was asked if she had anything to say prior to being sentenced, she said; "I went into this profession because I care for the elderly and wanted to make a contribution to the community." The care she gave that unfortunate woman was not unlike what chickens can expect when the fox enters the pen. Her contribution to the community is akin to what you can expect when a hurricane smashes its way into your town. She was sentenced to 30 days in jail where she could make her contribution to the correctional facilities by mopping floors.

One would hope that politicians act in an honest manner when running for office but alas, that doesn’t always happen. Take the case of Ottawa Mayor, Larry O'Brien who told his former rival, Terry Kilrea he could have just sabotaged his candidacy instead of bribing him to drop out of the race. That and other statements got him arrested and charged for allegedly claiming to have influence over the federal government or a cabinet minister in order to convince Kilrea to quit the 2006 mayoral race. He was also charged with trying to negotiate a government appointment for Kilrea in exchange for his withdrawal from the mayoralty race. The mayor’s exact words were; “Some very prominent Conservatives are supporting me and they would like us to come to a business arrangement today where only one of us is in the race.” When his rival hinted that the only other position he would be suited for was on the National Parole Board, O’Brien replied, “What if I can make that happen?” O'Brien called him several hours later to say he had talked to John Reynolds, who was co-chair of the national campaign for the Conservative Party of Canada in 2006, and that Kilrea was ‘in the queue’ for the appointment. He also told him the job was a five-year posting with an annual salary of $110,000. It is against the law in Canada to bribe a rival into withdrawing his name from a political race. O’Brien reached for the stars and now he has come up with a handful of mud.

During the 1996 appearance in a Montreal courtroom, former Canadian prime minister, Brian Mulroney was asked if he had ever discussed with Schreiber (a former arms dealer) whether he had been paid substantial sums for Airbus Industries. Mulroney's response to the question was: "The fact that Mr. Schreiber may or may not have had any business dealings was not my principal preoccupation. I had never had any dealings with him." In actual fact, he had previous dealings with him. He later admitted that he accepted cash payments from Schreiber on three occasions in 1993-94, totaling $225,000. His explanation on May 15, 2009 at another hearing was that he gave that answer in the context of the Airbus affair. If that was so, then he should have said so in 1996 instead of saying that he never had any dealings with Schreiber. It would appear that he was trying to hide information about his cash payments he received from Schreiber, thusly damaging his credibility.

Terri-Lynne McClintic was charged with kidnapping and first degree murder of an eight-year-old girl in Woodstock, Ontario. The little girl was earlier murdered by her boyfriend. A closed circuit TV camera caught her walking with the little girl on the sidewalk of one of Woodstock’s streets. The image was shown around the country on TV. She was wearing a white coat at the time of the abduction. But after investigators released the surveillance video, McClintic said to a friend, “You know, that could be me walking with that little girl.” Who says anything like that? And she said that a few times. This made her friend suspicious so she called the police and the rest is history. McClintic knew that she would be suspect and tried to sweep her friend’s concerns away by being glib. Her statement backfired.

When police investigators are investigating the disappearance or murder of a child or spouse, they also investigate those closest to the missing or murdered person so that they can concentrate their investigative efforts elsewhere if they are satisfied that those closest to the victims are innocent. Needless to say, they have to use tact because in many cases, the closest persons to the missing or murdered victims are innocent and are under tremendous strain. Unfortunately, there are real dolts in police services who are totally inept on how to investigate crimes. They think that by threatening everyone, the real abductor or murderer will confess. A case in point is the one where an eight-year-old girl in Woodstock, Ontario was missing. A rather stupid police investigator on the case said in questioning the girl’s distraught mother, “You are my prime suspect. I have been doing this job as long as you have been alive and I have never seen a mother behave like you.” As it turned out, it was two neighbours that actually abducted and murdered the little girl. What is amazing is that the police dolt had actually been serving on the police force that long as a homicide investigator. Anyone with his lack of brain power should have been shipped out of that unit soon after he got into it.

Pierre Poilievre, a Tory MP known for his partisan attacks and bare-knuckle parliamentary style was facing accusations of racism after he twice used the term "tar baby" in the House of Commons on May 29, 2009. He said; "On that side of the House, they have the man who fathered the carbon tax, put it up for adoption to his predecessor and now wants a paternity test to prove the tar baby was never his in the first place." The phrase “tar baby” is a derogatory phrase for “black baby”. Poilievre said he wasn't aware that the term had racist connotations. Ignorance isn’t really excusable when comments like that are made.

Music producer Phil Spector, 69, was sentenced to 19 years to life in prison for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson. He had met the woman only a few hours earlier for the first time before she was shot to death by Spector in his mansion in February 2003. She had been shot through the mouth. Spector's chauffeur, the key witness, said he heard a gunshot, then saw Spector emerge holding a gun and heard him say: "I think I killed somebody." When someone has been shot through the mouth, one can presume that the person who fired the gun has killed his victim. One doesn’t have to ‘think’ they did it.

Frank Mancini, 63, a fast-talking man lives in the middle of George St., in Toronto on one floor of a moribund building that has a backyard full of junk. In May 2009, Hydro One shut off the power in his rooming house, and kept it off for three days until tenants complained to City Hall, and the fire department stepped in. He admitted owing $10,000 to hydro. Of the 22 rooms in that flophouse, and there are few other words to describe it, only 10 are rented. He has over $3 million invested in abandoned buildings blighting George St., and he claims that he pays $40,000 a year in taxes but he refuses to explain where he gets his cash flow. Two years ago, on a hot spring day, there was television footage of a surprised-looking Frank Mancini being slapped in handcuffs after the discovery; precipitated by a strong and putrid stench in the air caused by more than 100 decaying sheep skins being stored in his George St. laneway, purportedly waiting to be picked up by a disposal outfit. When the cops came to visit, Frank Mancini had answered the door wearing nary a stitch of clothing. Later he told the news media, “My son's a lawyer. My daughter-in-law is a doctor at St. Mike's. Well, if my kids turned out good, then I must be good, right?" Wrong. Lots of rotten people have great kids who turn out good.

More stupid statements will be printed in my blog later.