Cowen in white house speech gaffe

thomasj

From Breaking News http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/eyaumhkfeycw/

18/03/2009 - 07:11:18
Brian Cowen was just a few paragraphs into his address at the White House St Patrick’s Day celebration yesterday when he realised something sounded far too familiar.

It turned out he was repeating the speech US President Barack Obama had just given.

Mr Cowen was set to speak twice at the White House last night because there were two different parties going on at the executive mansion. No matter – he would give the same speech to the two different audiences.

But he was 20 seconds into his second address when it dawned on him that he was giving word for word the speech that Mr Obama had just read from the same teleprompter.

Mr Cowen stopped and looked back at the president to say: “That’s your speech.”

Mr Obama laughed and returned to the podium to offer what might have been Mr Cowen’s remarks. In doing so, Mr Obama thanked President Obama for inviting everyone over.

I had to laugh when reading this!

Liam Byrne

I blame those damn American "communications experts" that did both Obama's and Fianna Fail's websites......they were bound to get mixed up at some stage!

I mean, isn't it obvious ? "black, inspirational, in control and hope-inspiring" could EASILY refer to either of the two leaders.... :rolleyes:

jmayo

Liam Byrne wrote: »

I blame those damn American "communications experts" that did both Obama's and Fianna Fail's websites......they were bound to get mixed up at some stage!

I mean, isn't it obvious ? "black, inspirational, in control and hope-inspiring" could EASILY refer to either of the two leaders.... :rolleyes:

Ahh FFS go easy on the man.
It had been a long day, jet lag had probably kicked in, the pressue of being in the White Hosue and the free bar would have made the situation difficult.
And for God's sake you can't expect him to remember which speech he was supposed to read.
Reading and more importantly understanding what your are reading doesn't seem to FFs strong point :rolleyes:

turgon

jmayo wrote: »

And for God's sake you can't expect him to remember which speech he was supposed to read.

Yeah the guy has a habit of forgetting things, like how to govern his country correctly. Oops forgot, he never knew that in the first place.

Raiser

Well Cowen is our Taoiseach by default - Perhaps he thought Bertie had pulled some more strings and installed him as the next President of the United States of America?

- Nothing would shock me at this stage of the sorry, sorry dog and pony show tragedy.

old boy

what do you expect from a pig, only a grunt

FTA69

Give him a break, I'm sure plenty of people were talking absolute sh*t on Paddy's Day, I know I was anyway.

Dannyboy83

The Germans have a professional to represent them.
The Chinese have professionals to represent them.
Even the Americans finally got a professional to represent them.

What do we get?

A thundering galoot from Offally.

Christ, we must look like a clever bunch.

Rowley Birkin QC

Is there any youtoobage of this??

TomRooney

thomasj wrote: »

From Breaking News http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/eyaumhkfeycw/



I had to laugh when reading this!

BRIAN COWEN IS A DONKEY, he has the focus level of a gold fish, and the intellect of a rock.

Valmont

TomRooney wrote: »

BRIAN COWEN IS A DONKEY, he has the focus level of a gold fish, and the intellect of a rock.

Bit harsh considering you obviously don't know the man. He is clearly not a donkey and I'd say that a rock has an intelligence quotient of zero and Mr.Cowen is probably above 100. Could you provide a source as to the focus levels of goldfish? This inane "politician abuse" is so very tedious at this stage.

JonathanAnon

Well anyone can make a mistake, but I thought his speech lacked passion. He looked more like a school kid reading out a book report.

old boy

Valmont wrote: »

Bit harsh considering you obviously don't know the man. He is clearly not a donkey and I'd say that a rock has an intelligence quotient of zero and Mr.Cowen is probably above 100. Could you provide a source as to the focus levels of goldfish? This inane "politician abuse" is so very tedious at this stage.

but he does the wrong thing all the time every time in front of world wide audiences, take a look at past posts

sceptre

Yeah, when he was on Leno he compared his bowling to something from the special olympics.

