In a moment of weakness

In an article in the Time[1] magazine Michael Kinsley states that: “It would be nice if just occasionally we could shrug of stupid things that people say accidentally.”

I must admit to a large extent I do agree with him; even though a gaffe may have some incriminating Freudian interpretation because of its resemblance to a slip of tongue, there is also the possibility that it may just be a silly mistake. Even politicians are fallible and are sometimes entitled to their gaffes.

On the other hand, since they are people in power and are representative of the people, I think they need to be a lot more watchful of what they are saying than the average person, because from a journalist’s point of view a glimpse into the sub-conscious of a politician is an invaluable story. Then again at the end of the day what matters is the work done by the person concerned, and no matter what theories Freud may have had about the slip of tongue inadvertently revealing the true nature of our thoughts, how many thoughts out of a million a day do we actually act upon?

Yet with relevance to the example of a gaffe given in the article; of the French President Jacques Chirac’s comment that: it would’nt be so bad if Iran got a nuclear bomb “or perhaps a second little bomb little later”, I have to disagree that this comment was a gaffe. Because although he did voice an opinion that was different from popular opinion, what made it a gaffe? The fact that it was different?


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References 1 - Time – February 19 2006