The Stupidest Statements Of 2006

Hope you never win this award.
But if you do, you'll be in the company of Paris Hilton and George Bush.

Wait, that's not a good thing!

1. Paris Hilton, “celebutante” and hotel heiress who revealed to the Los Angeles Times, “The stupid blond stereotype, it was cute for a while, but I’m over that now,” (August 13, 2006)―for her grasp of world affairs, when asked by British GQ magazine if she was a fan of Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the UK: “Tony who? Oh yeah…he’s like your president? I don’t know what he looks like.” August 5, 2006.

2. Ted Stevens, 82-year-old US Senator from Alaska and chairman of the Senate Committee on Science, Commerce and Transportation, for explaining in a speech how the Internet actually works: “It’s a series of tubes.” June 28, 2006.

3. Guy Fournier, chairman of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., for his false allegation in Quebec ’s 7 Jours magazine, which resulted in his resignation: “[Translated] In Lebanon, the law allows men to have sexual intercourse with animals, as long as they are females. Doing the same thing with male beasts can result in the death penalty.” September 9, 2006.

4. George W. Bush, US President, for his answer at a press conference when he was asked if the tide was turning in Iraq: “I think―tide turning―see, as I remember―I was raised in the desert, but tides kind of―it’s easy to see a tide turn―did I say those words?” June 14, 2006.

5. Charles Barkley, Basketball Hall of Famer, for his approach to his gambling addiction, which he told ESPN, was a “stupid habit” that he estimated had cost him $10 million: “Do I think it’s a bad habit? Yes, I think it’s a bad habit. Am I going to continue to do it? Yes, I’m going to continue to do it.” May 3, 2006

6. Andrew Young, civil rights leader and former Georgia congressman, UN ambassador and Atlanta mayor, who was hired to improve Wal-Mart’s image, but then resigned after telling the Los Angeles Sentinel that mom-and-pop stores have been overcharging for “stale bread and bad meat and wilted vegetables” and that Wal-Mart should cause them to close: “Well, I think they should…. I think they’ve ripped off our communities enough. First it was Jews, then it was Koreans and now it’s Arabs; very few black folks own these stores.” August 17, 2006.

7. George Allen, US Senator and former Governor of Virginia (whose mother comes from Tunisia), for his repeated use of a North African racial slur during a political rally―“Macaca” (monkey)―directed at a 20-year-old Virginian native, of Indian descent, who worked for the senator’s political opponent: “Let’s give a welcome to Macaca here. Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia.” August 11, 2006.

8. Michael Richards, three-time Emmy Award winning actor who played Cosmo Kramer on the hit TV show Seinfeld, for his onstage racial tirade at the Laugh Factory, in West Hollywood, after a black heckler shouted that he wasn’t funny: “Fifty years ago, we’d have you upside down with a [bleep] fork up your [bleep]! You can talk, you can talk, you’re brave now, [bleep]. Throw his [bleep] out. He’s a [bleep]! He’s a [bleep]! He’s a [bleep]! A [bleep], look, there’s a [bleep]!” November 17, 2006.

9. Alan Hevesi, New York State Comptroller, for his allegation in his commencement address, at Queen's College, describing US Senator Charles Schumer, his fellow state politician, in a manner that he later admitted was "beyond dumb," “incredibly moronic,” and “remarkably stupid”: “The man who, how do I phrase this diplomatically, who will put a bullet between the president’s eyes if he could get away with it.” June 1, 2006.

10. Dave Lenihan, talk show host at radio station KTRS, in St. Louis, for mispronouncing the word coup when praising US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s qualifications for National Football League commissioner: “She loves football. She’s African-American, which would kind of be a big coon…. A big coon! Oh my god! I am totally, totally, totally, totally, totally sorry for that!” March 22, 2006.