Oh hang on, that wasn't Cowen, it was Barack Obama.

As long as teleprompters are used and other people write politicians' speeches (neither of which is likely to change), this is going to happen. Non-story apart from the funny pages tbh. Find a real stick to beat the guy with, it's not as though there aren't relevant real ones with which to beat him around the garden.

thebman

TomRooney wrote: »

BRIAN COWEN IS A DONKEY, he has the focus level of a gold fish, and the intellect of a rock.

Actually he's a qualified lawyer isn't he. As far as I remember, you have to be somewhat intelligent to become a lawyer.

He isn't stupid, people just keep reading crap newspapers and think its funny and want to get in on the act.

Sad really, I don't like the guy as a politician because he did what Bertie said which got us into this mess in order to become Taoiseach. Hard to appreciate a man after that.

He isn't stupid though, it would be a mistake to think that. He doesn't care about his appearance much that is for sure and its something he should work on as he isn't a charismatic man.

Wasn't the wrong speech on the teleprompter, hardly his fault. He read a few lines and realised it wasn't his speech, he could have gotten 5 minutes in and not realised it. This isn't the first time this has happened either I imagine. Non-story and a lot of crap to focus on this when there are bigger mistakes to focus on like the Vat increase that is driving business up north.

Sully

Not a fan of Cowen & Co in the slightest (never have been, never will - sooner they get out of office the better) but an easy mistake to happen all the same. I also don't see the need for any politician to be referred to in such derogatory way that is presented in this thread. Its got very little to do with being a politician.

Doesn't Obama write his own speeches? Or at least part of them, no? Or is he just a good speaker but a poor author? Would have thought we Irish were not that sophisticated!

thebman

I think its shocking the negative publicity the newspapers have given Cowen for being basically from Offaly and having to make hard decisions in a recession (admittedly that he was partly to blame).

No other Taoiseach that I can remember has had these trash rags mock them the way he has and people seem to be buying that crap which is all the more shocking.

At least slam him for the facts and not his bloody looks/odour/random meaningless bloopers.

He has made massive mistakes in previous posts and in his current post in appointing people and the people he has appointed have made massive mistakes. These are the things to criticise him for not the tabloid bull.

The Raven.

Sully wrote: »

Not a fan of Cowen & Co in the slightest (never have been, never will - sooner they get out of office the better) but an easy mistake to happen all the same.

I can't imagine how anyone could be a fan of Cowen & Co. All he has to do is resign and let someone more capable do the job. I doubt if anyone begged him to go on this junket. I think he made a total blunder in this instance. Surely he must have at least read his own speech beforehand :rolleyes:!!

Doesn't Obama write his own speeches? Or at least part of them, no? Or is he just a good speaker but a poor author? Would have thought we Irish were not that sophisticated!

Apparently not. They are written by 27 year old Jon Favreau, his chief speech writer. Obama is good at reading teleprompters but falls flat on his face when the prompter gets stuck.

I think 'we Irish' can be quite sophisticated. I'd love to write a speech for Brian Cowen and tell it like it is :eek:;):eek:!!! He'd be halfway through it before he was any the wiser :cool:!!

Trouser_Press

The Raven. wrote: »

Obama is good at reading teleprompters but falls flat on his face when the prompter gets stuck.

Links? I take it you missed his teleprompter-less townhall meetings?

thebman wrote: »

As far as I remember, you have to be somewhat intelligent to become a lawyer.

Really? :rolleyes:

The Raven.

Trouser_Press wrote: »

Links?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omHUsRTYFAU&feature=related

I take it you missed his teleprompter-less townhall meetings

Links?

Back on topic: Cowen is probably not used to teleprompters. He seems more at home with a wad of paper notes !!

Trouser_Press

The Raven. wrote: »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omHUsRTYFAU&feature=related

That's the best you can do?

