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A joke, or not a joke?

Joke or not a joke -

  • Obviously a joke - anyone can see it was a joke

    Votes: 1 5.3%
  • A bad joke - she is a horrible comedian; she's not serious

    Votes: 2 10.5%
  • Obviously NOT a joke - she was dead serious

    Votes: 5 26.3%
  • Not a joke but a mistake - her press Secty is covering up

    Votes: 4 21.1%
  • Other (explain)

    Votes: 7 36.8%

  • Total voters
    19

Ockham

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On Tues, 9/27 Governor Beverly Perdue of North Carolina, at a speech made the following statement:

Listen to the 1 minute clip below:

http://media2.newsobserver.com/smedia/2011/09/28/10/28/11veHD.So.156.mp3


At 5:17pm that same day, Governor Perdue's Press Secretary Chris Mackey claimed the governor was just having fun.

Chris Mackey said:
“Come on … Gov. Perdue was obviously using hyperbole to highlight what we can all agree is a serious problem: Washington politicians who focus on their own election instead of what’s best for the people they serve,” Mackey said in an email to TheDC.

Read more: Bev Perdue | NC Governor | Suspend Elections | Jobs | The Daily Caller


After listening to the audio clip and reading the retraction:

Was Governor Beverly Perdue serious about suspending the 2012 elections or was she using hyperbole and joking?
 
Was Governor Beverly Perdue serious about suspending the 2012 elections or was she using hyperbole and joking?

I can't imagine that she was serious. She definitely shouldn't quit her day job to do stand up if that was a joke, though.
 
Other - Hyperbole - not seriously suggesting suspending election, but highlighting the problem of running for office while serving.
 
If it was a joke it sure as hell was not funny worth a damn.

This is the thinking of more than just this woman of questionable loyalty to this Nation our Constitution and I do believe that in saying this she should be removed from office and banned for life from ever holding office again, because she violated her oath of office.
 
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You know what's missing for me? Listening to the mp3 I hear nothing to suggest it was a joke. She was dead pan. No chuckle, and you know how when you listen closely to a voice being recorded you can actually tell if they are smiling because the words and tone changes as does the inflection of the words. That was 100% absent in that recording. Without actually seeing video of it, it sounds to me like she was serious as hell.
 
I can't imagine that she was serious. She definitely shouldn't quit her day job to do stand up if that was a joke, though.

I'm not asking you to imagine it - listed to the sound recording and make a determination.
 
Democratic North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue says she was being sarcastic when she suggested this week that congressional elections be suspended for two years to try to solve Washington gridlock.

Perdue spokeswoman Chris Mackey said Perdue was using hyperbole when she made the suggestion Tuesday. She said it would give members of Congress more breathing room to make decisions instead of worrying about another term in office. She was responding to an audience question.

On Wednesday, the News & Record of Greensboro (Perdue: 'My point was one of sarcasm' : News-Record.com : Greensboro & the Triad's most trusted source for local news and analysis ) says Perdue told reporters she's only expressing voters' frustrations with elected leaders who aren't working together to solve the nation's problems. She says her sarcastic comments are not worth a bigger discussion.


NC gov: Just joking about suspending elections - Yahoo! News
 
Such an uproar from the masses.. lol

Good grief, she is right. There are so many politicians that are more concerned about the elections and trash talking their counterparts than really getting down to work.

But then if we didn't have elections so frequently what the hell would we all argue about?
 
Other - Hyperbole - not seriously suggesting suspending election, but highlighting the problem of running for office while serving.

This. This is a classic case of some trying to make a mountain out of nothing for political reasons.
 
Another option should be added to the poll: "Do you give a **** one way or the other?"
 
She was probing for a response, I don' think it was a joke...she said it twice. Now was she serious, who knows but the response she got probably wasn't expected...get a fork she done in NC. Just imagine a republican saying such a thing.
 
Other

Was it a joke/hyperbole or a serious proposal? It's hard to say from just the audio without knowing the entire context.

