Mitt Romney’s “You’re Fired” Prank

As seen on Phatman and Little Boy:


Romney says he’s not running for ‘Pastor in Chief,’ discusses prankster reputation

…The former Massachusetts governor also discussed his reputation as a prankster.

Romney has apologized in recent days for what he described as high school “hijinks” — after a Washington Post story claimed he had cut a fellow student’s hair while attending school decades ago. Romney, though, has said he doesn’t recall that specific incident and the family of the alleged victim, who has since died of cancer, has disputed the accuracy of the story.

In the CBN interview, Romney explained some of his more common pranks — like “short sheeting” a bed, which is when the sheets in a bed are folded improperly to make it impossible for the person in the bed to stretch out.

“We have in our family of course, a number of things that we do like pushing people out of a boat, short sheeting their bed, putting corn flakes in their bed, a lot of jokes and tricks that we play among ourselves,” Romney said.

The candidate said he once had a state trooper who short-sheeted his bed once — but explained how he returned the prank. Continue reading “Mitt Romney’s “You’re Fired” Prank”

Gossip as News in Presidential Politics

How the Drudge Report, With Its Condoleezza Rice “˜Scoop,”™ Again Rules the Media
by Lauren Ashburn
The Daily Beast
July 15, 2012

His Condi Rice item went viral despite its utter implausibility. Lauren Ashburn on why the press is held captive by the conservative blogger”™s thinly sourced gossip.

The headline screamed across the homepage of the Drudge Report: ROMNEY NARROWS VP CHOICES; CONDI EMERGES AS FRONTRUNNER.

Matt Drudge””the shadowy, fedora-wearing Internet gossip machine who has boasted from day one that he is a conservative””crowed that his sources revealed former secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is at the top of the veep list. He even went so far as to punctuate the scoop with an exclamation point!

Bull. I”™m a good enough poker player to know a campaign bluff when I see one. The claim is so ludicrous as to be laughable, and Drudge must know it considering his reported alliance with the Romney campaign.

Yet in typical fashion, the media””knowing the claim had little basis in reality””went along for the ride. The Today show, Good Morning America, CNN, Fox, MSNBC, even The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, along with plenty of others, took the bait and devoted countless minutes and column inches to the tale. Continue reading “Gossip as News in Presidential Politics”