You're right, he's much less articulate than your hero:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NTPG5OXPZo&feature=related



PS Watch tonight's 60 Minutes some time......a teleprompter-less President with a brain: SHOCKER!!!

thebman

The Raven. wrote: »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omHUsRTYFAU&feature=related



Links?

Back on topic: Cowen is probably not used to teleprompters. He seems more at home with a wad of paper notes !!

Found this Youtube comment funny considering this thread:

On St. Patrick's Day, Obama gave the wrong speech and litterally thanked himself. LOL! He didn't realize it because he was just reading off the Teleprompter.

Trouser_Press

thebman wrote: »

Found this Youtube comment funny considering this thread:

Good Lord, has Boards.ie mutated in to Freerepublic.com?

So you didn't get the joke? Cowen started reading Obama's speech on the teleprompter, after much giggling Obama stood up and started by thanking "President Obama" for visiting the White House. It. Was. A. Joke.

:rolleyes:

x in the city

Ireland will never be taken seriously with a buffoon like Cowen in charge.

We are all doomed...

The Raven.

Trouser_Press wrote: »

That's the best you can do?

There are others. Here’s an even better one. Obama is being called ‘the teleprompt president’ in America. Apparently he uses a teleprompter for every speech, even at parties.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jt5dY3vVoZ0&feature=related

You're right, he's much less articulate than your hero:

LOL. My ‘hero’? George Bush? That’s news to me :rolleyes:!!

Trouser_Press wrote: »

Good Lord, has Boards.ie mutated in to Freerepublic.com?

So you didn't get the joke? Cowen started reading Obama's speech on the teleprompter, after much giggling Obama stood up and started by thanking "President Obama" for visiting the White House. It. Was. A. Joke.

They are now trying to say that it was a joke. Here is what happened, according to Sky News:

Obama Thanks Himself

juuge

x in the city wrote: »

Ireland will never be taken seriously with a buffoon like Cowen in charge.

I watched Obama on the Jay Leno show and I couldn't help feeling how wretchedly inadequate our Brian Cowen is. A man that can hardly stand up straight yet alone lead a country. - Surely we deserve better than this! and to think Cowen gets more money than Barak Obama - what the f**k is going on??

Trouser_Press

The Raven. wrote: »

Obama is being called ‘the teleprompt president’ in America.

Classic! Who in "America" is calling him the 'teleprompter president'? His enemies! You know, the birth cert brigade. :rolleyes:

The Raven. wrote: »

They are now trying to say that it was a joke. Here is what happened, according to Sky News:

Obama Thanks Himself

Okay.....whose account do I believe? Sky News or Fox News (who also didn't get the joke), both owned by Murdoch, or my Republican-voting brother who was in the room at the time and witnessed the incident?

I know, it's a shocker: right-wing Conservatives have (a) no sense of humour and (b) lie.

:eek:

thebman

Trouser_Press wrote: »

Good Lord, has Boards.ie mutated in to Freerepublic.com?

So you didn't get the joke? Cowen started reading Obama's speech on the teleprompter, after much giggling Obama stood up and started by thanking "President Obama" for visiting the White House. It. Was. A. Joke.

:rolleyes:

No I got the joke just pointing out the humour in other people saying the same thing about Obama.

The reality is it makes no difference. It was a small error Cowen made.

If him being able to recognise his speech on a teleprompter was our biggest worry then I'd be all for crucifying him over it but his ability to recognise his speech on a teleprompter over someone else's (given the error should never have occurred in the first place because the person working the teleprompter shouldn't have put up the wrong speech) but the reality is we have much bigger problems to worry about and he has made much bigger mistakes that we should be looking at.

This is a bloody tabloid sideshow.

DublinWriter

Ireland's economy is heading for meltdown and Cowen can't even read a speech off a tele-prompter when taking a bowl of vegetation to the US President?

Guys, we're going down, light 'em if you got 'em.