"I'm gonna pay for that." That's what Alan Mulally said after beginning the now infamous "President Bush almost blew himself up" anecdote in his keynote speech to kick offf the 2007 New York Auto Show last week (video above). Truer words were never spoken by an auto exec. The firestorm that erupted after Mulally's anecdote hit the intertubes has been incredible. Though Autoblog reported on the anecdote in passing mere hours after it was told onstage, it received its biggest boost in visibility from the Detroit News' Business Insider column, which retold the story and began by saying ""Credit Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally with saving the leader of the free world from self-immolation." This past Monday, Keith Olbermann broke up the fun being had at the President's expense by revealing a tape of the White House event in question that showed Mulally's funny story was not true at all, and that he never stopped President Bush from plugging an electrical cord into a hydrogen refueling port (check out that video after the jump). With the cat out of the bag, Mulally issued an apology via press release (do spouses accept those?) on Monday for his misleading anecdote. His embellishment of the situation with the President was apparently inspired by a bit that appeared on the Jimmy Kimmel Live show. For his part, Mulally stated, "I am no Jimmy Kimmel."
Though all should have ended there, Todd Lassa, who writes for Motor Trend, wrote a scathing diatribe on Tuesday against the "rampant blogosphere" that siezed upon Mulally's anecdote and repeated it at an exponential rate. Mr. Lassa, who fancies himself a member of our little blogging community (hint: he's not), proceeds to lash out at us "small-time bloggers" for not checking our facts, placing immediacy above accuracy, and leading major media outlets -- presumably ones like Motor Trend -- on wild goose chases. We're not entirely sure at which blogs his venom is aimed, since Lassa conveniently doesn't name any in particular, but we consider ourselves and our peers to be his target. We might've even taken his criticism into consideration if it hadn't concluded with a shill for his own site. Sigh... we wish we could all just get along, but old media seems to never want to play nice.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Ian @ Apr 12th 2007 11:53AM
When the story came out it was an incredulous possibilty for a system to be set up so dangerously. Now we find out the story was completely mythical. Amazing that such an experienced Exec with such a good track history should go off the rails and try to get laughs this way, in front of the MEDIA. He owes a lot of apoligises and maybe a 2 week suspension from telling stupid jokes.
Greg @ Apr 12th 2007 12:08PM
Well, with Don Imus being fired for labeling a bunch of Tattoo'd muscle bound basketball players as "_________________" ( can't say it because its offensive, right?
Labeling the President an Idiot is just as offensive in about 50 million American Citizens view, so I guess the CEO of Ford should now be fired too!
synergeist @ Apr 12th 2007 12:13PM
Mulally should have been more forthcoming about the stupid stunt that wasn't funny. Making fun of laypeople, much less the President of the United States will not help secure Ford's future for mere partisan politics.
Dan Roth @ Apr 12th 2007 12:14PM
Whoever picked up on this little tale and misconstrued it as an "Alan saves George" story did us all a big disservice. Mulally made a quip, and a chuckle went around the room because we could all envision a blunder ending in a Wile E. Coyote-esque fashion, but realize that it's just not possible in reality. Do you really think you could plug an electrical cord into the hydrogen port of the car? What kind of effort would it take to get a cord to create an arc? Certainly deliberate action would be required. To pick up on the CEO's words and twist them into something they weren't meant to be is plain sloppy.
And yes, I was there.
Scott @ Apr 12th 2007 12:20PM
Why the hell were people taking this so seriously? It was a joke, albeit a bad one, but still just a joke. Get over yourselves, guys, no harm was meant by this innocent little crack at W. Besides, the guy's probably the easiest target in the world. And no, this is hardly similar to Imus' comments, come on.
bgdc @ Apr 12th 2007 12:25PM
Why is this news? so someone took a shot at the president...that's what they're there for. Politicians are our SERVANTS, not people to be respected and adored. Bush, like Clinton and the rest, SERVE us. Not the other way around.
JC3 @ Apr 12th 2007 12:28PM
SO FORD...HOW MUCH DID YOU PAY THIS GUY TO LIE AND ALIENATE YOURSELF FROM THE LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD?
MM @ Apr 12th 2007 12:36PM
This just in, Mulally spotted in Beverly Hills salon after night of partying shaving his head.....and Al has just been proven as the father of Anna Nicole's baby.
JC3 @ Apr 12th 2007 12:39PM
Really.I mean the president puts time aside to promote your floundering company with it's eleventh hour attempt at a viable hybrid ,press conference,free adfvertising and all and your CEO makes up some lie that panders to the Bush haters who falsely portray him as a dunderhead? can't you guys do anything right?
