(NOTE: A preliminary draft of the April Bonehead Absurdity candidates was inadvertently posted a couple weeks ago. My apologies. Now all the candidates and the winner can be announced.)
1. Democrat Rep. Bruce Braley: Braley, who is running for the Senate in Iowa, slammed the state's senior senator, Charles Grassley, as "a farmer from Iowa who never went to law school."
This may be the all-time greatest bonehead comment. To pop off in such an arrogant fashion to voters who take pride in their state being part of the "Corn Belt," and whose conservative instincts makes them highly suspicious of intellectual elites, is mind-boggling.
2. George W. Bush: In an interview with daughter Jenna Bush Hager on TODAY Friday, the former president recalled an encounter with Vladimir Putin that he claimed revealed a lot about the character of the Russian president. The comment reveals Bush's keen insight.
“As you know, our dear dog Barney, who had a special place in my heart — Putin dissed him and said, ‘You call it a dog?’’’ Bush told Hager.
3. John Coleman, co-founder of the Weather Channel and long-time weatherman at KUSI in San Diego, claims scientific knowledge as the basis for his opposition to climate change. Although the following statement was from last year, it reflects a position he has repeated on several occasions in public statements, including recently upon his retirement:
"It [global warming] is the greatest scam in history. I am amazed, appalled and highly offended by it. . . . . Some dastardly scientist with environmental and political motives manipulated long-tern science data to create an illusion of rapid global warming."
4. Rush Limbaugh: Referring to gay marriage, which he called immoral, Rush Limbaugh told listeners to his radio program: "The institution of marriage had been targeted for destruction, essentially, and the road to destroying it is being paved." This coming from a man who is currently married to his fourth wife. Good thing divorce is not a technical and literal destruction of marriage.
5. Cliven Bundy: It doesn't take much these days to become a conservative folk hero. Refuse to pay government fees for grazing cattle in a federally protected habitat, then gather a self-styled militia to fend off Bureau of Land Management officials, and Fox News will confer hero status. This will give you a celebrity platform to pontificate your social philosophy.
Referring to African Americans, Bundy told New York Times reporters:
"They abort their young children, they put their young men in jail, because they never learned how to pick cotton . . . . . . .and I've often wondered, are they better off as slaves, picking cotton and having a family life and doing things, or are they better off under government subsidy? They didn't get no more freedom. They got less freedom."
And the winner is:
Choosing the April Bonehead winner was very tough, as all candidates were worthy. Bush and Coleman's ignorance, Limbaugh's hypocrisy, and Bundy's racism notwithstanding, the winner is Bruce Braley. Unbelievable bonehead move for a politician running for election.
Not only what it means to be an "amateur," but also why people believe college sports requires that its athletes be amateurs. People against this movement in the NCAA think this will ruin college sports. But they don't seem to care that coaches and AD's are being paid millions of dollars, and the NCAA and its colleges are selling their brands to the highest television bidders all over the place. If that hasn't ruined college sports, I don't think a free market will either. And for those who argue that this will give the big programs an unfair advantage: Wake Up!!! Those program ALREADY have any advantage in their practice facilities, stadiums, sponsorship, exposure, and other amenities. If some rich alumni want to buy their way to an NCAA Championship (like Auburn/Newton [allegedly]) good for all those involved. Everyone gets what they want in that situation, INCLUDING the NCAA and its schools
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