This could have been a prepared speech or it could have been an off-the-cuff comment. Often politicians don't write their own speeches. If it was a prepared speech that she was reading then it could possibly be an example of a poorly delivered speech. On the other hand, if this was in response to an audience question or something like that then it shows an extreme ignorance of and/or contempt for Article I section 2 of the US Constitution and is an insult to the American people.
 
Other

Was it a joke/hyperbole or a serious proposal? It's hard to say from just the audio without knowing the entire context.

This could have been a prepared speech or it could have been an off-the-cuff comment. Often politicians don't write their own speeches. If it was a prepared speech that she was reading then it could possibly be an example of a poorly delivered speech. On the other hand, if this was in response to an audience question or something like that then it shows an extreme ignorance of and/or contempt for Article I section 2 of the US Constitution and is an insult to the American people.
Well said and I couldn't agree more.
 
I don't think it was a joke. Ockham is right, there was nothing in her tone of voice to suggest that she was joking. I think it was just hyperbole to support a point. It wasn't well thought out, but I don't think it's that big a deal myself.
 
The idea she was serious just does not stand up to any kind of examination. She clearly could not pass something like that, and bringing it up seriously would have the exact kind of negative reaction certain people are trying to tie to this. So either she is painfully stupid(she isn't), or she did not mean it literally. Since she used to comment to illustrate a problem, taken in context and looked at sensibly, she clearly was not suggesting literally suspending elections.

People are being painfully silly over this. I think the reaction to this is a classic case of facts be damned, let's smear some democrats.
 
The idea she was serious just does not stand up to any kind of examination. She clearly could not pass something like that, and bringing it up seriously would have the exact kind of negative reaction certain people are trying to tie to this. So either she is painfully stupid(she isn't), or she did not mean it literally. Since she used to comment to illustrate a problem, taken in context and looked at sensibly, she clearly was not suggesting literally suspending elections.

People are being painfully silly over this. I think the reaction to this is a classic case of facts be damned, let's smear some democrats.
actually and currently lets smear all the politicians because currently their all hacks(appears to be) and self aggrandizing (which we witness on the media everyday) self anointed Deity's (they think their sh!! don't stink).
 
This is hyperbole or dripping sarcasm (both usually stated without smiling). I think she meant to shock people into paying attention. She's commenting that politicians are spending too much time backstabbing and mud-slinging each other to get any real work done. So what happens? She gets mud slung at her, thus proving her point.
 
I have never cared for her anyways.
 
oops wrong topic:)
 
You know what's missing for me? Listening to the mp3 I hear nothing to suggest it was a joke. She was dead pan. No chuckle, and you know how when you listen closely to a voice being recorded you can actually tell if they are smiling because the words and tone changes as does the inflection of the words. That was 100% absent in that recording. Without actually seeing video of it, it sounds to me like she was serious as hell.
Methinks you have your partisan hearing aid on. If she were a Republican you would dismiss what she said.
 
Methinks you have your partisan hearing aid on. If she were a Republican you would dismiss what she said.

If she were a Republican I'd say the exact same thing - she was dead pan, and in no way sounded like she was kidding. Sarcasm also usually has a tone to it - there was none.

Redress said:
This is a classic case of some trying to make a mountain out of nothing for political reasons.

Isn't that what politics is all about? Finding a weakness and exploiting it? Macaca for example seemed to work pretty well.
 
I don't think she was kidding. First, as a incumbant politician, she speaks as a politician and first they would like job security. She fails to observe that these mutts she tacitly supports haven't done their jobs. She is sympathetic as a vested interest, and it affects her thinking. Politicians don't think like the people they represent. Evidenced by bank bailouts, unpopular wars, censored news, military-industrial complex, ad infinitum. SOP, when a politician says the wrong thing, their media gang fires up full throttle to mitigate the damage. That's what we are seeing and hearing. They use their soap box.
 
I think she was serious as a heart attack and is just back peddling because of backlash.

But I don't care that much. A lot of people have bizarre solutions and crazy answers to problems :shrug: Doesn't mean we're going to do it.
 
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