EltenTwelve

Accidents, “oopsies,” no-nos, faux pas — call it what you like, but a gaffe’s a gaffe.

We’ve never been closer to the interesting change that will happen with the United States government.  With that, just before November 4, let’s take a moment and look back at the good times — the real gaffes that have given the media power to make fun of candidates.  The social errors that feed satire that we so lovingly believe in.

John McCain’s Tongue

This has to be my favorite image of the year.  This has the makings of a classic — a slip, the unusual facial expression, the being-caught-on-camera — the photoshopped images that followed? It has everything!

Sarah Palin “Sees Russia From Her House” … and elaborates

This is Palin just being so goshdarned adorable.  Katie Couric asks her to elaborate on the “proximity to Russia = foreign policy” comment/gaffe, and what she gets is an adorable Palin trying to explain that the media has, “ahihihi,” taken the words out of context — what she meant to say was, should Putin rear his head, presumably from his neck, like a turtle, Alaska is a no-fly-zone, only because it’s the closest place to rear heads in from Russia, apparently.

Barack Obama Travels 57 States

In Oregon, Barack Obama tries to recount exactly how many states he’s visited in the last 15 months.  While he struggles to get the “fifty-seven” in there, it seems like it’s not enough, so he mentions that there’s still one more left to go.  Whoah, 58 states?  Will that be Barack’s America, or “Barack America”? … which leads to Joe Biden, of course, who once, in a moment of thinking about multiple things at once, calls Obama, “Barack America.”

Sarah Palin Gets Picked to run for VP, doesn’t exactly know what a VP does…

When asked by a third grader, “What does a Vice President do?”  Sarah Palin tries to explain to “Brandon,” in simplest terms, that “[T]hey’re in charge of the United States Senate so if they want to they can really get in there with the senators and make a lot of good policy changes that will make life better for Brandon and his family and his classroom.”  Which of course is wrong — the VP just hangs out ‘til the President croaks, of course!

John McCain “That One”

Since I started the list with something from the Presidential debates, I might as well end this list with another one from “that one.”  While trying to defend his stance on an energy bill, John McCain quips, “There was an energy bill on the floor of the Senate loaded down with goodies, billions for the oil companies, and it was sponsored by Bush and Cheney. You know who voted for it? You might never know. That one.”  Which of course led to shirts, bumper stickers and various other merchandise to be made.  Notice the glee and enthusiasm he has in the video while covertly(?) pointing at “that one” as if he wasn’t in the same room!

What do you think was the most memorable gaffe during the campaigns?  Share your thoughts over @ The Jabber.

The image of McCain almost-slipping, with raised hands and tongue out?  It’s currently one of the most emailed images in Yahoo!, and has spawned several ‘shopped images.

Guess I’m not alone in thinking that there are just parts of politics that are hilarious.  One that deserves mention is last week’s debates.  There was this one scene where McCain almost slipped, so I guess, to balance himself, he raised both hands and stuck his tongue out.  AND IT WAS CAUGHT ON TAPE.

The unedited version of the image alone is one of the most emailed images in Yahoo!  So it should come to no surprise that merely hours after that little incident, people with Photoshop got busy.

“Obama cool enough to just ignore zombies” – Did I mention that in that little shot, Obama’s in there too?  With his back toward McCain, it would seem like he’s clearly ignoring a zombie threat.  Even though this is just a simple text overlay, one can’t quite chuckle a little.

“McCain and ‘Shopped Bikini Palin” – There was speculation at first that McCain selected Palin as running mate because it provided eye candy.  There was even a video during the VP announcement where McCain was caught checking out Palin, while touching his wedding ring, obviously reminding himself of his fidelity to his wife.  In this ‘shopped version, we see him almost carrying the bikini-photoshopped Palin.  What can we do?  McCain likey.

“McCainzilla” – This is another different take — instead of portraying him as a zombie, he is photoshopped into a black-and-white Tokyo scene, complete with tail and flames coming out his stuck-out tongue, ravaging the city.  Who could forget Godzilla?  Probably not the one who made this image — it may even be an accurate depiction of what a “monstrous” disaster we could be having with him as leader.  But you know, obviously exaggerated.

“Jedi Obama and Lightning McCain” – There’ve been comparisons about the galactic empire and the Republican Party.  With McCain as the current emperor of the Republican empire, a Jedi must come in and save the rest of us.  Of course it can’t be done with light sabers — remember: ewoks are the downfall of any good evil empire.  With the emperor’s trademarked force-lightning, McCain struggles to topple Jedi-Obama, who is obviously wearing a ‘shopped body of Samuel Jackson’s character in Star Wars.  (Note the purple saber.)

“McCain as HISS” – HISS, not KISS.  Obviously referencing the band that is famous for rocking out with their tongues out.  What truly sets this one apart is that it’s even animated!  Hilarious!  Will McCain rock the vote?  Or will this be the closest he’s ever going to get to compete with Obama’s “rock star” status?

There you have it — my top 5 photoshopped versions of that single funny image.  Do you think I missed any more good ones?  Leave ‘em down by the comments section.

What other accidental “caught-on-tape” acts of the other candidates made you laugh?  Share it over intelligent and light conversation over @ The Jabber.