Aki @ Apr 12th 2007 12:50PM
Sounds like Autoblog is getting defensive for its hack reporting on something that never transpired. Bashing Bush is an easy way to earn brownie points on the rhetorical bandwagon. Seems like John Neff has a chip on his shoulder for not being viewed in the same light as Motor Trend.
Duck @ Apr 12th 2007 12:50PM
#9. Bush haters who falsely portray him as a dunderhead
Ummm...have you ever heard him speak without a pre-written speech in front of him?
Mike @ Apr 12th 2007 12:51PM
"Besides, the guy's probably the easiest target in the world."
You don't have to respect the man, but you SHOULD respect the office. The amount of disrespect towards teh office has been at an obscene level since 2000, simply because the man had an (R) next to his name.
mk @ Apr 12th 2007 12:59PM
I have to agree with Mike.
Count how many media outlets call him "Mister Bush"
Last I checked, President of the United States of America was a title.
Mister President or President [name], regardless of party or popularity.
This story however seems to be a bigger dud than the moronic Imus thing, which is a tempest in a thimble.
It is sad that this kind of crap gets so much attention. Imus, Mullaly/Bush, Anna-Nicole, Brittney, and pretty much everything else in the cultural news lately has been meaningless, overblown crap, regardless of the merits or dismerits of the actual stories.
RJ @ Apr 12th 2007 1:00PM
Well, you don't really go to places like Autoblog for serious news anyways... more like tabloid-style gossip. Granted there's a grain of fact in some of this stuff, but so much here is just idle banter or speculation. Not as bad as some others though (Jalopnik). Bottom line: most bloggers are NOT journalists, they are hobbyists.
Frank @ Apr 12th 2007 1:13PM
11. #9. Bush haters who falsely portray him as a dunderhead
Ummm...have you ever heard him speak without a pre-written speech in front of him?
Posted at 12:50PM on Apr 12th 2007 by Duck
Gee thanks, Duck, I didn't know that the ability to speak in front of people was the sole measure of a person intelligence (or lack thereof). I guess starting your own business, being a jet pilot, winning a statewide election without holding any prior office against an incumbant, and improving state educational scores were all just coincidences.
Frank @ Apr 12th 2007 1:24PM
I forgot to mention I have seen him on C-SPAN in a "town hall" setting where he is inteacting with an audience (in other words, no pre-written speech). He's just fine when exchanging dialoge with other people. Clinton on the other had was a great speech maker and a great off the cuff speaker but half the time I thought he just like to hear himself speak.
eDamo @ Apr 12th 2007 1:26PM
AutoBlog on CNN... cool! =)
John Neff @ Apr 12th 2007 2:00PM
http://www.cnn.com/video/player/player.html?url=/video/moos/2007/04/11/moos.tall.tale.bombs.affl
That's the link to Autoblog on CNN. As the kids say, w00t!
ckm @ Apr 12th 2007 2:11PM
Hate to say this, but AutoBlog is not really a blog. It's owned by AOL and most of the people writing for it are paid to do so, so it's more of an e-zine in blog format.
I think Todd Lassa is just miffed because online media like AutoBlog is capturing more of automotive enthusiasts attention than dead tree media like _Motor_Trend_ (and perhaps esp. Motor Trend)....
Chris.
Duck @ Apr 12th 2007 2:22PM
#15. Gee thanks, Duck, I didn't know that the ability to speak in front of people was the sole measure of a person intelligence (or lack thereof). I guess starting your own business, being a jet pilot, winning a statewide election without holding any prior office against an incumbant, and improving state educational scores were all just coincidences.
Poor misguided soul. Let me correct your mistakes:
You mean running several businesses into the ground - the collapse of Spectrum 7 Energy (oil) in TX after he took the helm back in the 80s...not to mention his insider trading deals with Harken Energy. Need I go on? I'll concede that he did a good job w/ the Texas Rangers ownership though (lol, but how difficult would that be when all you basically are is an investor?)
Jet pilot - of course this has been widely debated, as he barely passed w/ a MINIMUM score, but shot to the top of the 'reserves' list (past 500 WAY more qualified applicants) because of daddy's influence. Interesting how he NEVER flew during combat? He can barely respond to simple questions w/o stumbling, so how do you think he would fare in a fighter jet where quick decisiveness is key to a pilot's survival?
Winning statewide election - well if you're father's the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and you basically have the support of the top dogs in the political arena...I'm sure you can complete the equation here. Though I will concede that he did some good things as governor of Texas.
To answer your first point - when a person consistently says stupid things, over a six year period in front of the national eye...how would one be able to deduce that he is anywhere close to intelligent?
You and him must have some things in common.