Oops! President's gaffe catches G-8 Colleagues off guardThe article itself is titled "Bush Pollution Gaffe Surprises G-8 Leaders".
This pushes the word "gaffe" into some new territory. The general definitive of a gaffe is a social or political blunder. A faux pas or a noticeable mistake. There is a component of a gaffe being accidental or at least unintended to offend. You make a mistake, like not realizing the mike is on, and say something not for broadcast. That's a gaffe. You get your mixes all worded up. That's a gaffe.
Obama gave a speech this week in which he neglected to ask people to support Clinton in retiring her campaign debt. That's a gaffe. Rev. Jackson expressed a desire to remove Obama's testicles on a live mike on FOX. That's a great gaffe. Taunting your allies about your lack of concern about the environment and ending it in a fist-punch ain't a gaffe.
When you use the word gaffe you also include the assumption that the person making the blunder has some remorse about what happened. Obama comes back to the mike to put in a final plug for Clinton and gets a laugh. Jackson regrets not so much for his comments but because they were aired. Cackling at the other wealthy nations about how much of a pig you are? I'd put that into insult territory.
Indeed, irony being what it is, the Times put this little nugget next to a larger piece, titled "Action on Warming left to "Next President" - Administration defies Supreme Court Ruling". This pretty much removes the idea the idea that our fist-pumping farewell was either accidental or regretted.
This wasn't a gaffe. This was Administration Policy.
It's going to take a long time to dig out from the damage inflicted by this administration.
More later,
